Hello all! Here's chapter three. Just one thing I want to say. When Yugi-tachi is speaking to servants, soldiers, other nobles, etc. , they speak Ancient Egyptian (If you pay attention, then it is explained a little later). When speaking with each other, alone, they speak Japanese, k?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Consciousness slowly returned to Serenity. She shifted, wondering why she felt bruised and sore.
"Girl!" a distant voice said sharply. Serenity tried to shut it out.
"Girl, wake up!" someone shook her. Serenity moaned, wanting this person to leave her alone.
Suddenly, Serenity's head shot back as the person slapped her, hard. Her eyes came open and she looked up dazedly, into the face of a rather unfriendly looking older woman. Serenity frowned. The woman was dressed in a linen shift; her graying black hair brushed back and dark lines painted around her eyes. Blinking, the girl looked around at the room.
"What is the matter with you girl?" the woman demanded. "Get up! The princess will be rising soon and you will take the Perfuming* to her." The woman spun on her heel and walked out. Serenity sat up, still feeling bruised. She looked down at her hands…and gasped. They were her hands; rather long, slender, with nice nails and a little scar between her middle and pointer finger from an accident. But they weren't her normal peaches and cream complexion. These hands were as dark as Isis'. Serenity shot to her feet, looking down at the body she now inhabited. It was the same color all over, and she was wearing a white shift.
Shaking, Serenity sat back on the bed, her breath coming in quick gasps.
"Mutemwia!" a younger girl ran in. "You need to come now. Mutemwia?"
Serenity stared at her and watched as the girl recoiled**, then look down at her feet. "Senmut says to come now and take the princess her meal." She said softly, then fled the room. Serenity got up and walked shakily out. Where was she supposed to go? Suddenly, to her shock, Serenity found herself knowing exactly where the royal kitchens where-wait, royal kitchens? Serenity swallowed hard as her feet seemed to drag her somewhere against her will.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
"They said he just collapsed."
"Is he going to be all right?"
"He should be, my queen. He will wake soon."
Yugi frowned mentally. He didn't recognize these voices. And what queen? Yugi sighed. He must be dreaming. Automatically, he reached for Yami's presence…only to realize that the spirit wasn't there. Shock, fear and confusion spread throughout Yugi as he realized that Yami's soul room wasn't there either. His eyes shot open. Everything was blurry, then he was able to focus on a face above his.
"Ankh?" he asked confused. The healer smiled.
"Hello, my prince. You gave us quite a scare."
His face went away from view. Still confused, Yugi opened his mouth to ask what Ankh meant, but another face came into his vision. It was a woman, beautiful, but rather worn looking. She smiled.
"Are you all right?" she asked, barely concealed relief and concern in her voice. "What happened, Yami?"
'Yami? My name is Yugi. Wait….has Yami…? No, his soul room is gone. That means Yami is gone.' A wave of grief passed through the boy and he closed his eyes again, a tear falling down his cheek.
"What is it, sa'a?" the woman asked, wiping away his tears. "Why do you weep? Are you in pain?"
Yugi managed to shake his head; he couldn't seem to find his voice.
"Ankhkare?" The woman sounded confused.
"Just let him rest, my queen. That is probably what he needs most. That was quite a fall he had."
"You are probably right." The woman agreed. "Yami?"
Yugi opened his eyes.
"I will be back in a little bit; I need to go to your father, all right?"
Yugi nodded. The woman brushed his bangs away from his face, smiled fondly, then got up and left. Yugi heard them both leave. For a few moments, he simply laid there, trying to make sense of what had happened. Then he felt sleep threatening to claim him. Yugi tried to resist it; he had to find out what was going on! But the darkness was too strong and it claimed him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryou groaned and shifted, then opened an eye. There was someone next to him; back to back. Ryou sat up, blinking.
"Uh…" the other person sat up. "Where are we? Ryou?"
Ryou was just staring at the woman opposite him. Her skin was dark, but there was something very familiar about her black hair and her gold-flecked brown eyes.
"Rei?"
"Duh. Who else would I…" she trailed off. "What the hell are you wearing?"
Ryou looked down at the kilt, the leather belt that had red and gold embroidery, and sandals. "Um…" he looked back at Rei. "What are you wearing?"
Rei looked down at the linen gown she had on and stood.
"So…" Rei said in a controlled voice. "What are we doing here and who are we?" she looked at him. "You're dark."
