centerThis is my first fanfic (Well that I've posted anyway.) so um yeah.
Please review, you don't have to I guess, there's nothing I can really do
to make you, but I really would appreciate given the fact that this IS my
first fanfic and would probably encourage me to continue writing. I don't
even care if you give me a good review, I appreciate bad ones too, cause
that means that people are actually reading this :-). On with the story!
/center
centerThe Puzzle/center
centerI/center
The blazing sun beat down upon the youth's unprotected back as he toiled on the construction site, laying one stone down after another, with the overseer glaring at him, whip in hand. The boy, who looked to be no more then nine had scars running all down his back, from the cruel taskmaster's whip. As the boy strode to pick up another brick, he felt the sting of the whip on his back and collapsed in the sand.
"Get a move on! We don't have all day!" The overseer sneered, then as an afterthought, he said in a menacing tone, "Actually, we do!"
The boy struggled to get up as his spiky, multi-colored hair flew in his face. He began to shed silent tears. Why was everything so unfair? Why did the man have to be so cruel? For reasons beyond Yugi's comprehension, most of the taskmasters seemed to like mistreating the slaves placed under their care, and Yugi seemed to be the target of most of their cruelty and malice. As he stood, he hurried to get another brick and place it on the foundation. He kept thinking, about how his grandfather and himself had gotten into this mess. Yugi, on his way to get another stone, thought back at the now distant memory.
His grandfather had been a wealthy merchant, his only relative. One storm on the raging sea had cost him his entire business and had put him up to his ears in debt. Yugi had only just turned one at the time, but he knew what his grandfather had told him. To save himself and Yugi, he became a slave to escape his money woes, hoping to sell himself and Yugi out to a kind master. However, after being shuffled around like cattle, Yugi and his grandfather had ended up in exactly what they were hoping to avoid. Instead of being personal servants, as they had hoped, they were laborers, building fortifications for the accursed pharaoh of the south, under the whip of a cruel overseer. The current pharaoh of the southern part of Egypt was likely to down into history as the most evil man who ever lived. He was cruel and merciless to everyone, not to just his slaves. His advisors mistrusted him and his subjects feared him, yet they could do nothing.
/What was Horus doing, infusing such an evil vessel with such power?/ Yugi wondered.
It was then he noticed the whip coming towards him. Yugi cursed at himself under his breath. The whip hit him in the side and dug a gash along his arm.
"Let's get a move on!" the overseer yelled.
Now, Yugi worked on alone, his grandfather dead, himself a slave and not a friend in the world. Eventually the work ceased and Yugi was taken back to a small building, where he and the other slaves currently working on the building lived, for the moment. Yugi was escorted back to his cell. He looked around at the empty cell. He wondered where his usual cellmate was. However, he appeared not to have come back from the site. Yugi had already guessed what had happened. He had seen more then one slave face down in the sands, unmoving. His new cellmate was escorted in as he came to his conclusion. Apparently, he had been struggling against the guard. He looked to be new to the routine. He was tossed to the floor as the guards exited and locked the cell. He struggled against the bars, trying to pry them open.
"Don't bother tiring yourself out. We'll be needing all that youthful energy of yours tomorrow." one of the guards said rather sympathetically for Yugi's new cellmate.
The tall young man who stood in front of him had blond hair and brown eyes. Yugi tried to start conversing with him.
"W-w-what's your name?" Yugi asked in a high pitched voice.
The young man, no older then sixteen jumped. He turned around and stared for the first time into Yugi's innocent, amethyst eyes.
"Joey Wheeler," The tall blonde replied, "Who are you?"
"M-my n-name is Y-y-yugi Moto." Yugi replied and then stuttered, "You're n- n-new?"
(A/N: I know the names AREN'T Egyptian, but that's not my problem ()
"New?" The tall blond inquired.
"You've on-nly just b-b-become a s-slave h-h-haven't you?"
"Yes, how did you know?" said Joey.
"N-normally, no-no o-one stru-struggles a-a-against th-the b-b-bars, or r-r- resists t-the g-guards. How-how d-d-did you-you be-become a-a-a sl-slave any-anyway?"
"How does everyone become a slave? They took me from my village after I was wounded, damn slavers."
"Y-y-you were in that b-b-border sk-skirmish j-just a f-few days ago?"
"Yes, I was raising money for my family, so I joined the town militia. Those damn soldiers looked upon our village as an excellent place to pillage. Our militia tried to stop them, but couldn't. The slavers were following the soldiers eagerly, and looked at me as a fresh victim and here I am."
Joey then noticed the long white scars, which were streaked across Yugi's back.
"Where in the world did you get those scars!?" Joey exclaimed.
"I-I-I seem t-to b-be the f-f-favorite t-to b-be wh-whipped." Yugi tried to explain.
"They whipped a little boy like you? How long have you been a slave?"
"Al-almost all f-f-fifteen y-years of m-my life." Yugi replied.
Joey stood amazed, to him, Yugi looked like a frightened seven year old. He was startled by the fact that Yugi was almost as old as he was.
"So, um, what exactly are we working on at the moment?"
"W-w-we're b-building a f-fortification a-along the b-b-border just d-down by the N-N-Nile."
They talked for the rest of the night (did people work by day or by night in the desert?) and quickly became friends. All to soon, they both fell asleep and were awakened by the noise of the door of the cell screeching open.
After their meager meal, Yugi toiled in the sands again, early in the morning, with Joey by his side, laying row upon row of stone onto the foundation. As he was going back to get yet another stone, he once again felt the whip on his back. Yugi cried out and fell down to the ground. Joey looked on in amazement. What had Yugi done?
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Joey yelled at the overseer.
"Slaves should only speak when spoken to!" The overseer sneered as he whipped Joey.
