"Man, what a tiring day," said Mai as she threw her jacket into the nearest
chair of her apartment.
"I'll agree," said Shayla as she made her way to the couch.
"There is one good thing," said Mai. "Now that you have some cash to burn, we can get together with Lara and Tea and go on that shopping spree I have been planning."
"Great...." muttered Shayla. Mai grabbed the TV remote and began to flip through the channels.
"...... Duke Deblin lost to the King of Games at his own game," the reporter was saying. "Yu-Gi Motou dueled him in the not-yet-released game, Dungeon Dice Monsters. This game was to be manufactured by Industrial Illusions before the CEO became mysteriously ill."
"The reason for the duel was an interesting one," the reporter continued. "The boy protégée was dueling to cancel a lost bet that his friend Joe Wheeler had made in a prior duel." The report began to show clips of the duel.
"WHAT!?" exclaimed Mai. "He had the nerve to put my Joe in a dog suit!"
"Calm down," said Shayla.
"How dare he?!" Mai yelled. "When I get my hands on him.....!"
"Since when is Joe, your Joe?" asked Shayla. That calmed Mai down long enough for Shayla to reason with her. "It is over and done. Don't worry. If you are going to worry, why don't you call Joe and tell him how you feel?"
"Not funny," pouted Mai as she began to file through the mail. "Oh, great...."
"What?" asked Shayla.
"My mom is in town on business," muttered Mai.
"How is that a bad thing?" asked Shayla.
"She is going to stop by. That means she is going to spend two hours complaining about how dueling is not a real job, and how I can never succeed at it," replied Mai.
"She should have seen you at the past two tournaments."
"She thinks that Duel Monsters are for twelve year olds."
"There is something else you want to say," said Shayla, noticing the unusual tone in her voice.
"Yeah," said Mai. "Um, do you think you could spend the day with Tea? My mom never approves of any of my friends, and I really don't feel like putting you through that."
"I guess I could. If it is OK with Tea," agreed Shayla. "I need to enroll in Domino High, anyways."
"I'll call," volunteered Mai, but the signs of stress were appearing on her face.
Arrangements were made for Shayla to spend the next day with Tea. She would enroll in the local high school and come back that night. The evening passed without event, and they both turned in early.
Shayla set her Millennial Scales near her bed. She ran her fingers over them, trying to contemplate the strange new path she had found herself on. Things had definitely changed since Luther gave them to her almost two months ago. First, he had been killed in a hit and run accident. Three and a half weeks later she was at the Duelist Kingdom, finding herself caught in a battle of magic she had no concept of. Then she had ran away, becoming roommates with Mai. Mai as the last person she would have ever imagined that she would be friends with. She also had met several big names in the Duel Monsters world. It was all too much, then the dreams came.
*Dream*
Shayla sat up in an unusual house. The walls were made of stone, and there was no sign of any modern convenience. The decorations were of things she had never seen before. Which, brings up the most unusual thing, she could see.
She felt herself stand and stretch, before walking out of the room. It was almost like she had a single point of view for watching a movie. She saw a woman, who had her back turned to her, making bread.
"Good morning, mom," she said. There were several weird things about that fact, Shayla's biological mother had abandoned her because she was blind. The other fact was she wasn't speaking English, but she could still understand the conversation.
"Good morning," the lady replied.
"Where are my brothers?" she asked.
"They are with your father, training," the mother said.
"I want to go, too!" she exclaimed.
"But you can't," said the mom.
"Why? I am a Levite, too. Why can't I be a priest?" she asked.
"Because you are a girl."
"Then I'll be a priestess!"
"Why don't you go to the market and get us food for dinner," suggested the mom in a tone that wasn't a suggestion. Shayla felt herself pout. Then a strange idea crossed her and she agreed and raced out the door.
Shayla tried to put the facts of the conversation in order. From her Bible studies, she knew that the Levites were one of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were the tribe of the Hebrew priests. That would mean that this family was Jewish!
Shayla was in for an even bigger shock when she saw the outside world. The city was in the middle of the desert. There was only one thing this place could be, ancient Egypt. But, as she looked over the desert, the pyramids were missing.
"Of course," she scolded herself. "The pyramids haven't been built yet."