"So are you."
"Bakura!"**** a voice rang out and then a person appeared in the doorway. "Ah, there you are brother…Lady Bener? What brings you here so early in the morning?"
Rei opened her mouth, when the man held up a hand. "Never mind." He chuckled. "I do not want to know. Bakura, you should be up at the house. My lady, I believe your mother is looking for you."
Rei nodded, her stance rather stiff, making her seem proud and very noble like. She walked out, her sandaled feet crunching against the dirt the only noise. As soon as she was out of earshot, the man turned to Ryou. The smile was gone.
"Bakura, what were you thinking? If you wish to bed her, then do it somewhere where you won't be caught!"
Ryou blushed. "We weren't…" he fumbled. He didn't know what they had been doing and his blushed deepened.
The other man sighed. "Very well, I will believe you. But, whatever you were doing, take care not to do it again."
Ryou looked at the man….Wadjet? Yes, something in his mind said that this was Wadjet, his older brother. Wadjet put a hand on Ryou's shoulder.
"Bener's parents are proud. It would bode ill with you both if you were found out, but mostly for you. Just be careful, all right?"
Ryou could only nod. Wadjet squeezed his shoulder and walked out. Ryou followed after a little while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yami?"***
Yugi heard the voice again and a cool hand touched his cheek.
"Yami, wake up."
Yugi managed to open his eyes a little. The woman was there again, and behind her was another young woman. Yugi's eyes widened a little. Tea!
"Tefnut wanted to see you." The woman said quietly, then stood. "I will leave you two alone. "
"Tea?" Yugi croaked out as soon as the other woman was gone.
"Yugi, is that you?" Tea asked in a whisper.
"Yeah. What happened?"
"I don't know." Tea grimaced. "Apparently you fell and cut your head open. Nice one."
"I didn't mean too. I don't remember falling." Yugi frowned, then looked at Tea again. "Yami's gone." He whispered. "I can't feel him…his soul room is gone."
"That lady was calling you Yami." Tea was silent then spoke again. "Is it possible we've somehow…I dunno, showed up in Ancient Egypt?"
Yugi thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess." He finally answered. That explained a lot. "How are we going to get home?"
"I don't know." Tea suddenly seemed sad. "Serenity is here too; she's my maid apparently. They call her Mutemwia. I'm Tefnut. It's…strange."
Yugi closed his eyes again. "You're skin is darker and so is your hair. But your eyes are still blue."
"Same goes with you." Tea smiled. "Only you look exactly like Yami does. You kinda sound like him too."
Yugi smiled and opened his eyes. "Great. I must be trapped in his body." He frowned. "Does this mean I'm Pharaoh?"
"I don't think so." Tea said. "They were talking about your father, Ak-something and it sounded as if he were still alive."
Yugi nodded carefully and then slowly sat up. "Ugh…I feel fuzzy."
"You probably shouldn't sit up." Tea said worriedly. "You did get hurt pretty bad."
Yugi looked at her dazedly and she reached out to help him up.
"I really don't think you ought to stand." She said, biting her lip. Yugi leaned heavily on her, as the room spun.
"I just…I just want to…" with a moan, Yugi sank back down on his sleeping couch. "Never mind."
Tea gently stroked his hair. "Just rest." She said softly. Yugi's eyes closed slowly and his breathing became soft. Tea still sat there, one of his hands in hers. She bit the inside of her cheek. How were they going to get home?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been several days and Isis and Shadi were no closer to figuring out what to do than they had been. The yamis tried to help, but Bakura and Yami were not getting along and it didn't help that Scales encouraged them. Ankh tried to play peacemaker, but it didn't work at times.
As of right now, Yami was pacing back and forth, Bakura was watching with a sneer on his face, Ankh looked around at everyone worriedly while Scales alternatively smirked and scowled. Shadi stood in the doorway and Isis was seated against the wall.
"Hell and damnation!" Yami finally exploded. Isis sighed. She had felt this coming on.
"There has to be something we can do!" the spirit continued.
"Like what, your highness?" Bakura drew out the title like it was a slur. Yami turned and narrowed his eyes at him.
"What about the tomb?" a meek voice suggested.
Everyone, even Shadi, turned to look at Ankh.
"What did you say?" Yami asked.
"The Pha-uh, your tomb." The healer said. "I think we can assume that whatever it was, had to do with the Items, right? Then maybe, we should, um…" he trailed off and looked to Shadi for help.