As he was whipped, Joey got up and began to run towards the overseer. However, the overseer just tossed him aside, and whipped him several more times.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior! Get back to work!" he screamed.
As Yugi fell however, he felt something pressed against his leg. While getting up, he look down at the object he had fallen against. A small glint of gold was barely visible beneath the sands. Quickly, while the overseer was distracted with Joey, he slipped the small golden box he had uncovered into what little clothing he had, hoping it wouldn't be noticed. As Joey got up and began to limp back to the pile of rock, they were moving to form a wall, he spoke to Yugi.
"Yugi! Are you okay?" he asked.
"F-f-f-fine, m-my b-back's g-g-gotten u-used to it, I-I c-can s-s-stand t- the p-p-pain. I-I h-hope it d-d-doesn't get in-infected, b-b-b-because when they do, it-it h-h-hurts a-alot m-m-more then it d-d-does n-n-now." Yugi said as he went back to moving stones.
"How can you stand this? You're being treated like the sand under your feet!" exclaimed Joey.
"W-w-what e-else c-c-can I-I do?" Yugi shrugged as he walked on, moving another stone.
Joey pondered about those last words. What could any slave do here? He watched all the grim faces move block after block after block onto the nearly completed wall. Joey, getting whipped once more, gritted his teeth and also continued to move stones.
After the day's work, Joey was exhausted. He used to think farming was the most excruciatingly painful job one could do. However, he had just changed his view on that perception. After the meager meal of water and lentils, they were sent back to their cells. It seemed that there was no such thing as lunch, with these slaves. As they were herded back to their cell, Joey collapsed on the bench with Yugi beside him. Suddenly, as the guards disappeared, Yugi pulled out the golden box. He opened it and various golden pieces, each a different shape, spilled out onto the floor. Yugi gasped in wonder. Such exquisite gold smiting! This box must be worth a fortune! However after he had touched the pieces, the desire to run away and sell the puzzle was all but gone. Yugi, enchanted by the pieces, began to place them together, like a puzzle.
"Yugi, what's that you've got?" Joey asked, after the pieces had spilled out of the box.
"I-I don't kn-know. W-w-when I w-was w-whipped, a-a-after I f-fell I f-f- felt s-something p-pressed u-up a-a-against m-my l-l-leg in the s-sands. Th- this is wh-what it-it w-was." Yugi stuttered.
"Looks like some sort of puzzle."
"I-I know, a-and I-I'll s-solve it-it." Yugi declared.
All throughout the night, Yugi worked on the puzzle. When the light coming down the corridor outside the cell, faded, Yugi, unnoticing, was still piecing together the puzzle. In complete darkness, the pieces seemed to glow with an eerie golden light. After six straight hours of working on the puzzle, Yugi was only half done. Yugi somehow managed to fit the puzzle inside the golden box and tuck it underneath his clothing. As he was taken out for another day of pain, he felt different. He felt, relaxed. Something Yugi had not felt in a long time. Joey walked next to him. After the wall was complete, late in the afternoon, the overseers decided to march the slaves towards a small village to the south on the way to their next assignment, wasting no time. Joey looked shocked as he saw a minute number of slaves drop dead on the sands of the desert. When they reached the rather large village, they stopped. The slaves were herded into another building very much like the one they had been in before, except for the fact that this one was approximately three times bigger. However, Yugi was no longer with Joey. Instead, he had the entire cell to himself. As soon as he was placed inside, Yugi began work on the puzzle. As he heard the cells opening, he slipped the final piece into place. The puzzle began to emanate a golden aura. Yugi slipped the puzzle around his neck, using a golden chain he found in the box, with the loop at the bottom of the golden pyramid he had put together. Yugi realized how tired he was and how he would explain the golden pyramid around his neck. Suddenly Yugi became angry. He knew that if they found an object of this value on a slave, they would take it from him. He knew he could not let the guards see him. He began looking for a place to hide the puzzle, however he found none. He looked in horror at the shadow descending upon his cell, wishing he could somehow hide the puzzle. However, when the guard came and herded him out of his cell, he took no note of the golden puzzle around his neck. As they began their march to another construction site, Joey ran up to Yugi on the march.
"Yugi! There you are. Where's the puzzle you were working on?" asked Joey, interested.
"What do you call this around my neck?" Yugi said.
"Yugi? What are you talking about? There's nothing around your neck. Hey! Why aren't you stuttering?"
Yugi looked surprised as he realized it was true. He was no longer stuttering. He then looked down at the puzzle around his neck in wonder. He held it up in front of Joey's face.
"Can't you see it?"
"See what? All I see you doing is cupping air."
Joey moved his hand into what appeared to be air between Yugi's hands. Joey's hand moved right through the puzzle. Yugi looked at Joey in astonishment.
"Are you feeling okay, Yugi? You look a little weird." said Joey.
"You-Your hand! It just went straight through the puzzle!" Yugi exclaimed in his boyish voice, at a loss for words.
"Are you sure you're okay Yugi? I think the sun's getting to your head, even through all that hair of yours." Joey said, looking up at the blazing sun.
Yugi sighed and wished Joey would believe him. Why couldn't he see it?
"Yugi! How'd that thing appear around your neck like that?" exclaimed Joey pointing to the puzzle.
Yugi gaped at Joey, then at the puzzle. He knew what had happened. He had wished for it to be, so it had come to pass.
"Wow. So that's the puzzle? An upside down pyramid?"
"Yes. You-you couldn't see it before?" said excitedly.
"No... I'm positive, it wasn't there before."
Yugi kept walking along with the rest of them, testing out the new found powers of this puzzle had put together. He wished he wasn't so tired. A flash of bright light emanated from the puzzle. Puzzled, Yugi looked over himself. He didn't feel any better. Trying again, he then wished the cuts on his back would heal. They did, however he realized that he was now almost incapable of walking. He sagged down to the ground, exhausted, as if he had sealed the cuts on his back using his own energy.
