Chapter Nineteen
The Legend of the Millennium Stone
That night Roux lay down in bed feeling happier and excited. She could barely lay still that night in bed, she couldn't stop thinking about the tournament, how much fun it would be, and how lucky she was that she was still in it. She didn't know what Yugi had said to Kaiba, but for it she had kissed his cheek twice and hugged him to show her appreciation. Thanks to him she was able to stay in the tournament.
Roux was glad Yugi had some common sense, going to talk to Kaiba was the adult thing to do, instead of Duke and Joey who threatened to result to violence. Roux admired Yugi for what he had done for her. She promised him she would not let all the trouble he went through to get her back in go to waste.
The trick was to steer clear of Kaiba from now until the tournament, and even then she wanted to make sure she didn't run into him. He was not happy to let her back into the tournament, she could tell by the look in his eyes. So Roux decided that she had been more than fortunate to get back into the tournament; she would not risk being disqualified again. And if that meant staying out of Kaiba's way, she was only too happy to comply.
Nevertheless Roux felt great about being back in to the tournament, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face, staring out at the bright moon, and within a moment she felt herself surrendering to sleep.
She felt her mind wander as she closed her eyes and felt her body sink into the covers of the bed, feeling warm and protected, and happy.
But it was only a matter of seconds before she woke up and her eyes were full of sunlight. Roux smiled and thought it was morning, but instead she found herself standing in the middle of the desert.
~ It's the dream! ~ Roux thought to herself, looking around in awe at her surroundings. ~ It's my dream from the other night! I'm sure of it! ~
Roux began to walk along the sand, her feet sinking into the sand making dune footprints behind her. The cool wind blew softly against her skin and through her hair as the hot Egyptian sun poured down over her. As she walked she could see the sky turning a soft purple, issuing that it was near sundown. Roux wondered how long she had been walking for, but with the sun set she could now see the shape of pyramids, black against the purple sky.
Then, before her mind came to wake, she was running with her full might over the sand, against the wind as the stars broke out above her. She was nearing the pyramids quickly, running the fastest she could. When she reached them, when they towered over her, leaving her in the gulf of their shadow, only then she stopped, and she stared up at the massive structures.
The wind had stopped the earth was quiet. There was not a sound anywhere. Not a whisper of the wind, not a snake against the sand. A single movement would have caused the air to tremble under echo. Roux looked around. There was not another soul anywhere around not from what she could see. The silence was startling.
Roux almost shouted out, but she didn't. She couldn't see the sense in yelling out as there was no one around, and the echo would only come back to deafen her. She only stood and watched and listened. There was nothing.
Before her eyes, suddenly, alarming her increasingly, a torch in front of her flamed before her eyes, mysteriously. She looked over, and listened to the crackling of the flames, licking up at the air, giving precious light to the space around it. Roux stared at the flame, the burning in her eyes glared. The torch was watching.
Then another torch lit, and another, and another. They all began to light before her, before her very eyes, as though her mere presence was a sign of great magic. As Roux followed the lights of the torches with her eyes, she watched as they narrowed towards the wall of the pyramid, and her breath rose as she saw the flames light the doorway to a corridor, leading into the pyramid.
The lights whispered to her, told her to follow the corridor, walk down it to seek the truth. What kind of truth would a model find in the corridor of a pyramid? But Roux could only smile, and she stepped forward as she thought to herself. ~ Shaadii. He's come to me again. ~
She began to walk down the corridor, and as she took steps the torches burst into flame, lighting every step of the way. She followed the lights slowly, examining her surroundings, looking for traps of any kind. But it seemed like any other corridor. All she had to do was follow the lights.
Indeed they had not betrayed her, as they led her into a large chamber. She had to crank her neck to see the ceiling, and to examine the painted pillars that told stories of the past. The chamber was wide and empty, and the lights made the dust and remaining sand cloud before her eyes. Roux stopped.
She looked down at the floor; she looked at the walls. Old Egyptian writings, stories of the past untold by language, the majestic golden tiles of ancient Egypt which explained the lives of the great pharaohs and their followers. Roux stood against the wall and examined them with awe and interest. Even if she couldn't read them, they would fascinate her.