The man was silent. "It's not such a bad idea, though I do not know what knowledge it could afford us." He finally said. "But it is a start."
Yami seemed a little bit more relaxed now that there was something to do. "So, who should go to the tomb?"
Shadi paused, remembering a certain "accident" Scales and Ankh had had there once. "You, me and Scales. He can read better than any of us." The man finally decided. Hopefully, having Yami with them, even in spirit form, would help keep any traps or curses under control. Shadi looked at Yami.
"We'll go tonight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryou was seated in the garden when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw Rei. She smiled as she sat next to him.
"Hi." She said.
"Hi."
There was a silence.
"So…." Rei leaned back onto her elbows. "You're just Bakura here?"
"And you are Bener?"
Rei grinned. "Why is it our names seem to always start with the same letter?"******
Ryou shrugged, and grinned back at her. "Must be some sort of natural law."
Rei laughed. There was another silence.
"What is going on?" Ryou finally asked. Rei looked up at him.
"I don't know." She said softly. "Apparently, our families are related by marriage, so we have to see each other. They know that we, ahem, like each other in a certain way and are on the continual watch to keep us apart." There was a dry note to her voice now and a mischievous light in her eye. "Alas for the young lovers."
Ryou laughed outright. Rei smiled at him and chuckled.
"Boy, this would make some paper." She continued. "You know, for Sakawa-sensei's class? 'What I Did During Summer Vacation'. I can just see it now. 'Well, for starters, I ended up in Ancient Egypt.'"
Ryou laughed harder. "You seem to be in rare form today."
"I can't help it. Family reunions make me sarcastic."
"Even when they don't happen to be yours?"
"Especially."
Ryou smiled and looked at the garden pond. There was a short time of silence and his smile faded.
"We have to get home."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Anything?" Shadi asked. Scales scowled at him.
"How can I find anything when I have a moron like you about? Beat it!"
Shadi sighed and decided to go check on the Pharaoh. He found the spirit looking at a painted wall. Shadi stopped in the shadows as he saw Yami reached out and touch a part of the wall, as if he were trying to remember something that was beyond recall.
"You can come in."
Shadi blinked at the sound of Yami's voice, but stepped in anyway.
"I feel like I should remember, but I can't. It's frustrating." Yami frowned. "Like this woman here. I feel like I should know her, but there is no memory."
Shadi looked at the painting. It showed an Egyptian woman, dressed in linen and flowers, the cobra of the royal family on her brow. He said nothing.
Yami sighed and turned towards him. "How is Scales coming along?"
"I don't know. He won't tell me."
Yami's eyes narrowed with impatience.
"He'll tell nobody if we press him." Shadi continued in a warning voice. "Just leave him alone; he will work it out."
Yami nodded and went back to looking at wall paintings. Shadi sat on the ground for a moment. They were both silent.
After a while, Scales came through the doorway. "Nothing in there."
Shadi sighed while standing. "Let's try another room then."
Scales snorted. "I still don't see why we're doing this."
"To get all those bodies out of our house." Shadi answered, almost automatically. Yami was frowning at Scale's back. Shadi mentally sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
"Tea."
The young woman looked up as Serenity came behind her. Tea smiled wryly. She'd almost hadn't seen it was Serenity when the girl first came to her room. Serenity's skin had darkened, as had Tea's. Serenity's hair was the same length, but it had darkened to a muddy brown, just as Tea's had darkened to almost black. Only her eyes were the same; a sparkling green which were just as rare in Ancient Egypt as Tea's own pale blue.
"Something wrong?" she asked as Serenity seemed loath to come forward. The girl twisted up her face, then bowed to her knees. Tea hid a smile; there must be others watching.
"Seto's here." Serenity said, sitting on her heels, but still keeping her face downwards. "I saw him talking to one of the healers. Joey was with him."
There was immense relief in the other's voice.
"That's good." Tea said, relief in her own voice as well.
"And you'll never guess who's here to see you." Serenity's smile was evident in her voice. "One of Yugi's half sisters."*****
"Oh." Tea said with slight alarm. Serenity looked up for a minute, then snapped her head back down.
"I wouldn't worry too much." She said. "I'll go get the princess."