"Yugi!" Joey screamed as he leapt to his side.
"You're not going to die on me, out here, in the desert!" Joey said as he gritted his teeth and pulled the tiny boy onto his back.
Joey then walked with Yugi on his back all the way to the next place where the overseers saw fit to make camp.
"You okay, Yugi?" Joey asked, obviously concerned about his little friend.
"I'm fine now, Joey. Thanks for not leaving me out there. I'm glad to have such a good friend."
"What happened back there?"
"I just felt really, really tired all of a sudden, as if someone had suddenly attached invisible weights to my body."
"You should get some rest." suggested Joey.
Yugi nodded and fell asleep almost immediately. He awoke several hours later, near Joey, in the slave's enclave under the supervision of armed guards.
"Yugi, you're up." Joey said.
"Yeah, how long was I asleep?"
"About four hours. I'm sorry to say you missed your dinner. I tried to get another bowl from one of the guards, but they just laughed in my face and told me to sit down and shut up."
Yugi stood up and swiped away a few particles of sand resting on his face.
"It's okay Joey. There was nothing you could've done."
Yugi had never been as hungry in his entire life. He looked down at the puzzle around his neck questioningly. Could he use it to create food? He began to think that he could, however he realized that he would probably be drawing on his own energy to create it. He decided to risk it. He wished with all his might that there was a rather large bowl of the unappetizing lentils in front of him. He had never really eaten anything else and he really did not want to experiment at the moment. The puzzle flared brightly and in front of him, a bowl of fine quality lentils and a pot of water lay on the sands of the desert. Yugi sagged down to the ground, exhausted from the effort. He crawled over to the food, not having the strength to get up and began to eat. Joey stared open-mouthed at him.
"Yugi! How did you do that?!?!" Joey almost screamed.
Yugi was too busy eating and far too tired to care, he just pointed slightly to the puzzle, while he had a huge pile of food in his mouth, far more then he got at breakfast and dinner combined. Yugi shared the food with Joey, not used to having a proper sized portion. Joey's eyes were bulging from their sockets as he accepted some of the dish Yugi had given him. The young man then proceeded to sleep, under the stupefied gaze of his companion.
Yugi woke to the prodding of Joey.
"Yugi, we're about to break camp. It's time to get up."
"Okay, okay! Just please do me one thing?"
"Sure? What is it?"
"Get your finger out of my eye."
Joey jerked back his hand as Yugi sat up. Yugi stood, received a meager slave's breakfast before being marched off into the desert. The overseer stopped by the Nile, near a small village, near the capital, and ordered the slaves to begin constructing a new fortification, for fall back purposes, from stone, which was being ferried in via the Nile. Unfortunately, one of Yugi's least favorite overseers had been placed near him, a brute named Hassan, who was in fact the pharaoh of the south's cousin, who had quite a bit more brawn then brain. Every so often, he liked to indulge in his pleasures of torturing people. Yugi felt anger well up inside him for some unknown reason. Yugi looked into the grinning face of the overseer, but suddenly turned away, his eyes blazing with hate. As he was hauling stone towards the new fortification, he felt the sting of a whip against his back. Yugi's newly healed back was now softened, the pain of the whip had a maximum effect. Yugi screamed aloud as he stared down at the grinning Hassan. Yugi pulled himself to his feet, unable to control his rage. He walked over to the man calmly. Hassan's grin broadened. He wound himself up and sliced the whip at Yugi. Yugi however overpowered by rage, held out his hand, not thinking and caught the whip. Hassan gaped at him. Yugi pulled on the whip, until Hassan was right next to him, looking somewhat mystified. Hassan threw a punch at Yugi. Yugi caught the punch and twisted the hand with a kind of superhuman strength, the puzzle glowing all the while. Hassan screamed as Yugi broke his arm, and then unexpectedly, Yugi landed a kick right to the evil man's stomach. Hassann flew back about fifteen feet and began to cough up blood. Then Yugi dropped to his knees and blacked out from the effort of using the golden puzzle.
(Keep in mind, the puzzle is still invisible)
Yugi awoke exhausted, and found himself bound in chains. He was in a stone building of some sort and Yugi could tell it was the middle of the night. He tried to stand up, but fell back down again burdened by the weight of the chains clamped around his arms and feet.
/Where am I?/ thought Yugi.
Yugi waited for approximately twelve hours, until the sun was high in the sky. Then a few guards came into what appeared to be his cell. Yugi's eyes widened as he saw them clearly. These were royal guards, elite warriors, who's only garrison was in the imperial palace. They unclamped his bindings as one of them spoke.
"Come with us slave, the pharaoh wants to see the one who nearly killed his favorite cousin." the guard said as he poked him in the back with the blunt end of a spear. Yugi was escorted to the throne room. As he was walking, he felt a wrenching feeling in his stomach. He knew now, that he would be put to death. He prepared every ounce of strength he had into using the puzzle. As they opened the doors and pushed Yugi in, Yugi caught a glimpse of the pharaoh. The pharaoh was a very handsome man, Yugi remarked as he was led in to the throne room. (A/N; No, it isn't Yami. Yami might come in later, but I doubt it.) The pharaoh rose from his seat and spoke.
"So you are the one who almost killed my dear cousin Hassan? They say your name is Yugi."
Yugi nodded, with a look of terror on his face.
"Well Yugi, I'm afraid that the penalty had always been the same, whether for boy or man to do any harm to a royal personage." He began mockingly. Then he spoke to the guard. "I've seen enough. Kill him."
For some reason beyond his comprehension Yugi suddenly said, "Are you sure you want to do that?"