"Roux." Came a voice from the shadows, and Roux turned around swiftly to face the voice that was calling her name through the wind. Her eyes scanned the chamber. No one stood to her sight.
But she already knew who it was.
"Shaadii?" Roux called out to the room, looking around still for evidence of his presence there.
"Yes, Roux." Came his voice, and it was right next to her. Roux wheeled around, and there he stood, a rather haunting young man with wise blue eyes, tanned skin, dressed in a dusty white robe with a white turban around his head, and a millennium item around his neck, even though she could not identify which one it was.
His eyes studied her intently. "You know why I have brought you back."
"I believe so," she said, biting down on her lip.
"You remember who I am." Shaadii nodded. "Good."
Roux nodded back to him. "Yes, I wouldn't forget you. But please tell my Shaadii, where am I? What is the purpose of this?"
Shaadii gave her a tiny smile, and he put a hand on her shoulder, and gestured her to walk with him, to examine the ancient, golden scripting on the walls. "As you know, we are indeed in Egypt, past this city is a haunted wasteland where brave men will not go." He told her, his deep voice echoing throughout the chamber. "This corridor you stand in, once belonged to an ancient pharaoh."
Roux looked around the chamber. It was certainly big enough to belong to an ancient pharaoh, she would not argue with him about that. She looked up at the scripting as Shaadii continued.
"When I came to you before in your dream, I sensed that you were not yet ready to learn the ancient history that has been bestowed to you." Shaadii told her as his eyes never left the scripting on the walls. "Indeed I believe it was the better thing to do, to wait."
Roux blinked up at him. She honestly had no idea what he was talking about, or what he was building up to. Why had he brought her here to Egypt? What was he trying to tell her?
"Your questions will be answered, Roux." He told her, smiling down at her. "But for now, I must tell you the history behind the eighth Millennium item, the ancient Millennium Stone. The ring you wear upon your finger."
Roux sighed sadly and looked down at her finger, at the ring that had been cursed to her skin, that had brought her much unhappiness in such little time. She knew it was a Millennium item, precisely why her life was in danger. Maybe that was what Shaadii had come to talk to her about. She looked up at him. "Tell me about it."
Shaadii nodded, and he turned to face her. He reached down and took her hand to look at the ring, and she examined it as well. "The stone within the eye of this ring, is an ancient crystal found only the deepest caves of the Egyptian desert."
They looked up at the walls and the scripting. Roux looked interested as she set her eyes upon the carving of a deity with a crystal between his hands.
"This rare ancient crystal was a myth to the pharaohs and the peoples of Egypt. It was said to heal the sick and to defeat evil, and to award immortality to the one who could wield it's every power. Every man in Egypt would have given anything for this mere crystal. Little did they know that one pharaoh would someday find it, and make a grave mistake by proclaiming to use it's power."
Suddenly Roux felt as though she were suddenly flying, as her hair was disturbed and when she looked up, her vision was blurred, and then she was in a completely different place altogether. She gasped when she saw she was in an underground cave. She could tell by the walls and the loose sand. Torches stood and cackled.
Roux stood still for a moment, until she felt Shaadii's presence with her, and then they began to walk down the cave's corridor. Towards a clearing they stopped and looked around. Roux saw workers, men digging and pounding at the walls with tools. They looked worn and disheveled, and some looked close to death.
Roux's lips parted unsettlingly. Slave labor. There was no doubt about it. It made her feel terrible.
"These were the workers who were assigned to find the stone, buried deep within the desert under the order of the pharaoh. Many died on this quest, many could not sustain the penalties of the pharaoh if they did not return with the stone each night."
Roux bit down on her lip. Her eyes were pinching, threatening tears. She almost told Shaadii to stop, but she didn't dare. She was intrigued, even though she was hurt.
"For many years they had searched," Shaadii continued without hesitation. "Many years they were left unsuccessful, until one day a young man found the stone."
Roux watched, and she looked and saw a young teenage boy digging in the sand, sweating and panting, trying to chant to himself, and then he stopped in interest as he saw something glimmering in the sand. He bent down to pick it up, brought it to the light and cheered out that he had found it.
"If it could grant such power," Roux said, entranced by the vision. "Why didn't he keep it for himself?"