The girl took off through the streets. But Shayla knew she wasn't heading to the marketplace. She went to the heart of the city. There, were several temples to Egyptian gods and goddesses. The girl was distraught by this, but the fact that their were priest and a handful of priestess intrigued her. People milled about everywhere. Shayla was able to identify three nationalities; Egyptian, Jewish, and slaves.
"Clear the way!" a voice yelled over the crowd. "The pharaoh is coming!" The people parted. The girl, with Shayla watching, was pushed against the back. The girl was curious. She had never seen the pharaoh before. But all she could see was a spiky haired shadow.
*End Dream*
Shayla sat bolt upright. It was dark, half from the night, half from the loss of vision. She tried to figure out what the dream meant. She had never had a dram so realistic before.
It became morning soon enough, and Tea came over to help her to school. Mai mentioned something about being jealous before she left.
"So, how is living with Mai?" asked Tea.
"Not as bad as I thought," said Shayla, preoccupied. "She just keeps talking about getting together with you and Lara and have a make- over/shopping spree."
"Sounds like Mai...." muttered Tea. "Hey! Yu-Gi!"
"Hi, Tea," Yu-Gi called back. He was waiting for a cross-walk to turn green. "Oh, hi Shayla. Are you coming to school?"
"Yes," she said as they crossed the street. "Congratulations on winning against Duke."
"Oh, thanks," said Yu-Gi, shyly. "And I heard you did pretty well at Kaiba's tournament."
"Well, second place."
"Care to have your fortune read?" a new voice asked. A cloaked figure had set up a table and chair near the mouth of an alley.
"Sure," said Yu-Gi.
"I don't trust him," muttered Shayla as her Millennial Scales began to vibrate.
"All I need is something of yours, to get your essence to see the future," said the stranger. "How about your necklace?"
"My Millennial Puzzle?!" The figure nodded. "OK, but take good care of it."
The fortune teller held the Millennial Puzzle for a moment. Then, a strange look crossed his eyes.
"I see that you will be losing something close to you!" he yelled before turning and racing down the alley, with the puzzle.
"Hey! My puzzle!" cried Yu-Gi.
"Oh, great," muttered Shayla as her Millennial Scales tipped. She got the feeling like they had marked the guy for judgment later.
"Let's split up," suggested Tea. "I'll go around and cut him off. Keep on his heels, Yu-Gi." She ran off. Yu-Gi ran in another direction.
"Oh, thanks," muttered Shayla as she was left standing there. She tightened her grip on her walking stick and began to walk down the alley.
It was strange. Several posters hung all over the place. Shayla couldn't see them, but she had a strange idea that they would lead her in the right direction, if she could see them. After a few minutes, she was hopelessly lost.
"Shayla?" asked another voice as he approached her.
"Bakura?" Shayla recognized the voice. "What are you doing here?"
"Tea sent me," he said. "Come on, we have to find Yu-Gi." He took her arm and began to pull her. Eventually he began to run.
"Slow down," protested Shayla. "You are hurting me." But Bakura didn't answer. Shayla felt her Millennial Scales tip from him, slightly.
"There is a dark power....." Bakura muttered, in a deeper voice.
"What?" asked Shayla as he stopped running. She could feel it, too. There was something evil ahead.
"This way," said Bakura, but Shayla hardly recognized his voice, now. He pulled her up a fire escape. He entered the warehouse and stopped on a catwalk with Shayla.
"What is going on?" asked Shayla. Down below Yu-Gi was dueling the mysterious stranger. The Millennial Puzzle was bolted to his platform. Shayla felt her Millennial Scales tip from the stranger, to Bakura, the hold still and start vibrating. Something was very wrong.
"There is only one person with a deck like that!" exclaimed Yu-Gi. "Reveal yourself, Bandit Keith!" The stranger took of his hood, proving Yu-Gi right. But Keith looked worse than when he had lost to Shayla, if you can call that a loss.
"Strange," muttered Bakura. "It appears that Keith is just a shell, being possessed by a stronger force."
"I am not Bandit Keith," said Keith. "I only speak through him. Keith returned to the castle to have his revenge on Pegasus. He did not count on the guards throwing him into the ocean. And he certainly didn't count on being picked up by my followers. Now he is mine!"