The pharaoh suddenly turned to look at the boy who had just spoken, his eyes blazing with hate.
"You dare to speak to me, slave!? Kill this fool now!" The pharaoh roared.
Every single guard in the room came towards Yugi, frightened that the pharaoh had used such a tone of voice. However, as they came, the puzzle glowed brightly as Yugi focused his thought and made his limited wish. A bright light emanated from Yugi. As it reached the guards, it hurled them back against the walls and held them there. Yugi sank to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.
"By Osiris! This boy is some sort of sorcerer!" The pharaoh said as he drew his ceremonial sword, "You may have held back my guards, slave, but you shall not hold back the living god!"
The pharaoh himself advanced on Yugi.
"You are not the incarnation of Horus and never will be." The words escaped Yugi's lips before he could do anything to stop them.
The pharaoh screamed in a maniacal fashion and charged at Yugi.
"No slave, woman, or man will ever tell me who I am, and what I am not!" he shouted.
The pharaoh swung his sword at Yugi. The sword passed directly through Yugi, as Yugi lost consciousness from the use of the puzzle.
Yugi awoke on the hot stone floor of the palace. The pharaoh was on his stone throne, looking furious and barking commands to the various advisors and servants about him. No one took any notice of Yugi. He crawled towards the door and tried to open it. His hand sailed straight through the handle. Yugi stared at his hand, amazed. Yugi reasoned that his wish must have caused the puzzle to make him invisible and untouchable, like it had done before with itself. Relived, he lay on the floor of the palace for several hours, with servants and guards occasionally walking through him. When he felt he had recovered his strength, he stood up. Slowly, Yugi advanced on the pharaoh, who was now sitting in his throne, debating with his military chiefs on what to do against the forces of the opposing pharaoh.
"But, my pharaoh! We can't deploy enough troops there in time! The opposing force would crush us!" The general next to the pharaoh protested.
"Silence! Don't question my judgment or I'll have you removed from the palace with nothing but the clothes on your back!" The pharaoh screeched in reply.
The general nodded vigorously and murmured an apology. Yugi staggered over beside the throne. As he approached he saw a map of Egypt, which had been lain out across a small table in front of the throne. The map held red and blue markers all across it. Yugi noticed that a large sum of blue markers were penetrating into southern Egypt, while maintaining a strong front at the border.
As if someone had just shown him what to do, Yugi said somewhat wearily; "What if we bring in militia from the towns as well as take at least half the forces off the front line to the east and west of the opening. Then we can come at them from the south with the militia, which will merge in with the soldiers coming in from the east and west, slowly but surely sealing the gap and driving the northern forces back! The news will not get back to the pharaoh of northern Egypt for at least a week, and since we are much closer, any uprising along our weakened positions can immediately be quieted down!"
Though no one heard him Yugi gave a gasp of surprise. Since when did he know so much about military tactics? His own logic astounded him. What was struck Yugi even more dumbfounded was that he was standing next to the pharaoh of the south, in the imperial palace, trying to issue orders. "No, no and no!" The pharaoh screamed at the general next to him for making a suggestion, "We can't bring reinforcements from the capital by the Nile, the current's practically non-existent at this time of year!"
"Of course my pharaoh," The general said quickly, "What if we brought groups of militia from the towns to the south?"
"No you fool, those peasants aren't strong enough, they would be completely crushed and that's a waste of energy and manpower." The pharaoh answered coldly. Then he looked at the general in the face. "March the troops from the capital, now."
"No! My pharaoh! Please reconsider! They'll never get there in time!" The general pleaded, knowing he would be killed or worse after the pharaoh's ploy failed, "Why don't you move some troops from the border to converge on the opening!"
"No! Then the forces of Kazard would crush us where we weakened our positions, you fool!"
"Please don't do this, my pharaoh!"
"Fine then. I give you until tomorrow night to think up a different plan and present it to me. If this new plan of yours fails, I will gladly give you to the crocodiles." The pharaoh said.
The general whimpered slightly, groveled at the pharaoh's feet and then walked rather quickly out of the room. Yugi followed the man. As he opened the door Yugi walked through part of it and continued down the winding corridors of the palace, following the general. The general stopped at a room and walked through the arch. Yugi followed and looked around him. The room was richly furnished with gold and silk. The general sat down on a chair next to a stone table and set a map down and placed the counters on it from memory. The general had his hand over his face trying to somehow calm himself. Yugi knew that both his previously suggested plans were, in fact, the answer to their problems and so did the general. The only problem was convincing the pharaoh of that fact.
"What am I going to do?" the general whimpered to himself, on the verge of tears.
Yugi decided to take action immediately. He hated watching people suffer. He had seen it all his life, but now he decided it was time to act. He wished he could return to his normal state. The puzzle flared and the general looked up.
"You! Guards!! Guards!!" screamed the general as he drew his own sword.
Yugi hastily reversed the wish and as soon as the puzzle flashed, the general looked dumbfounded.
"Yes, sir?" a guard who had just entered the room inquired.
"Err, never mind." Said the general, not wanting to have the entire palace in an uproar again and be blamed for it.
"Are you sure?" The guard asked.
"Yes, return to your post please."
"Of course, sir." The guard bowed, then left.
Yugi considered and found the best course of action. He moved over to the general and wished he could be visible. The puzzled glowed and as soon as he felt the chair next to him, he clamped his hand over the general's mouth. The general was startled to say the least. He tried to remove Yugi's arm with all his might. Yugi was weak by most standards, even though he had been lifting stones most of his life; he never seemed to develop any muscle. Hastily wishing for a burst of strength, he overpowered the general and pinned him down.
"General, please don't scream, I'm here to help you. Now just relax and I'll let go."
The general nodded.
"Do you give you word?"