Shaadii shook his head. "Such a thing was punishable by death by order of the Pharaoh, so the young man took the stone to the pharaoh, and was greatly rewarded."
"What was his reward, Shaadii?"
"Not only would he inherit the throne of Egypt, but he would claim ownership of the stone, as soon as the pharaoh had passed." Shaadii said, and he lowered his eyes to the sand.
~ That's quite a promotion! ~ Roux thought to herself, as she felt the room go into a blur once more and her mind become dizzy, as she realized they had traveled like they had before. Now they were in a chamber, a large chamber, and there were people gathered around the throne in the back of the room. Roux approached it carefully.
The young man she had seen in the caves sat upon the throne, holding out the ring that laid over his finger. The followers had all bowed in honor, and what seemed almost like fear. Roux watched, blinking now and then, trying to understand exactly what was happening.
"He believed that he had unlocked the secrets of the ring," Shaadii continued, and then he shook his head sorrowfully. "But he was mistaken. Gravely mistaken. And it had cost him his own life in the end. To believe you wield the powers of an Egyptian deity did not please the gods one bit, and in result he paid with his life."
Roux shook her head, thinking that this story was getting more and more unfortunate. She watched, and saw that the room had darkened, and they were in a tome. There was a single flame in the wall, and a young boy stood over the casket of the pharaoh.
Roux frowned and came towards them very slowly. The boy was crying, leaning over the casket with tears in his eyes, and holding the millennium stone in his hands.
"Then came the day that the Pharaoh's son had inherited the throne, and the ring of course. He would now wield the power of the stone." Shaadii spoke on rather cautiously. "But the power of this stone had killed his father. The new pharaoh decided it was too dangerous, that the powers could not be conquered. So he had it hidden deep in the wasteland of the desert."
The young boy looked over at Roux suddenly, as though he had seen her, as though he knew they were there all along. Roux gasped as she saw the young boy. She knew those eyes.
But suddenly they were back in the chamber, where they had been in the beginning. The visions were gone, and Roux shook her head to try to clear her mind. All the information she had received was overwhelming, and although she tried to keep it all straight, she was finding it rather difficult.
"Little did any of them know," came Shaadii's voce, as he reappeared beside her, his eyes darted to the scripting. "That the stone would be found again five thousand years later, discovered by an architect, and sold to a villager in Cairo in exchange for a camel." Shaadii looked over at her finally, to face her eyes. "This was where Kale Tori found it."
Roux's eyes lit up at the sound of Kale's voice, and again there was another vision. Roux felt her hair shift and her eyes blur, and suddenly they were outside, in the streets of Cairo. It was very busy, there were people passing them, even though they had never made contact with either Roux or Shaadii.
Roux wondered what they were supposed to be looking at, and then she gasped. She saw Kale, just across the road, only a few feet from her. He was younger, when he went to Egypt he still had his glasses. Roux smiled when she saw them, and she tried to burst forward to run to him. She had never thought she's ever see him again. Now she was proven wrong.
But Shaadii stopped her. "You will not be able to talk to him, and he will not be able to see you." He told her cautiously.
"I don't care," she said frantically, and she ran across the street with tears in her eyes. She was so happy to see him. She felt as though her best friend wasn't really gone after all. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly. But she was wary of what Shaadii had said.
She only watched him. He walked around wearing khaki shorts and a vest and a hat. He looked adorable, like a common explorer. He held his camera bag in one hand, and was rubbing his chin with the other, looking over a display of jewelry that a peasant was managing.
Roux looked down at the display. She saw the Millennium stone. All she could do was stare at it.
"Hmm!" Kale said as he bent over and picked it up with his fingers, and examined it closely. He had a rather interested smile over his lips. "I like this, what is it?" he asked the peasant.
"It's a ring, real gold." Said the peasant, who had a deep accent and probably didn't know very much English. But he looked rather eager to tell Kale more about the ring. "It's said to have an ancient history."
"Hmm!" Kale hummed with a huge smile on his face, as he did when he was thinking. "I like the sounds of that.yes. This is perfect! How much is it?"