"Help me!" Shayla heard the real Bandit Keith beg.
"Oh, gosh," she thought, sickened. "He was possessed when I dueled him. But.... it is worse, now. I really don't like all of this magic. It seems that too many people get hurt because of it."
"Stay down, Keith," he said. "And now, I will win the ultimate source of power, your puzzle!"
"Not if I can help it," muttered Bakura. Shayla felt her Scales tip from him, then a strong force came from him, and went to Bakura. Her scales tipped again. There was too much here for them to figure out what was going on without her guidance.
"AGH!" yelled the real Bandit Keith. "Get out of my head!" He jumped off the platform and began to dance around the room, struggling against himself. It looked like a psychotic dance.
"Before I lose control, I will make sure no one can have the puzzle!" yelled the fake Keith has he raced over to the hanging puzzle and smashed it.
"NOOOOOO!" yelled Yu-Gi.
That was when Bakura took action. He swung down on a hanging chain and knocked Bandit Keith off of the holo-field, onto the cement floor.
"Are you OK?" Bakura asked Yu-Gi. He sounded normal, now, but Shayla felt the scales tip even more towards him.
"Yeah," said Yu-Gi as he helped Bakura pick up all of the pieces.
"Wait a minute!" called Shayla. "I am going around. I'll be down there in a second."
"OK," Yu-Gi called.
Shayla exited the catwalk and carefully made her way down the fire escape. It took her some time to make it to the entrance. When she did, she could feel heat and smell smoke.
"This can't be good," she muttered.
"What happened here?" asked Joe as he raced over with Tristan.
"I don't know, but Yu-Gi is still in there!" she cried when she realized the warehouse was burning.
"We have to save him!" cried Tristan.
"Dang!" cried Joe. "The door is too hot!"
"Then we have to break it down!"
"I am calling the fire department," said Shayla as she re-traced her steps to a pay phone she had passed on her way here. As she left she heard Joe and Tristan tackle the door. She prayed that they wouldn't be too late.
In the end, everyone was OK. Joe and Tristan had to have a medical inspection for smoke inhalation. Yu-Gi ended up spending the night in the hospital. Everyone was worried, but the local newspaper did a story feature the 'young heroes.'
**************************************************************************
One week later......
Mai had survived the ordeal with her mother. Shayla had finally managed to enroll in Domino High. It was a lazy evening. Shayla was flipping through her Bible, namely Genesis and Exodus, looking up stuff about Egypt. Mai had the TV on.
"Why are you reading?" Mai asked.
"I just have to know something," replied Shayla. "Joseph took his family to Egypt to escape the famine. But then, for many generations the Hebrews lived there. They were successful. Then a pharaoh came to power who forgot what Joseph did for Egypt. This pharaoh oppressed the Israelites. From what I can figure out from history, this was about the time the pyramids were built. Because, the Hebrew slaves had to build them. But then Moses came and brought them back to the promised land."
"What is with the history lesson?" asked Mai.
"What happened between Joseph and the enslavement?" she asked herself. "I have been having dreams......"
".....A new exhibit has just opened at the Domino Museum," the TV was saying. "The Egyptian artifacts are on loan from a collector in the United States, Ishizu Ishtar."
"Talk about conicidence," muttered Mai as she looked over at her blind roommate.
".....Now, Isis, is there anything you have to say concerning your exhibit?"
"Yes," said an Egyptian looking lady.
"Weird," muttered Mai. "She has a symbol on her necklace that is the same as your scale's and Yu-Gi's puzzle."
"They're Egyptian," Shayla said, simply.
".....There are priceless examples of Egyptian history here," said Isis. "But the most interesting are several panels that speak of an ancient tie between the present day game Duel Monsters and an ancient game called the Shadow Games. For this reason I am personally inviting Seto Kaiba to come and have a personally guide tour by me. I can assure him it will be worth his while."
Shayla felt a nudge from her Millennial Scales, which were sitting on the table next to her.
"That is unbelievable freaky," muttered Mai. "What do you think?"
"I'm not sure," mumbled Shayla. "But, for some reason. I am worried about Kaiba. I think he is in trouble, or he is going to be in trouble soon."