The general nodded again.
"Alright, I'll let go, but you did give you word."
The general nodded a third time as Yugi released him, grateful that the general would cooperate, his energy and strength had already been depleted.
centerThe Puzzle/center
centerI/center
The blazing sun beat down upon the youth's unprotected back as he toiled on the construction site, laying one stone down after another, with the overseer glaring at him, whip in hand. The boy, who looked to be no more then nine had scars running all down his back, from the cruel taskmaster's whip. As the boy strode to pick up another brick, he felt the sting of the whip on his back and collapsed in the sand.
"Get a move on! We don't have all day!" The overseer sneered, then as an afterthought, he said in a menacing tone, "Actually, we do!"
The boy struggled to get up as his spiky, multi-colored hair flew in his face. He began to shed silent tears. Why was everything so unfair? Why did the man have to be so cruel? For reasons beyond Yugi's comprehension, most of the taskmasters seemed to like mistreating the slaves placed under their care, and Yugi seemed to be the target of most of their cruelty and malice. As he stood, he hurried to get another brick and place it on the foundation. He kept thinking, about how his grandfather and himself had gotten into this mess. Yugi, on his way to get another stone, thought back at the now distant memory.
His grandfather had been a wealthy merchant, his only relative. One storm on the raging sea had cost him his entire business and had put him up to his ears in debt. Yugi had only just turned one at the time, but he knew what his grandfather had told him. To save himself and Yugi, he became a slave to escape his money woes, hoping to sell himself and Yugi out to a kind master. However, after being shuffled around like cattle, Yugi and his grandfather had ended up in exactly what they were hoping to avoid. Instead of being personal servants, as they had hoped, they were laborers, building fortifications for the accursed pharaoh of the south, under the whip of a cruel overseer. The current pharaoh of the southern part of Egypt was likely to down into history as the most evil man who ever lived. He was cruel and merciless to everyone, not to just his slaves. His advisors mistrusted him and his subjects feared him, yet they could do nothing.
/What was Horus doing, infusing such an evil vessel with such power?/ Yugi wondered.
It was then he noticed the whip coming towards him. Yugi cursed at himself under his breath. The whip hit him in the side and dug a gash along his arm.
"Let's get a move on!" the overseer yelled.
Now, Yugi worked on alone, his grandfather dead, himself a slave and not a friend in the world. Eventually the work ceased and Yugi was taken back to a small building, where he and the other slaves currently working on the building lived, for the moment. Yugi was escorted back to his cell. He looked around at the empty cell. He wondered where his usual cellmate was. However, he appeared not to have come back from the site. Yugi had already guessed what had happened. He had seen more then one slave face down in the sands, unmoving. His new cellmate was escorted in as he came to his conclusion. Apparently, he had been struggling against the guard. He looked to be new to the routine. He was tossed to the floor as the guards exited and locked the cell. He struggled against the bars, trying to pry them open.
"Don't bother tiring yourself out. We'll be needing all that youthful energy of yours tomorrow." one of the guards said rather sympathetically for Yugi's new cellmate.
The tall young man who stood in front of him had blond hair and brown eyes. Yugi tried to start conversing with him.
"W-w-what's your name?" Yugi asked in a high pitched voice.
The young man, no older then sixteen jumped. He turned around and stared for the first time into Yugi's innocent, amethyst eyes.
"Joey Wheeler," The tall blonde replied, "Who are you?"
"M-my n-name is Y-y-yugi Moto." Yugi replied and then stuttered, "You're n- n-new?"
(A/N: I know the names AREN'T Egyptian, but that's not my problem ()
"New?" The tall blond inquired.
"You've on-nly just b-b-become a s-slave h-h-haven't you?"
"Yes, how did you know?" said Joey.
"N-normally, no-no o-one stru-struggles a-a-against th-the b-b-bars, or r-r- resists t-the g-guards. How-how d-d-did you-you be-become a-a-a sl-slave any-anyway?"
"How does everyone become a slave? They took me from my village after I was wounded, damn slavers."
"Y-y-you were in that b-b-border sk-skirmish j-just a f-few days ago?"
"Yes, I was raising money for my family, so I joined the town militia. Those damn soldiers looked upon our village as an excellent place to pillage. Our militia tried to stop them, but couldn't. The slavers were following the soldiers eagerly, and looked at me as a fresh victim and here I am."
Joey then noticed the long white scars, which were streaked across Yugi's back.
"Where in the world did you get those scars!?" Joey exclaimed.
"I-I-I seem t-to b-be the f-f-favorite t-to b-be wh-whipped." Yugi tried to explain.
"They whipped a little boy like you? How long have you been a slave?"
"Al-almost all f-f-fifteen y-years of m-my life." Yugi replied.
Joey stood amazed, to him, Yugi looked like a frightened seven year old. He was startled by the fact that Yugi was almost as old as he was.
"So, um, what exactly are we working on at the moment?"
"W-w-we're b-building a f-fortification a-along the b-b-border just d-down by the N-N-Nile."
They talked for the rest of the night (did people work by day or by night in the desert?) and quickly became friends. All to soon, they both fell asleep and were awakened by the noise of the door of the cell screeching open.
After their meager meal, Yugi toiled in the sands again, early in the morning, with Joey by his side, laying row upon row of stone onto the foundation. As he was going back to get yet another stone, he once again felt the whip on his back. Yugi cried out and fell down to the ground. Joey looked on in amazement. What had Yugi done?
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Joey yelled at the overseer.
"Slaves should only speak when spoken to!" The overseer sneered as he whipped Joey.
As he was whipped, Joey got up and began to run towards the overseer. However, the overseer just tossed him aside, and whipped him several more times.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior! Get back to work!" he screamed.