After Kale had paid for it, and the peasant looked glad to have finally gotten rid of it, Kale began walking down the street, trying to polish the ring with his vest, and grinning down at it. "Oh Roux, I hope you'll say yes!" he said to himself, clearly enough that Roux could hear, and then he put it in a satin box and dropped it into his camera bag.
Roux was certain there were tears in her eyes, and she watched as Kale disappeared into the darkness of the vision. She reached out for him but he just kept walking. He couldn't hear her cries as she called to him.
The vision was gone. Kale was gone, and they were back in the chamber. Roux sighed. How she missed him, how she loved him as though he were her brother. How she would always be sad knowing she had to return to Osaka and never be able to talk to him over the phone, or have lunch with him again.
She was crying, she fell to her knees and the sand soaked under her salty rain. She couldn't control the tears, and she couldn't be comforted. Shaadii laid his hand on her shoulder.
"I know it is hard to accept the fact that someone we love is gone." He told her softly, as though he truly did feel sorrow on her behalf. "But he is not truly gone as long as you remember him."
Roux shook her head, and she looked at the ring on her finger. She was suddenly angry, far too angry for words. "This stupid ring! This fucking stone! Why? Why did he have to find it? WHY DID HE HAVE TO PICK IT UP?" she shouted to the chamber, and then began crying again.
"It was his destiny to find it," Shaadii said in response to her plea. "It was his destiny to give it to you. It was his destiny to die for it."
Roux shook her head angrily. "Kale never deserved to die." Her hands clenched to fists very tightly and she pounded them against the wall. "I swear I will find whoever killed Kale! I'll find them and I'll have revenge!"
Shaadii swallowed softly, as though he knew something she didn't. The sound of his tightened swallow made her look up questionably. His eyes were full of warning, she could see that he was easily frightened for her.
"You may not have a chance," he said to her softly. "As of now, they are coming for you. And that is why you must be very wary Roux. You must stay under the protection of your friends, you must not bring yourself to danger."
Roux looked at Shaadii very sternly. "What about this stone? What do I do with it?" she asked him, angrily glaring at the ring.
Shaadii looked at the ring on her finger, and his eyes remained frozen, as though caught in a trance. "You will be able to possess it's great magic without corruption." He told her. "Roux, it may have been Kale's destiny to find the stone. But it is your destiny to wield it. Remember that."
And just as quickly as everything else in this eventful dream, Shaadii was gone.
Finally Roux's eyes opened, and fluttered softly. She was facing the ceiling. It was still dark inside the room. When she sat up, she realized that she was in bed, she was in the guest room at the Wheeler's apartment. She remembered falling asleep, being in this room, watching the moon come up. She looked at the clock. It was nearing four in the morning.
With a deep sigh, and knowing she had learned a lot about the stone on her finger from the eventful dream, she fell back down into the pillows and sheets, and without warning she was asleep again before she could think.
This time she did not dream.
~*~
The city lights of Domino City were still flashing and glinting brightly in the early morning darkness. The whole city was wrapped in slumber, and only those with such unsettling lives were the ones who were awake at this time of night.
The harbor was still. All the sailors and the owners of the yachts and the ships had gone home or gone down to the cabins to sleep for the evening. It had been a long day for them all it seemed. Domino City's harbor was rarely disturbed this time of night.
Except for now.
Through the setting fog coming from the clouds, a ghostly cruise ship came floating very softly along the waters of the harbor. The pristine boat was perfect, large in size and flawless. It seemed like a ship from a ghost story, how it was untouched and perfect.
No one noticed it, no one saw, as this cruise ship floated into the harbor of Domino City very silently, moving like a cat. It almost seemed to carry the mist with it. But this ship held more dangerous cargo other than mist.
Inside one of the cabins, a young man sat in the darkness by himself on a chair. In front of him was a glass of brandy with ice, and with his finger he twirled the ice around, staring at the way the light of the city outside reflected down into the glass and through the liquid.
The young man looked up at one point past his purple hood, and looked out of the shudders of the window. He smiled fiendishly to himself. Yes, Domino City. Soon his plan would play out, and the Millennium stone would be his, and nothing would stand in his way.
There was a knock at the door, and he smiled to himself. "Come in." he called.
It was a guard, who had come to report that they had arrived. "We're here, Master Marik."
