Disclaimer -
Luna: Would someone else like to say the Disclaimer?
Yami: I would! I would!
Luna: The floor is yours.
Yami: Yu-gi-oh doesn't belong to Luna, but her OCs do! Don't steal them, or else I'll send your soul to the shadow realm!
Luna: Nicely said ^_^ Now on with the show!
Chapter 10 - Confidential Enigma
"Magic is stirring. I can feel it."
In the depths of Egypt the wind blew against the large dunes creating dusty sand clouds that grazed against his face. His darkly tanned skin blended with the background, only the white turban he wore on his head could distinguish his form from a far distance.
"Are you certain Shadi?" his comrade asked.
"Yes." he answered. "I must go to Domino City." Abruptly, he turned, heading back into the city of Cairo. His cloak swish around as he walked.
"Only which the bindings be restored, will then the items bring full power." the other man said. They both walked through the bustling streets of the bazaar where market stands sold various exotic objects, mainly to tourists.
"Until then we are guardians of those items. It is our duty to protect them, until such times the pharaoh returns to us again."
"What will you do?"
"I will investigate this matter." he said. "I leave for Domino City as soon as possible."
"May the gods be with you." said his comrade, slapping a hand on his shoulder.
"And you, my friend." Shadi replied. They both parted ways, each following their mission towards an uncertain future.
*****
The math exam was long and tedious, but she was glad that it kept her occupied throughout class. When she walked in, she turned her head away at Seto, pretending not to notice him to keep herself away from anymore humiliation since yesterday afternoon's episode. Apparently he was doing the same thing as well. It wasn't until after class when she walked out of the room, a sudden hand grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.
"What the...Oh it's you..." she seethe inwardly seeing Seto. "What do you want?" she hissed trying to yank her arm away from his grasps.
He stood with his face looking emotionless as ever but Vari noticed the tired look his eyes. They both stood in awkward silence, feeling like an hour has gone by rather then a minute.
"Are you going to say anything or should I just leave?" she asked crossing her arms in an impatient manner.
"What I said yesterday..." he began.
But she cut him off in mid sentence. "I understood perfectly what you said." she retorted.
"No you don't." his bitter voice replied.
"I realized it was a mistake to say I like you." She suddenly ran off. Seto didn't stop her. He just stood with an aggravated face, glaring at the other students who passed by looking at him with slight confusion. He felt like punching a hole through the wall, he always did have a small temper problem.
"I don't need her..." he grunted and treaded heavily away.
*****
Vari picked at her school lunch, it was beginning to look like mush. She picked at it some more, looking more depress and distracted then her usual self. Upon seeing this Yugi gave a slight concerned look. "Are you okay Vari?" he asked.
Vari looked up, as if just noticing him. "Oh..." she said dazed. "I'm...alright."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "You look...distracted...You've been playing with your lunch for a half an hour now."
But she only half listened to Yugi's words. She pushed her lunch tray away. "Excuse me for a moment." she said, getting up and walking away from the table. The others just stared at her retreated form with confusion.
"What's eating her?" Joey asked.
"I don't know." Tea shrugged. "I'm going to find out..." also getting up and secretly following Vari from behind.
Tea follow Vari out of the cafeteria. Seeing Vari going into the girls bathroom, she almost hesitated to go in after her, maybe she just needed to go to the bathroom. But then again, no one really goes to the bathroom in school, it was god awful, you would rather hold it in and run home. Tea went in, she heard muffled crying in one of the stalls. "Vari?" she spoke. "Are you crying?"
"Tea?" She ducked behind the stall door, quickly wiping her tears away, she didn't want anyone to see her like this. Opening the stall door, she saw Tea standing there with her sympathetic face.
"What's wrong?" Tea asked.
"Nothing's wrong I'm fine." Vari protested. Although Tea could plainly see her eyes red from the dry tears.
"You're horrible at lying. If a stranger walked in here, they'd see something is obviously wrong."