As Yugi fell however, he felt something pressed against his leg. While getting up, he look down at the object he had fallen against. A small glint of gold was barely visible beneath the sands. Quickly, while the overseer was distracted with Joey, he slipped the small golden box he had uncovered into what little clothing he had, hoping it wouldn't be noticed. As Joey got up and began to limp back to the pile of rock, they were moving to form a wall, he spoke to Yugi.
"Yugi! Are you okay?" he asked.
"F-f-f-fine, m-my b-back's g-g-gotten u-used to it, I-I c-can s-s-stand t- the p-p-pain. I-I h-hope it d-d-doesn't get in-infected, b-b-b-because when they do, it-it h-h-hurts a-alot m-m-more then it d-d-does n-n-now." Yugi said as he went back to moving stones.
"How can you stand this? You're being treated like the sand under your feet!" exclaimed Joey.
"W-w-what e-else c-c-can I-I do?" Yugi shrugged as he walked on, moving another stone.
Joey pondered about those last words. What could any slave do here? He watched all the grim faces move block after block after block onto the nearly completed wall. Joey, getting whipped once more, gritted his teeth and also continued to move stones.
After the day's work, Joey was exhausted. He used to think farming was the most excruciatingly painful job one could do. However, he had just changed his view on that perception. After the meager meal of water and lentils, they were sent back to their cells. It seemed that there was no such thing as lunch, with these slaves. As they were herded back to their cell, Joey collapsed on the bench with Yugi beside him. Suddenly, as the guards disappeared, Yugi pulled out the golden box. He opened it and various golden pieces, each a different shape, spilled out onto the floor. Yugi gasped in wonder. Such exquisite gold smiting! This box must be worth a fortune! However after he had touched the pieces, the desire to run away and sell the puzzle was all but gone. Yugi, enchanted by the pieces, began to place them together, like a puzzle.
"Yugi, what's that you've got?" Joey asked, after the pieces had spilled out of the box.
"I-I don't kn-know. W-w-when I w-was w-whipped, a-a-after I f-fell I f-f- felt s-something p-pressed u-up a-a-against m-my l-l-leg in the s-sands. Th- this is wh-what it-it w-was." Yugi stuttered.
"Looks like some sort of puzzle."
"I-I know, a-and I-I'll s-solve it-it." Yugi declared.
All throughout the night, Yugi worked on the puzzle. When the light coming down the corridor outside the cell, faded, Yugi, unnoticing, was still piecing together the puzzle. In complete darkness, the pieces seemed to glow with an eerie golden light. After six straight hours of working on the puzzle, Yugi was only half done. Yugi somehow managed to fit the puzzle inside the golden box and tuck it underneath his clothing. As he was taken out for another day of pain, he felt different. He felt, relaxed. Something Yugi had not felt in a long time. Joey walked next to him. After the wall was complete, late in the afternoon, the overseers decided to march the slaves towards a small village to the south on the way to their next assignment, wasting no time. Joey looked shocked as he saw a minute number of slaves drop dead on the sands of the desert. When they reached the rather large village, they stopped. The slaves were herded into another building very much like the one they had been in before, except for the fact that this one was approximately three times bigger. However, Yugi was no longer with Joey. Instead, he had the entire cell to himself. As soon as he was placed inside, Yugi began work on the puzzle. As he heard the cells opening, he slipped the final piece into place. The puzzle began to emanate a golden aura. Yugi slipped the puzzle around his neck, using a golden chain he found in the box, with the loop at the bottom of the golden pyramid he had put together. Yugi realized how tired he was and how he would explain the golden pyramid around his neck. Suddenly Yugi became angry. He knew that if they found an object of this value on a slave, they would take it from him. He knew he could not let the guards see him. He began looking for a place to hide the puzzle, however he found none. He looked in horror at the shadow descending upon his cell, wishing he could somehow hide the puzzle. However, when the guard came and herded him out of his cell, he took no note of the golden puzzle around his neck. As they began their march to another construction site, Joey ran up to Yugi on the march.
"Yugi! There you are. Where's the puzzle you were working on?" asked Joey, interested.
"What do you call this around my neck?" Yugi said.
"Yugi? What are you talking about? There's nothing around your neck. Hey! Why aren't you stuttering?"
Yugi looked surprised as he realized it was true. He was no longer stuttering. He then looked down at the puzzle around his neck in wonder. He held it up in front of Joey's face.
"Can't you see it?"
"See what? All I see you doing is cupping air."
Joey moved his hand into what appeared to be air between Yugi's hands. Joey's hand moved right through the puzzle. Yugi looked at Joey in astonishment.
"Are you feeling okay, Yugi? You look a little weird." said Joey.
"You-Your hand! It just went straight through the puzzle!" Yugi exclaimed in his boyish voice, at a loss for words.
"Are you sure you're okay Yugi? I think the sun's getting to your head, even through all that hair of yours." Joey said, looking up at the blazing sun.
Yugi sighed and wished Joey would believe him. Why couldn't he see it?
"Yugi! How'd that thing appear around your neck like that?" exclaimed Joey pointing to the puzzle.
Yugi gaped at Joey, then at the puzzle. He knew what had happened. He had wished for it to be, so it had come to pass.
"Wow. So that's the puzzle? An upside down pyramid?"
"Yes. You-you couldn't see it before?" said excitedly.
"No... I'm positive, it wasn't there before."
Yugi kept walking along with the rest of them, testing out the new found powers of this puzzle had put together. He wished he wasn't so tired. A flash of bright light emanated from the puzzle. Puzzled, Yugi looked over himself. He didn't feel any better. Trying again, he then wished the cuts on his back would heal. They did, however he realized that he was now almost incapable of walking. He sagged down to the ground, exhausted, as if he had sealed the cuts on his back using his own energy.