The Legend of the Millennium Stone
That night Roux lay down in bed feeling happier and excited. She could barely lay still that night in bed, she couldn't stop thinking about the tournament, how much fun it would be, and how lucky she was that she was still in it. She didn't know what Yugi had said to Kaiba, but for it she had kissed his cheek twice and hugged him to show her appreciation. Thanks to him she was able to stay in the tournament.
Roux was glad Yugi had some common sense, going to talk to Kaiba was the adult thing to do, instead of Duke and Joey who threatened to result to violence. Roux admired Yugi for what he had done for her. She promised him she would not let all the trouble he went through to get her back in go to waste.
The trick was to steer clear of Kaiba from now until the tournament, and even then she wanted to make sure she didn't run into him. He was not happy to let her back into the tournament, she could tell by the look in his eyes. So Roux decided that she had been more than fortunate to get back into the tournament; she would not risk being disqualified again. And if that meant staying out of Kaiba's way, she was only too happy to comply.
Nevertheless Roux felt great about being back in to the tournament, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face, staring out at the bright moon, and within a moment she felt herself surrendering to sleep.
She felt her mind wander as she closed her eyes and felt her body sink into the covers of the bed, feeling warm and protected, and happy.
But it was only a matter of seconds before she woke up and her eyes were full of sunlight. Roux smiled and thought it was morning, but instead she found herself standing in the middle of the desert.
~ It's the dream! ~ Roux thought to herself, looking around in awe at her surroundings. ~ It's my dream from the other night! I'm sure of it! ~
Roux began to walk along the sand, her feet sinking into the sand making dune footprints behind her. The cool wind blew softly against her skin and through her hair as the hot Egyptian sun poured down over her. As she walked she could see the sky turning a soft purple, issuing that it was near sundown. Roux wondered how long she had been walking for, but with the sun set she could now see the shape of pyramids, black against the purple sky.
Then, before her mind came to wake, she was running with her full might over the sand, against the wind as the stars broke out above her. She was nearing the pyramids quickly, running the fastest she could. When she reached them, when they towered over her, leaving her in the gulf of their shadow, only then she stopped, and she stared up at the massive structures.
The wind had stopped the earth was quiet. There was not a sound anywhere. Not a whisper of the wind, not a snake against the sand. A single movement would have caused the air to tremble under echo. Roux looked around. There was not another soul anywhere around not from what she could see. The silence was startling.
Roux almost shouted out, but she didn't. She couldn't see the sense in yelling out as there was no one around, and the echo would only come back to deafen her. She only stood and watched and listened. There was nothing.
Before her eyes, suddenly, alarming her increasingly, a torch in front of her flamed before her eyes, mysteriously. She looked over, and listened to the crackling of the flames, licking up at the air, giving precious light to the space around it. Roux stared at the flame, the burning in her eyes glared. The torch was watching.
Then another torch lit, and another, and another. They all began to light before her, before her very eyes, as though her mere presence was a sign of great magic. As Roux followed the lights of the torches with her eyes, she watched as they narrowed towards the wall of the pyramid, and her breath rose as she saw the flames light the doorway to a corridor, leading into the pyramid.
The lights whispered to her, told her to follow the corridor, walk down it to seek the truth. What kind of truth would a model find in the corridor of a pyramid? But Roux could only smile, and she stepped forward as she thought to herself. ~ Shaadii. He's come to me again. ~
She began to walk down the corridor, and as she took steps the torches burst into flame, lighting every step of the way. She followed the lights slowly, examining her surroundings, looking for traps of any kind. But it seemed like any other corridor. All she had to do was follow the lights.
Indeed they had not betrayed her, as they led her into a large chamber. She had to crank her neck to see the ceiling, and to examine the painted pillars that told stories of the past. The chamber was wide and empty, and the lights made the dust and remaining sand cloud before her eyes. Roux stopped.
She looked down at the floor; she looked at the walls. Old Egyptian writings, stories of the past untold by language, the majestic golden tiles of ancient Egypt which explained the lives of the great pharaohs and their followers. Roux stood against the wall and examined them with awe and interest. Even if she couldn't read them, they would fascinate her.