"I'll agree," said Shayla as she made her way to the couch.
"There is one good thing," said Mai. "Now that you have some cash to burn, we can get together with Lara and Tea and go on that shopping spree I have been planning."
"Great...." muttered Shayla. Mai grabbed the TV remote and began to flip through the channels.
"...... Duke Deblin lost to the King of Games at his own game," the reporter was saying. "Yu-Gi Motou dueled him in the not-yet-released game, Dungeon Dice Monsters. This game was to be manufactured by Industrial Illusions before the CEO became mysteriously ill."
"The reason for the duel was an interesting one," the reporter continued. "The boy protégée was dueling to cancel a lost bet that his friend Joe Wheeler had made in a prior duel." The report began to show clips of the duel.
"WHAT!?" exclaimed Mai. "He had the nerve to put my Joe in a dog suit!"
"Calm down," said Shayla.
"How dare he?!" Mai yelled. "When I get my hands on him.....!"
"Since when is Joe, your Joe?" asked Shayla. That calmed Mai down long enough for Shayla to reason with her. "It is over and done. Don't worry. If you are going to worry, why don't you call Joe and tell him how you feel?"
"Not funny," pouted Mai as she began to file through the mail. "Oh, great...."
"What?" asked Shayla.
"My mom is in town on business," muttered Mai.
"How is that a bad thing?" asked Shayla.
"She is going to stop by. That means she is going to spend two hours complaining about how dueling is not a real job, and how I can never succeed at it," replied Mai.
"She should have seen you at the past two tournaments."
"She thinks that Duel Monsters are for twelve year olds."
"There is something else you want to say," said Shayla, noticing the unusual tone in her voice.
"Yeah," said Mai. "Um, do you think you could spend the day with Tea? My mom never approves of any of my friends, and I really don't feel like putting you through that."
"I guess I could. If it is OK with Tea," agreed Shayla. "I need to enroll in Domino High, anyways."
"I'll call," volunteered Mai, but the signs of stress were appearing on her face.
Arrangements were made for Shayla to spend the next day with Tea. She would enroll in the local high school and come back that night. The evening passed without event, and they both turned in early.
Shayla set her Millennial Scales near her bed. She ran her fingers over them, trying to contemplate the strange new path she had found herself on. Things had definitely changed since Luther gave them to her almost two months ago. First, he had been killed in a hit and run accident. Three and a half weeks later she was at the Duelist Kingdom, finding herself caught in a battle of magic she had no concept of. Then she had ran away, becoming roommates with Mai. Mai as the last person she would have ever imagined that she would be friends with. She also had met several big names in the Duel Monsters world. It was all too much, then the dreams came.
*Dream*
Shayla sat up in an unusual house. The walls were made of stone, and there was no sign of any modern convenience. The decorations were of things she had never seen before. Which, brings up the most unusual thing, she could see.
She felt herself stand and stretch, before walking out of the room. It was almost like she had a single point of view for watching a movie. She saw a woman, who had her back turned to her, making bread.
"Good morning, mom," she said. There were several weird things about that fact, Shayla's biological mother had abandoned her because she was blind. The other fact was she wasn't speaking English, but she could still understand the conversation.
"Good morning," the lady replied.
"Where are my brothers?" she asked.
"They are with your father, training," the mother said.
"I want to go, too!" she exclaimed.
"But you can't," said the mom.
"Why? I am a Levite, too. Why can't I be a priest?" she asked.
"Because you are a girl."
"Then I'll be a priestess!"
"Why don't you go to the market and get us food for dinner," suggested the mom in a tone that wasn't a suggestion. Shayla felt herself pout. Then a strange idea crossed her and she agreed and raced out the door.
Shayla tried to put the facts of the conversation in order. From her Bible studies, she knew that the Levites were one of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were the tribe of the Hebrew priests. That would mean that this family was Jewish!
Shayla was in for an even bigger shock when she saw the outside world. The city was in the middle of the desert. There was only one thing this place could be, ancient Egypt. But, as she looked over the desert, the pyramids were missing.
"Of course," she scolded herself. "The pyramids haven't been built yet."