"Yugi!" Joey screamed as he leapt to his side.
"You're not going to die on me, out here, in the desert!" Joey said as he gritted his teeth and pulled the tiny boy onto his back.
Joey then walked with Yugi on his back all the way to the next place where the overseers saw fit to make camp.
"You okay, Yugi?" Joey asked, obviously concerned about his little friend.
"I'm fine now, Joey. Thanks for not leaving me out there. I'm glad to have such a good friend."
"What happened back there?"
"I just felt really, really tired all of a sudden, as if someone had suddenly attached invisible weights to my body."
"You should get some rest." suggested Joey.
Yugi nodded and fell asleep almost immediately. He awoke several hours later, near Joey, in the slave's enclave under the supervision of armed guards.
"Yugi, you're up." Joey said.
"Yeah, how long was I asleep?"
"About four hours. I'm sorry to say you missed your dinner. I tried to get another bowl from one of the guards, but they just laughed in my face and told me to sit down and shut up."
Yugi stood up and swiped away a few particles of sand resting on his face.
"It's okay Joey. There was nothing you could've done."
Yugi had never been as hungry in his entire life. He looked down at the puzzle around his neck questioningly. Could he use it to create food? He began to think that he could, however he realized that he would probably be drawing on his own energy to create it. He decided to risk it. He wished with all his might that there was a rather large bowl of the unappetizing lentils in front of him. He had never really eaten anything else and he really did not want to experiment at the moment. The puzzle flared brightly and in front of him, a bowl of fine quality lentils and a pot of water lay on the sands of the desert. Yugi sagged down to the ground, exhausted from the effort. He crawled over to the food, not having the strength to get up and began to eat. Joey stared open-mouthed at him.
"Yugi! How did you do that?!?!" Joey almost screamed.
Yugi was too busy eating and far too tired to care, he just pointed slightly to the puzzle, while he had a huge pile of food in his mouth, far more then he got at breakfast and dinner combined. Yugi shared the food with Joey, not used to having a proper sized portion. Joey's eyes were bulging from their sockets as he accepted some of the dish Yugi had given him. The young man then proceeded to sleep, under the stupefied gaze of his companion.
Yugi woke to the prodding of Joey.
"Yugi, we're about to break camp. It's time to get up."
"Okay, okay! Just please do me one thing?"
"Sure? What is it?"
"Get your finger out of my eye."
Joey jerked back his hand as Yugi sat up. Yugi stood, received a meager slave's breakfast before being marched off into the desert. The overseer stopped by the Nile, near a small village, near the capital, and ordered the slaves to begin constructing a new fortification, for fall back purposes, from stone, which was being ferried in via the Nile. Unfortunately, one of Yugi's least favorite overseers had been placed near him, a brute named Hassan, who was in fact the pharaoh of the south's cousin, who had quite a bit more brawn then brain. Every so often, he liked to indulge in his pleasures of torturing people. Yugi felt anger well up inside him for some unknown reason. Yugi looked into the grinning face of the overseer, but suddenly turned away, his eyes blazing with hate. As he was hauling stone towards the new fortification, he felt the sting of a whip against his back. Yugi's newly healed back was now softened, the pain of the whip had a maximum effect. Yugi screamed aloud as he stared down at the grinning Hassan. Yugi pulled himself to his feet, unable to control his rage. He walked over to the man calmly. Hassan's grin broadened. He wound himself up and sliced the whip at Yugi. Yugi however overpowered by rage, held out his hand, not thinking and caught the whip. Hassan gaped at him. Yugi pulled on the whip, until Hassan was right next to him, looking somewhat mystified. Hassan threw a punch at Yugi. Yugi caught the punch and twisted the hand with a kind of superhuman strength, the puzzle glowing all the while. Hassan screamed as Yugi broke his arm, and then unexpectedly, Yugi landed a kick right to the evil man's stomach. Hassann flew back about fifteen feet and began to cough up blood. Then Yugi dropped to his knees and blacked out from the effort of using the golden puzzle.
(Keep in mind, the puzzle is still invisible)
Yugi awoke exhausted, and found himself bound in chains. He was in a stone building of some sort and Yugi could tell it was the middle of the night. He tried to stand up, but fell back down again burdened by the weight of the chains clamped around his arms and feet.
/Where am I?/ thought Yugi.
Yugi waited for approximately twelve hours, until the sun was high in the sky. Then a few guards came into what appeared to be his cell. Yugi's eyes widened as he saw them clearly. These were royal guards, elite warriors, who's only garrison was in the imperial palace. They unclamped his bindings as one of them spoke.
"Come with us slave, the pharaoh wants to see the one who nearly killed his favorite cousin." the guard said as he poked him in the back with the blunt end of a spear. Yugi was escorted to the throne room. As he was walking, he felt a wrenching feeling in his stomach. He knew now, that he would be put to death. He prepared every ounce of strength he had into using the puzzle. As they opened the doors and pushed Yugi in, Yugi caught a glimpse of the pharaoh. The pharaoh was a very handsome man, Yugi remarked as he was led in to the throne room. (A/N; No, it isn't Yami. Yami might come in later, but I doubt it.) The pharaoh rose from his seat and spoke.
"So you are the one who almost killed my dear cousin Hassan? They say your name is Yugi."
Yugi nodded, with a look of terror on his face.
"Well Yugi, I'm afraid that the penalty had always been the same, whether for boy or man to do any harm to a royal personage." He began mockingly. Then he spoke to the guard. "I've seen enough. Kill him."
For some reason beyond his comprehension Yugi suddenly said, "Are you sure you want to do that?"
The pharaoh suddenly turned to look at the boy who had just spoken, his eyes blazing with hate.
"You dare to speak to me, slave!? Kill this fool now!" The pharaoh roared.