As Serenity stood and left, leaving Tea looking at the garden pond. She was seated on the steps that descended into it, a scroll on her lap. She had been trying to decipher the symbols on it. It was strange; she was still Tea, but there was a Tefnut inside of her; a being who knew the customs, the language, everything a royal princess should do. At times, it almost seemed to Tea that Tefnut would almost take over and she would unconsciously beat her back. She wondered if this was how Yugi or Ryou had felt at times.
The sound of giggling brought her back to the present and she turned…then her mouth fell open. In front of her stood none other than a dark version of Mai (the violet eyes were the same) and behind her, a still blonde Tara giggling.
"Tea?"
"Hi."
Mai's mouth quirked. "Well, this is a fine pickle we've landed in. I haven't seen anything so strange since Pegasus did whatever he did to Kaiba." The woman crossed in her arms in a way only Mai could.
"I'm Tefnut. Serenity is Mutemwia. Who are you two?"
"My name's Ipwet." Mai made a face. "And Tara is-"
"Mara." Tara burst into giggles again. Tea couldn't help but grin. She stood.
"I think it's almost lunch time. We'd better go in."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Joey was staring blankly at a wall, Seto next to him. The taller boy glanced at him, then frowned.
"I don't believe this." He murmured.
"Me neither." Joey muttered. "What kind of priest were you again?"
Seto's frown deepened. He couldn't remember; he could tell he was close to graduation…wait, how had he known that? Seto inwardly growled. The same way he knew the language and the damn customs, he supposed. He just wished he didn't have to be called Seth. He hated that name.
But it was better than Tanefer; Joey's 'name.' Seto chuckled. Yesterday Tristan or 'Ramose' had teased Joey, saying Tanefer sounded like Jennifer. The two boys were under Seto's "father", learning how to be charioteers. Joey had been assigned a sort of body-guard duty for Seto; a job neither was too excited about.
"Seth!"
They both turned to see a younger version of Ankh come over. Apparently, in spite of his youth, he was a healer here. And a talented one at that. The green-eyed man smiled gently as he approached.
"Hello, Tanefer, Seth. Peach, life and prosperity." Ankh greeted them and they answered in like. "I'm just about to go check on the crown prince. Would you two like to accompany me?"
Seto answered for the both of them and pretty soon they were on their way.
"What's wrong with the prince?" Joey spoke up; though something told him he probably should be quiet. Ankh didn't seem to mind however as he answered.
"He was riding in his chariot this morning, when, from what I can gather, he just collapsed. He fell out of the chariot and struck his head on a rock. The prince's men brought him back. He was bleeding heavily, but head wounds often do. I do not think that it will bring any long-term damage." They paused before a door and Ankh gave a gentle knock. "Princess Tefnut was here earlier." He explained. "I do not know if she still is."
The door was opened by a man servant, who admitted them. Sitting near a window was the prince. Seto and Joey glanced at each other. It looked like Yugi…or Yami? The prince turned towards them and they noticed the slight physical differences that had always separated the two, but the eyes weren't Yami's. They weren't as slanted, nor were they the same crimson color, but a brilliant shade of violet. They were also soft and kind, none of the hard pride of Yami in them. The prince stood as Ankh approached.
"You should sit down and let me look at this." The healer said. Without a word, the prince complied. Ankh looked him over.
"Well, you probably have a bad headache, right?"
"Yes."
"Can you see clearly?"
"Yes."
"All right; I'll give you something for the pain." Ankh said, looking through his healer's kit. "I'll get some tea made for you. Meanwhile, you should rest some more. You'll be up and about by tomorrow." Ankh made as to leave, and Seto stopped him.
"Is it all right if we stay a while?" he asked. Ankh looked back at the prince.
"I would like for Seto-Seth, to stay." The prince said. "For a bit."
"All right." Ankh nodded, then turned to Seto. "Just be careful." Then he left.
As soon as he was gone, the prince told the servant and the two guards to please leave the room. As soon as they left, he turned to them, a little warily.
"Hello Yugi." Seto said before the boy could say anything. He had caught Yugi's slip.
"Hi." Yugi seemed to sag with relief. He glanced at Joey and smiled. Joey grinned back.
"Pretty wild, huh?"
"I guess." Yugi gestured for them to sit down. "But I'd feel a lot better if we knew what was going on and how we ended up here."
Seto nodded. He agreed. "Do you suppose we all were caught up here?" he asked.