"Roux." Came a voice from the shadows, and Roux turned around swiftly to face the voice that was calling her name through the wind. Her eyes scanned the chamber. No one stood to her sight.
But she already knew who it was.
"Shaadii?" Roux called out to the room, looking around still for evidence of his presence there.
"Yes, Roux." Came his voice, and it was right next to her. Roux wheeled around, and there he stood, a rather haunting young man with wise blue eyes, tanned skin, dressed in a dusty white robe with a white turban around his head, and a millennium item around his neck, even though she could not identify which one it was.
His eyes studied her intently. "You know why I have brought you back."
"I believe so," she said, biting down on her lip.
"You remember who I am." Shaadii nodded. "Good."
Roux nodded back to him. "Yes, I wouldn't forget you. But please tell my Shaadii, where am I? What is the purpose of this?"
Shaadii gave her a tiny smile, and he put a hand on her shoulder, and gestured her to walk with him, to examine the ancient, golden scripting on the walls. "As you know, we are indeed in Egypt, past this city is a haunted wasteland where brave men will not go." He told her, his deep voice echoing throughout the chamber. "This corridor you stand in, once belonged to an ancient pharaoh."
Roux looked around the chamber. It was certainly big enough to belong to an ancient pharaoh, she would not argue with him about that. She looked up at the scripting as Shaadii continued.
"When I came to you before in your dream, I sensed that you were not yet ready to learn the ancient history that has been bestowed to you." Shaadii told her as his eyes never left the scripting on the walls. "Indeed I believe it was the better thing to do, to wait."
Roux blinked up at him. She honestly had no idea what he was talking about, or what he was building up to. Why had he brought her here to Egypt? What was he trying to tell her?
"Your questions will be answered, Roux." He told her, smiling down at her. "But for now, I must tell you the history behind the eighth Millennium item, the ancient Millennium Stone. The ring you wear upon your finger."
Roux sighed sadly and looked down at her finger, at the ring that had been cursed to her skin, that had brought her much unhappiness in such little time. She knew it was a Millennium item, precisely why her life was in danger. Maybe that was what Shaadii had come to talk to her about. She looked up at him. "Tell me about it."
Shaadii nodded, and he turned to face her. He reached down and took her hand to look at the ring, and she examined it as well. "The stone within the eye of this ring, is an ancient crystal found only the deepest caves of the Egyptian desert."
They looked up at the walls and the scripting. Roux looked interested as she set her eyes upon the carving of a deity with a crystal between his hands.
"This rare ancient crystal was a myth to the pharaohs and the peoples of Egypt. It was said to heal the sick and to defeat evil, and to award immortality to the one who could wield it's every power. Every man in Egypt would have given anything for this mere crystal. Little did they know that one pharaoh would someday find it, and make a grave mistake by proclaiming to use it's power."
Suddenly Roux felt as though she were suddenly flying, as her hair was disturbed and when she looked up, her vision was blurred, and then she was in a completely different place altogether. She gasped when she saw she was in an underground cave. She could tell by the walls and the loose sand. Torches stood and cackled.
Roux stood still for a moment, until she felt Shaadii's presence with her, and then they began to walk down the cave's corridor. Towards a clearing they stopped and looked around. Roux saw workers, men digging and pounding at the walls with tools. They looked worn and disheveled, and some looked close to death.
Roux's lips parted unsettlingly. Slave labor. There was no doubt about it. It made her feel terrible.
"These were the workers who were assigned to find the stone, buried deep within the desert under the order of the pharaoh. Many died on this quest, many could not sustain the penalties of the pharaoh if they did not return with the stone each night."
Roux bit down on her lip. Her eyes were pinching, threatening tears. She almost told Shaadii to stop, but she didn't dare. She was intrigued, even though she was hurt.
"For many years they had searched," Shaadii continued without hesitation. "Many years they were left unsuccessful, until one day a young man found the stone."
Roux watched, and she looked and saw a young teenage boy digging in the sand, sweating and panting, trying to chant to himself, and then he stopped in interest as he saw something glimmering in the sand. He bent down to pick it up, brought it to the light and cheered out that he had found it.
"If it could grant such power," Roux said, entranced by the vision. "Why didn't he keep it for himself?"