Every single guard in the room came towards Yugi, frightened that the pharaoh had used such a tone of voice. However, as they came, the puzzle glowed brightly as Yugi focused his thought and made his limited wish. A bright light emanated from Yugi. As it reached the guards, it hurled them back against the walls and held them there. Yugi sank to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.
"By Osiris! This boy is some sort of sorcerer!" The pharaoh said as he drew his ceremonial sword, "You may have held back my guards, slave, but you shall not hold back the living god!"
The pharaoh himself advanced on Yugi.
"You are not the incarnation of Horus and never will be." The words escaped Yugi's lips before he could do anything to stop them.
The pharaoh screamed in a maniacal fashion and charged at Yugi.
"No slave, woman, or man will ever tell me who I am, and what I am not!" he shouted.
The pharaoh swung his sword at Yugi. The sword passed directly through Yugi, as Yugi lost consciousness from the use of the puzzle.
Yugi awoke on the hot stone floor of the palace. The pharaoh was on his stone throne, looking furious and barking commands to the various advisors and servants about him. No one took any notice of Yugi. He crawled towards the door and tried to open it. His hand sailed straight through the handle. Yugi stared at his hand, amazed. Yugi reasoned that his wish must have caused the puzzle to make him invisible and untouchable, like it had done before with itself. Relived, he lay on the floor of the palace for several hours, with servants and guards occasionally walking through him. When he felt he had recovered his strength, he stood up. Slowly, Yugi advanced on the pharaoh, who was now sitting in his throne, debating with his military chiefs on what to do against the forces of the opposing pharaoh.
"But, my pharaoh! We can't deploy enough troops there in time! The opposing force would crush us!" The general next to the pharaoh protested.
"Silence! Don't question my judgment or I'll have you removed from the palace with nothing but the clothes on your back!" The pharaoh screeched in reply.
The general nodded vigorously and murmured an apology. Yugi staggered over beside the throne. As he approached he saw a map of Egypt, which had been lain out across a small table in front of the throne. The map held red and blue markers all across it. Yugi noticed that a large sum of blue markers were penetrating into southern Egypt, while maintaining a strong front at the border.
As if someone had just shown him what to do, Yugi said somewhat wearily; "What if we bring in militia from the towns as well as take at least half the forces off the front line to the east and west of the opening. Then we can come at them from the south with the militia, which will merge in with the soldiers coming in from the east and west, slowly but surely sealing the gap and driving the northern forces back! The news will not get back to the pharaoh of northern Egypt for at least a week, and since we are much closer, any uprising along our weakened positions can immediately be quieted down!"
Though no one heard him Yugi gave a gasp of surprise. Since when did he know so much about military tactics? His own logic astounded him. What was struck Yugi even more dumbfounded was that he was standing next to the pharaoh of the south, in the imperial palace, trying to issue orders. "No, no and no!" The pharaoh screamed at the general next to him for making a suggestion, "We can't bring reinforcements from the capital by the Nile, the current's practically non-existent at this time of year!"
"Of course my pharaoh," The general said quickly, "What if we brought groups of militia from the towns to the south?"
"No you fool, those peasants aren't strong enough, they would be completely crushed and that's a waste of energy and manpower." The pharaoh answered coldly. Then he looked at the general in the face. "March the troops from the capital, now."
"No! My pharaoh! Please reconsider! They'll never get there in time!" The general pleaded, knowing he would be killed or worse after the pharaoh's ploy failed, "Why don't you move some troops from the border to converge on the opening!"
"No! Then the forces of Kazard would crush us where we weakened our positions, you fool!"
"Please don't do this, my pharaoh!"
"Fine then. I give you until tomorrow night to think up a different plan and present it to me. If this new plan of yours fails, I will gladly give you to the crocodiles." The pharaoh said.
The general whimpered slightly, groveled at the pharaoh's feet and then walked rather quickly out of the room. Yugi followed the man. As he opened the door Yugi walked through part of it and continued down the winding corridors of the palace, following the general. The general stopped at a room and walked through the arch. Yugi followed and looked around him. The room was richly furnished with gold and silk. The general sat down on a chair next to a stone table and set a map down and placed the counters on it from memory. The general had his hand over his face trying to somehow calm himself. Yugi knew that both his previously suggested plans were, in fact, the answer to their problems and so did the general. The only problem was convincing the pharaoh of that fact.
"What am I going to do?" the general whimpered to himself, on the verge of tears.
Yugi decided to take action immediately. He hated watching people suffer. He had seen it all his life, but now he decided it was time to act. He wished he could return to his normal state. The puzzle flared and the general looked up.
"You! Guards!! Guards!!" screamed the general as he drew his own sword.
Yugi hastily reversed the wish and as soon as the puzzle flashed, the general looked dumbfounded.
"Yes, sir?" a guard who had just entered the room inquired.
"Err, never mind." Said the general, not wanting to have the entire palace in an uproar again and be blamed for it.
"Are you sure?" The guard asked.
"Yes, return to your post please."
"Of course, sir." The guard bowed, then left.
Yugi considered and found the best course of action. He moved over to the general and wished he could be visible. The puzzled glowed and as soon as he felt the chair next to him, he clamped his hand over the general's mouth. The general was startled to say the least. He tried to remove Yugi's arm with all his might. Yugi was weak by most standards, even though he had been lifting stones most of his life; he never seemed to develop any muscle. Hastily wishing for a burst of strength, he overpowered the general and pinned him down.
"General, please don't scream, I'm here to help you. Now just relax and I'll let go."
The general nodded.
"Do you give you word?"
The general nodded again.
"Alright, I'll let go, but you did give you word."
The general nodded a third time as Yugi released him, grateful that the general would cooperate, his energy and strength had already been depleted.