"I don't know." Yugi sighed. "I'm Yami. This is so weird." He looked up. "Yami's father, Akhumkanon, came here earlier. He wanted to talk to me about accepting the Sennen Puzzle after he dies and…and I'm crowned." Yugi shifted on his couch, rather uncomfortably. "Oh, and I'm betrothed to Tea."
Joey chuckled. "I'll bet you're relieved about that."
They paused as servant entered and gave Yugi some tea. Bowing, the servant then left.
"So…" Joey said. "What are we going to do?"
Yugi looked uncomfortable. "Go along with it, I guess. Seto?"
"It's the only thing we really can do." He acquiesced.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
*I believe that the breakfast was often referred to as "The Perfuming of the Mouth" or just the Perfuming, for short.
**Serenity's eyes are still green and all the others have kept their original eye color. Green was an eye color that was probably only seen in foreigners and blue eyes were rare as well, since they were associated with evil spirits that would steal a person's soul.
***Since Yami's Ancient Egyptian name is currently unknown, I'm just going to go with Yami. Once I find out, I'll change it.
****Yup, Y.Bakura's Egyptian name was…Bakura. Makes it a whole lot easier, ne?
*****For those of you who don't know, Pharaoh not only had a crown queen, but also many lesser wives and concubines. This meant lots of half brothers and sisters about. Often, a pharaoh would be wed to a half-sister to keep royal blood strong.
******I don't know why this happens. O.O It's just a sub-conscious decision that their names have to start with the same letter. Weird, huh?
Character names:
Yugi – Yami
Tea – Tefnut
Serenity – Mutemwia
Mai – Ipwet
Joey – Tanefer
Tristan – Ramose
Seto – Seth
Ryou – Bakura
Rei – Bener
Tara - Mara
Sa'a – Ancient Egyptian word that means "son of the heart", which really means, beloved son. See? I did my research. Aren't you proud? *smiles widely*
-sensei – Teacher. Not sure if I spelled it right…
Reviewer Response:
Whew! Is it me or do these A/N keep getting longer? Oh well.
Dr. Vorlon – lol, glad I have! ^__^ I'm glad you've kept reading.
Black Mistress – She didn't have an e-mail up. :-( Oh well, I'll just guess…I'm doing plenty of that anyway. *sweatdrop* Oooh, Bakura and Malik have a club? Can I join? Lol, j/k.
Iris Omega – WHOOHOO!!! Hurry up and get elected Iris!! Then we can party!!! Lol, see ya Saturday.
K-chan – lol, I can't help but like Bakura, even if he's a bit evil. I like evil guys. ^__^ But I think Bakura will have a very active role come…chapter six I think…It's all sort of squooshed up in my head right now…
DDW – OH NO!!! SOMEONE SAVE HER! Lol, sorry about the cliffies, but it's a really bad habit with me. Just ask my Gundam Wing readers.
Serena – lol, okay, well good luck anywayz. Yeah, I know what you mean. Cliffies are something you love and hate at the same time. At least, that's the way it is for me. Yes, there will eventually be fluff. So much has happened though, that it probably won't crop up till later, because they are all trying to figure things out. Thanks for the name suggestion; I'm just going to stick with Yami for now. ^__^
Indigo – Um…explanation is coming. Soon. Next chapter I think…Yup! We get to meet the bad guy too. ^__^
Dragon Spirits – You updated your story! I'm gonna have to read it. ^__^ You're one of my favorite reviewers! I love you, girl! (In a totally platonic way of course, lol). Um…Walt the sticker guy?
Lynx wings – Here is the next chappie for you. I hope you liked it.
Queen of Games – Thank you! I just love Ankh and Scales and I'm so glad that you think I'm doing it well. ^__^ Shadi/Isis rulez!!!! They're my new favorite couple. ^__^
LuckyLadybug66 – You reviewed! *gives big hug* Thank you! Yes, and even more Egyptian stuff to come. Malik will be in the next chapter and then I'll have to figure out how to work Rishid into this…Yeah, I got it! I'm trying to 'convert' one of my friends to YGO and I think it's working, so we may have a new member soon! Lol, she likes Mai the best and thinks Yugi's hair is cool.
FirePendant – Malik will make an appearance in the next chapter. Methinks I'm going to have some fun with him and his pyschoticness. ^__^ Yes, they will be eventually. Just not for some time. Yes! Shadi is the best!
Amberliz – Lol. Yes, much freakiness. Hope your doing well; plz e-mail me?