The girl took off through the streets. But Shayla knew she wasn't heading to the marketplace. She went to the heart of the city. There, were several temples to Egyptian gods and goddesses. The girl was distraught by this, but the fact that their were priest and a handful of priestess intrigued her. People milled about everywhere. Shayla was able to identify three nationalities; Egyptian, Jewish, and slaves.
"Clear the way!" a voice yelled over the crowd. "The pharaoh is coming!" The people parted. The girl, with Shayla watching, was pushed against the back. The girl was curious. She had never seen the pharaoh before. But all she could see was a spiky haired shadow.
*End Dream*
Shayla sat bolt upright. It was dark, half from the night, half from the loss of vision. She tried to figure out what the dream meant. She had never had a dram so realistic before.
It became morning soon enough, and Tea came over to help her to school. Mai mentioned something about being jealous before she left.
"So, how is living with Mai?" asked Tea.
"Not as bad as I thought," said Shayla, preoccupied. "She just keeps talking about getting together with you and Lara and have a make- over/shopping spree."
"Sounds like Mai...." muttered Tea. "Hey! Yu-Gi!"
"Hi, Tea," Yu-Gi called back. He was waiting for a cross-walk to turn green. "Oh, hi Shayla. Are you coming to school?"
"Yes," she said as they crossed the street. "Congratulations on winning against Duke."
"Oh, thanks," said Yu-Gi, shyly. "And I heard you did pretty well at Kaiba's tournament."
"Well, second place."
"Care to have your fortune read?" a new voice asked. A cloaked figure had set up a table and chair near the mouth of an alley.
"Sure," said Yu-Gi.
"I don't trust him," muttered Shayla as her Millennial Scales began to vibrate.
"All I need is something of yours, to get your essence to see the future," said the stranger. "How about your necklace?"
"My Millennial Puzzle?!" The figure nodded. "OK, but take good care of it."
The fortune teller held the Millennial Puzzle for a moment. Then, a strange look crossed his eyes.
"I see that you will be losing something close to you!" he yelled before turning and racing down the alley, with the puzzle.
"Hey! My puzzle!" cried Yu-Gi.
"Oh, great," muttered Shayla as her Millennial Scales tipped. She got the feeling like they had marked the guy for judgment later.
"Let's split up," suggested Tea. "I'll go around and cut him off. Keep on his heels, Yu-Gi." She ran off. Yu-Gi ran in another direction.
"Oh, thanks," muttered Shayla as she was left standing there. She tightened her grip on her walking stick and began to walk down the alley.
It was strange. Several posters hung all over the place. Shayla couldn't see them, but she had a strange idea that they would lead her in the right direction, if she could see them. After a few minutes, she was hopelessly lost.
"Shayla?" asked another voice as he approached her.
"Bakura?" Shayla recognized the voice. "What are you doing here?"
"Tea sent me," he said. "Come on, we have to find Yu-Gi." He took her arm and began to pull her. Eventually he began to run.
"Slow down," protested Shayla. "You are hurting me." But Bakura didn't answer. Shayla felt her Millennial Scales tip from him, slightly.
"There is a dark power....." Bakura muttered, in a deeper voice.
"What?" asked Shayla as he stopped running. She could feel it, too. There was something evil ahead.
"This way," said Bakura, but Shayla hardly recognized his voice, now. He pulled her up a fire escape. He entered the warehouse and stopped on a catwalk with Shayla.
"What is going on?" asked Shayla. Down below Yu-Gi was dueling the mysterious stranger. The Millennial Puzzle was bolted to his platform. Shayla felt her Millennial Scales tip from the stranger, to Bakura, the hold still and start vibrating. Something was very wrong.
"There is only one person with a deck like that!" exclaimed Yu-Gi. "Reveal yourself, Bandit Keith!" The stranger took of his hood, proving Yu-Gi right. But Keith looked worse than when he had lost to Shayla, if you can call that a loss.
"Strange," muttered Bakura. "It appears that Keith is just a shell, being possessed by a stronger force."
"I am not Bandit Keith," said Keith. "I only speak through him. Keith returned to the castle to have his revenge on Pegasus. He did not count on the guards throwing him into the ocean. And he certainly didn't count on being picked up by my followers. Now he is mine!"