Shaadii shook his head. "Such a thing was punishable by death by order of the Pharaoh, so the young man took the stone to the pharaoh, and was greatly rewarded."
"What was his reward, Shaadii?"
"Not only would he inherit the throne of Egypt, but he would claim ownership of the stone, as soon as the pharaoh had passed." Shaadii said, and he lowered his eyes to the sand.
~ That's quite a promotion! ~ Roux thought to herself, as she felt the room go into a blur once more and her mind become dizzy, as she realized they had traveled like they had before. Now they were in a chamber, a large chamber, and there were people gathered around the throne in the back of the room. Roux approached it carefully.
The young man she had seen in the caves sat upon the throne, holding out the ring that laid over his finger. The followers had all bowed in honor, and what seemed almost like fear. Roux watched, blinking now and then, trying to understand exactly what was happening.
"He believed that he had unlocked the secrets of the ring," Shaadii continued, and then he shook his head sorrowfully. "But he was mistaken. Gravely mistaken. And it had cost him his own life in the end. To believe you wield the powers of an Egyptian deity did not please the gods one bit, and in result he paid with his life."
Roux shook her head, thinking that this story was getting more and more unfortunate. She watched, and saw that the room had darkened, and they were in a tome. There was a single flame in the wall, and a young boy stood over the casket of the pharaoh.
Roux frowned and came towards them very slowly. The boy was crying, leaning over the casket with tears in his eyes, and holding the millennium stone in his hands.
"Then came the day that the Pharaoh's son had inherited the throne, and the ring of course. He would now wield the power of the stone." Shaadii spoke on rather cautiously. "But the power of this stone had killed his father. The new pharaoh decided it was too dangerous, that the powers could not be conquered. So he had it hidden deep in the wasteland of the desert."
The young boy looked over at Roux suddenly, as though he had seen her, as though he knew they were there all along. Roux gasped as she saw the young boy. She knew those eyes.
But suddenly they were back in the chamber, where they had been in the beginning. The visions were gone, and Roux shook her head to try to clear her mind. All the information she had received was overwhelming, and although she tried to keep it all straight, she was finding it rather difficult.
"Little did any of them know," came Shaadii's voce, as he reappeared beside her, his eyes darted to the scripting. "That the stone would be found again five thousand years later, discovered by an architect, and sold to a villager in Cairo in exchange for a camel." Shaadii looked over at her finally, to face her eyes. "This was where Kale Tori found it."
Roux's eyes lit up at the sound of Kale's voice, and again there was another vision. Roux felt her hair shift and her eyes blur, and suddenly they were outside, in the streets of Cairo. It was very busy, there were people passing them, even though they had never made contact with either Roux or Shaadii.
Roux wondered what they were supposed to be looking at, and then she gasped. She saw Kale, just across the road, only a few feet from her. He was younger, when he went to Egypt he still had his glasses. Roux smiled when she saw them, and she tried to burst forward to run to him. She had never thought she's ever see him again. Now she was proven wrong.
But Shaadii stopped her. "You will not be able to talk to him, and he will not be able to see you." He told her cautiously.
"I don't care," she said frantically, and she ran across the street with tears in her eyes. She was so happy to see him. She felt as though her best friend wasn't really gone after all. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly. But she was wary of what Shaadii had said.
She only watched him. He walked around wearing khaki shorts and a vest and a hat. He looked adorable, like a common explorer. He held his camera bag in one hand, and was rubbing his chin with the other, looking over a display of jewelry that a peasant was managing.
Roux looked down at the display. She saw the Millennium stone. All she could do was stare at it.
"Hmm!" Kale said as he bent over and picked it up with his fingers, and examined it closely. He had a rather interested smile over his lips. "I like this, what is it?" he asked the peasant.
"It's a ring, real gold." Said the peasant, who had a deep accent and probably didn't know very much English. But he looked rather eager to tell Kale more about the ring. "It's said to have an ancient history."
"Hmm!" Kale hummed with a huge smile on his face, as he did when he was thinking. "I like the sounds of that.yes. This is perfect! How much is it?"