"You're going to think I'm pathetic." Vari said sulking.
"No I won't." Tea said. "Can you please tell me? You know you can talk to me about anything."
Vari gave a sigh and slumped down on the floor with her head hung low. "I told Kaiba I liked him." she mumbled. "Why couldn't I keep my stupid mouth shut?"
"Let me guess...he brushed you off like a piece of lint?"
"Not just that, he accused me of trying to seduce him and steal his money!" she exclaimed, boiling with anger. "I mean, of all the lame excuses! He could just say he didn't feel the same way!" she yelled.
"It's ok." Tea said, trying to calm her friend. "That's the Kaiba we all know. He pays more attention to machines then humans. I think it made him cold hearted."
Vari gave a small disdainful smile. "I'm feel pathetic crying over this." she said sniffing a little. "I haven't cried since I was six."
"It's good to let it out once in a while." Tea said reasonably.
"I thought he was different. When he donated that money to my father's research, he really helped my father out. I thought...I thought he wasn't as heartless as others said he'd be."
"Sometimes people surprise you. Come on, let's get back to the table."
"No. I think I'll go outside the school grounds. I need some fresh air." she sighed heavily walking out.
Tea went back to the cafeteria where the boys sat waiting to hear what she found out about Vari's state. After she told them, Joey was the one that blew up. "I'll kick his butt!" he cried out, the whole cafeteria turned and looked at him. "What you all looking at?" he exclaimed. They quickly turned away. "No one messes with my friends." he said.
"I don't think that's the solution Joey." Yugi said.
"Yeah, tell that to my fist!" Joey exclaimed, pulling a threatening fist up.
Yugi gave a hopeless look at Joey. As much as he didn't like Kaiba's impossible cruel attitude, there wasn't much they could do except maybe try to knock some sense into the stubborn guy.
*****
"We should open it." Shiro declared. He set the chest on a table. It looked like a surgical table with various tools laid across on a tray next to him. He took one of the chisels and began to pry the small opening.
"You cannot open it. It is magically sealed." Ishizu warned. "As the inscriptions stated."
"There's obviously something in here." Shiro argued. He tried to break the small opening on the side of the box. Without warning his tool snapped apart like a twig. He frowned, looking at the broken tool. "Damn cheap thing." he mumbled to himself. He tried again this time prying another tool into the opening with all his might.
"I don't think..." Ishizu began, but she suddenly notice golden sparks coming out from the chest. Her eyes went wide. Immediately she grabbed Shiro's arm and forcefully pulled him away, both went skidded across the floor, ducking behind a table. The chest began to shake by itself. It brought out a gold electric beam that shock the whole table area, like a 1000 electric volts. The box stopped, a moment later it subsided. The two emerged from behind the table cautiously.
"What the hell was that!?" Shiro cried out. Once danger passed, he boldly went over to the lab table. The whole surface area where the chest was place was burnt black. The tools left there were melted away. Only the chest remained unharmed and unscathed.
"I told you. You cannot open it." she said, unshaken by what had just happened.
"This doesn't seem strange to you at all?" he asked in disbelief. She just stared with no expression.
"Only the one whom the chest belongs to can open it." she quoted, pointing at the inscriptions carved on the box. "Only then can it be unlocked."
"Okay...I'm a believer in all this hocus pocus superstitions." he said convinced. "We can't open it can we? The person whom it belongs to died over 3 thousand years ago!"
"This proves whatever is inside can be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. There's a reason why they put a magic spell on it." said Ishizu. "We'll need extra security just in case."
Shiro nodded. "I'll talk to the director about that. I'm sure he'll agree."
"And no one will go near the chest except you or me. We can't afford anyone getting hurt."
The door suddenly flung open revealing Nyri and Hajime, who were roughly pushing each other trying to get in.
"What is going on around here!" Haijme demanded. "I heard strange noises all the way across the hall."