"Help me!" Shayla heard the real Bandit Keith beg.
"Oh, gosh," she thought, sickened. "He was possessed when I dueled him. But.... it is worse, now. I really don't like all of this magic. It seems that too many people get hurt because of it."
"Stay down, Keith," he said. "And now, I will win the ultimate source of power, your puzzle!"
"Not if I can help it," muttered Bakura. Shayla felt her Scales tip from him, then a strong force came from him, and went to Bakura. Her scales tipped again. There was too much here for them to figure out what was going on without her guidance.
"AGH!" yelled the real Bandit Keith. "Get out of my head!" He jumped off the platform and began to dance around the room, struggling against himself. It looked like a psychotic dance.
"Before I lose control, I will make sure no one can have the puzzle!" yelled the fake Keith has he raced over to the hanging puzzle and smashed it.
"NOOOOOO!" yelled Yu-Gi.
That was when Bakura took action. He swung down on a hanging chain and knocked Bandit Keith off of the holo-field, onto the cement floor.
"Are you OK?" Bakura asked Yu-Gi. He sounded normal, now, but Shayla felt the scales tip even more towards him.
"Yeah," said Yu-Gi as he helped Bakura pick up all of the pieces.
"Wait a minute!" called Shayla. "I am going around. I'll be down there in a second."
"OK," Yu-Gi called.
Shayla exited the catwalk and carefully made her way down the fire escape. It took her some time to make it to the entrance. When she did, she could feel heat and smell smoke.
"This can't be good," she muttered.
"What happened here?" asked Joe as he raced over with Tristan.
"I don't know, but Yu-Gi is still in there!" she cried when she realized the warehouse was burning.
"We have to save him!" cried Tristan.
"Dang!" cried Joe. "The door is too hot!"
"Then we have to break it down!"
"I am calling the fire department," said Shayla as she re-traced her steps to a pay phone she had passed on her way here. As she left she heard Joe and Tristan tackle the door. She prayed that they wouldn't be too late.
In the end, everyone was OK. Joe and Tristan had to have a medical inspection for smoke inhalation. Yu-Gi ended up spending the night in the hospital. Everyone was worried, but the local newspaper did a story feature the 'young heroes.'
**************************************************************************
One week later......
Mai had survived the ordeal with her mother. Shayla had finally managed to enroll in Domino High. It was a lazy evening. Shayla was flipping through her Bible, namely Genesis and Exodus, looking up stuff about Egypt. Mai had the TV on.
"Why are you reading?" Mai asked.
"I just have to know something," replied Shayla. "Joseph took his family to Egypt to escape the famine. But then, for many generations the Hebrews lived there. They were successful. Then a pharaoh came to power who forgot what Joseph did for Egypt. This pharaoh oppressed the Israelites. From what I can figure out from history, this was about the time the pyramids were built. Because, the Hebrew slaves had to build them. But then Moses came and brought them back to the promised land."
"What is with the history lesson?" asked Mai.
"What happened between Joseph and the enslavement?" she asked herself. "I have been having dreams......"
".....A new exhibit has just opened at the Domino Museum," the TV was saying. "The Egyptian artifacts are on loan from a collector in the United States, Ishizu Ishtar."
"Talk about conicidence," muttered Mai as she looked over at her blind roommate.
".....Now, Isis, is there anything you have to say concerning your exhibit?"
"Yes," said an Egyptian looking lady.
"Weird," muttered Mai. "She has a symbol on her necklace that is the same as your scale's and Yu-Gi's puzzle."
"They're Egyptian," Shayla said, simply.
".....There are priceless examples of Egyptian history here," said Isis. "But the most interesting are several panels that speak of an ancient tie between the present day game Duel Monsters and an ancient game called the Shadow Games. For this reason I am personally inviting Seto Kaiba to come and have a personally guide tour by me. I can assure him it will be worth his while."
Shayla felt a nudge from her Millennial Scales, which were sitting on the table next to her.
"That is unbelievable freaky," muttered Mai. "What do you think?"
"I'm not sure," mumbled Shayla. "But, for some reason. I am worried about Kaiba. I think he is in trouble, or he is going to be in trouble soon."