After Kale had paid for it, and the peasant looked glad to have finally gotten rid of it, Kale began walking down the street, trying to polish the ring with his vest, and grinning down at it. "Oh Roux, I hope you'll say yes!" he said to himself, clearly enough that Roux could hear, and then he put it in a satin box and dropped it into his camera bag.
Roux was certain there were tears in her eyes, and she watched as Kale disappeared into the darkness of the vision. She reached out for him but he just kept walking. He couldn't hear her cries as she called to him.
The vision was gone. Kale was gone, and they were back in the chamber. Roux sighed. How she missed him, how she loved him as though he were her brother. How she would always be sad knowing she had to return to Osaka and never be able to talk to him over the phone, or have lunch with him again.
She was crying, she fell to her knees and the sand soaked under her salty rain. She couldn't control the tears, and she couldn't be comforted. Shaadii laid his hand on her shoulder.
"I know it is hard to accept the fact that someone we love is gone." He told her softly, as though he truly did feel sorrow on her behalf. "But he is not truly gone as long as you remember him."
Roux shook her head, and she looked at the ring on her finger. She was suddenly angry, far too angry for words. "This stupid ring! This fucking stone! Why? Why did he have to find it? WHY DID HE HAVE TO PICK IT UP?" she shouted to the chamber, and then began crying again.
"It was his destiny to find it," Shaadii said in response to her plea. "It was his destiny to give it to you. It was his destiny to die for it."
Roux shook her head angrily. "Kale never deserved to die." Her hands clenched to fists very tightly and she pounded them against the wall. "I swear I will find whoever killed Kale! I'll find them and I'll have revenge!"
Shaadii swallowed softly, as though he knew something she didn't. The sound of his tightened swallow made her look up questionably. His eyes were full of warning, she could see that he was easily frightened for her.
"You may not have a chance," he said to her softly. "As of now, they are coming for you. And that is why you must be very wary Roux. You must stay under the protection of your friends, you must not bring yourself to danger."
Roux looked at Shaadii very sternly. "What about this stone? What do I do with it?" she asked him, angrily glaring at the ring.
Shaadii looked at the ring on her finger, and his eyes remained frozen, as though caught in a trance. "You will be able to possess it's great magic without corruption." He told her. "Roux, it may have been Kale's destiny to find the stone. But it is your destiny to wield it. Remember that."
And just as quickly as everything else in this eventful dream, Shaadii was gone.
Finally Roux's eyes opened, and fluttered softly. She was facing the ceiling. It was still dark inside the room. When she sat up, she realized that she was in bed, she was in the guest room at the Wheeler's apartment. She remembered falling asleep, being in this room, watching the moon come up. She looked at the clock. It was nearing four in the morning.
With a deep sigh, and knowing she had learned a lot about the stone on her finger from the eventful dream, she fell back down into the pillows and sheets, and without warning she was asleep again before she could think.
This time she did not dream.
~*~
The city lights of Domino City were still flashing and glinting brightly in the early morning darkness. The whole city was wrapped in slumber, and only those with such unsettling lives were the ones who were awake at this time of night.
The harbor was still. All the sailors and the owners of the yachts and the ships had gone home or gone down to the cabins to sleep for the evening. It had been a long day for them all it seemed. Domino City's harbor was rarely disturbed this time of night.
Except for now.
Through the setting fog coming from the clouds, a ghostly cruise ship came floating very softly along the waters of the harbor. The pristine boat was perfect, large in size and flawless. It seemed like a ship from a ghost story, how it was untouched and perfect.
No one noticed it, no one saw, as this cruise ship floated into the harbor of Domino City very silently, moving like a cat. It almost seemed to carry the mist with it. But this ship held more dangerous cargo other than mist.
Inside one of the cabins, a young man sat in the darkness by himself on a chair. In front of him was a glass of brandy with ice, and with his finger he twirled the ice around, staring at the way the light of the city outside reflected down into the glass and through the liquid.
The young man looked up at one point past his purple hood, and looked out of the shudders of the window. He smiled fiendishly to himself. Yes, Domino City. Soon his plan would play out, and the Millennium stone would be his, and nothing would stand in his way.
There was a knock at the door, and he smiled to himself. "Come in." he called.
It was a guard, who had come to report that they had arrived. "We're here, Master Marik."