Nyri looked over at the table were the chest was. "What happen to the table?" he asked with puzzlement.
"It was..." Shiro began, but Ishizu cut him off.
"It's nothing. We were just experimenting." she said quickly.
"And you burnt the table in the process?" Hajime asked. He gave a suspicious glance at Shiro and Ishizu.
"It was just a little accident." Ishizu merely said.
"From now on this is strictly off limits. You'll need clearance to get in." Shiro said.
"That's outrageous!" Hajime cried out. "I'm going to talk to the director."
"He approved it already" Shiro lied. "It's just security measures."
"There's something going on here. I'm going to find out what." Hajime stomped out of the room.
Shiro rolled his eyes in annoyance at the man. "I better do some damage control." he whispered to Ishizu.
Nyri, who was still confused, approached Shiro with concern plastered on his face. "What's really going on Shiro?" he asked.
"Nothings going on." Shiro said in assurance. He began walking out, but Nyri stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't lie. I'm your friend Shiro." he reminded him. "You can tell me."
"I can't" he said and left Nyri standing as he walked out of the room.
*****
That night Seto, shifted a little in his bed. His face twisted on his pillow. It had been such an exhausting day, that all he wished was a peaceful night's rest, but it prove to be the exact opposite of what Seto got...
Darkness in the bottomless pit from years of his harden heart. It was all coming back to haunt him.
"I want out!" he screamed. "Let me out!" He stretched out his arms and tried to claw at darkness and space hoping in some way that he might somehow rip apart it's darken walls and be released, his mind went into hysterics.
Swiftly and silently the cloaked woman approached him with ease and gentleness, that it soothe his raging state a bit. He stared at her with the utmost fascination . He wondered if she was even human, feeling the radiance glowing off of her.
"Darkness approaches on swift wings." she murmured softly. Her voice sounded dire. Her turquoise emerald eyes unsettled in emotional distress. It actually ached when he saw her eyes in grief.
"What do you want with me?" he questioned.
But all she spoke were "Set ba netjer tepy" in a strange Egyptian language. "You will face your destiny...my love..."
Seto's body shot up, he felt sweat roll down his forehead. And stared out the night sky from the window of his room. His dreams were more of a nightmare then mere fantasies. That last phrase she spoke, held a mystery to it. He didn't know what it meant, but he know where he could find out.
A/N: Sorry about the slow update. This chapter took me so long to write. Stupid writer's block! Plus midterms and studying and my bro bugging me to death that I can't get any work done! You can go smack him for me. ^_^ hehehe. Another character is introduced...Shadi!...I don't think that many fics has him so I felt sorry for the poor fellow and wrote him in the story. He does have an important job after all. ^_^ You can tell me the truth. If it sucks, if it's good, maybe suggestions or what I need to improve. Feel free to express your opinions. That's what reviews are for! And also I read over my past chapters and couldn't help but gagged on how I could have written it better here and there and found grammar mistakes...bleah...o well...my writing is evolving as I go along so I'm writing a little better now...
A note on the Egyptian phrase I put up there. It's Egyptian (or at least I think so) but don't rely heavily on the words because it probably doesn't makes sense. I tried to translate the best I could. It was derived from bits and pieces of names like Men-maat-re which means Eternal is the Justice of Re. And don't worry you'll find out what it means in the next chapter. If anyone out there can speak Egyptian, it's probably very very horribly translated. So I wouldn't suggest using it.
Also this story is far from getting to the end. I predict that there'll be 10 chapters or more to come! And it'll get more exciting too. So that's a good thing to hear right? O_o Well your stuck with me...hehehe... Okay that's enough from me! *takes a deep breath*
Thanks to Setine Kaiba for advertising my story, that was so nice of you! ^_^ And thanks to Bakura45, Ori, darkmagic, Daughter of the Moon, Navi-Zero, and Arayuldawen for their reviews on my last chapter. Keep on reviewing!