Author's Introduction:
Forty-four reviews! I'm so happy! When I first gathered up the courage I'd need to post Yami-Girl up, I was so afraid nobody would like her! And now, look! I'm thrilled to my finger-tips to see so many reviews. Thank you, all of you! I'm so unbelievably grateful.
I watched the Battle City Finals continue this weekend and was thrilled to see more of Shadi. I think he rocks, and it's such a shame that he seems to play such a small part in the series. So I've tried to make him as cool as I can with what little I have to work with--I hope it turned out all right, since I'm a big Shadi fan.
Anyone who's been curious about how the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle is going to turn up in this story, stay tuned…
And please forgive the musical reference in this chapter. I couldn't resist. *smiles.* I especially hold with the lines about being sick of school and loving the punk bands. So would Yami-Girl, I imagine.
I actually saw the Bangles play live, once upon a time…they were really good. So it's while remembering that very good night that I set this down.
**
Chapter Eight, Duel 13: Walk Like An Egyptian
The blonde waitresses take their trays
Spin around, and they cross the floor
They've got the moves
You drop your drink, then they bring you more
All the schoolkids so sick of books
They like the punk and the metal bands
When the buzzer rings
They're walking like an Egyptian
(Walk Like An Egyptian)
(The Bangles)
**
"Good things don't end in '-eum'. They end in '-mania'. Or, '-teria'."
(Homer Simpson)
**
Another school day was dead and buried. Yami Motou politely accepted a boost to the top shelf of her locker from her best friend, Joey Wheeler. "It could be fun," she protested, legs dangling in midair as she pawed around the top shelf of her locker for an emergency pack of cigarettes. "Found them."
"Aw, Yami, you know how I feel about cultural shit," Joey answered, shaking his blond head.
"Yeah. Joey doesn't like any books that aren't pop-up!" Tristan Taylor joked, walking up to lean on the locker next to Yami's. "What's up, guys?"
Joey lifted Yami out of the locker and set her gently down. He accepted the cigarettes from her and sighed. "Yami thinks it would be fun to go to the Egyptian exhibit at the Domino City Museum."
Yami smiled. "The college professor who discovered the pharaoh's tomb is my grandpa's friend, Professor Yoshimori. He invited us, so we can get in free!"
Joey turned to Tristan for help, but the dark-eyed boy was just as interested as Yami was in the Egyptian exhibit. "That sounds cool. Didn't they find a mummy?"
Joey hadn't thought he could like the idea less, but his nerves jangled at that statement. Wood-brown eyes shot wide open as he considered Tristan's question. "A mummy?! I don't wanna get cursed!"
"There isn't any such thing as curses, Joey," Yami soothed. "Please? I'd love to see all the Egyptian artifacts..."
"Isn't Egypt where your Puzzle is from, Yami?" Tristan asked, pointing to Yami's pendant.
"Uh huh," Yami said happily, cradling her treasure in her hands. "It was found in Egypt, too."
"What happened to the guys who found it?" Joey asked, one blond brow quirked. "How come it's not in a museum?"
Yami suddenly shifted her weight guiltily from one foot to the other. "Umm," she stalled.
Joey folded his arms and waited.
Yami saw there was no getting out of it. "Well...Grandpa said they all died mysterious deaths," she admitted.
Mistake--Joey grabbed her fast as lightning and shook her. "It's a curse! Yami! You aren't cursed, too, are you?!"
Yami clutched at Joey's arms, trying to make him let go. "N-n-n-no, J-j-j-j-o-e-y! I'm-m n-n-not c-c-c-cursed!"
"Joe! Put her down, she doesn't have any curses," Tristan chuckled, clapping Joey on the back. "You don't have anything, do you, Yami?"
"Just a b-b-b-broken n-n-n-nose," Yami answered from Joey's still-shaking hands.
Tristan decided to come to Yami's rescue. "Joey's just scared," he said nonchalantly, stealing a cigarette out of Joey's pocket and flipping it into his mouth. "All this curse mumbo-jumbo is just to cover up that he's a wimp!"
Joey dropped Yami, who landed with a thud. "Oof!"
It was Tristan's turn to be lifted by his collar and shaken. "Who're ya calling scared?"
"You!" was Tristan's answer, trying to break Joey's hold. "Only a girly man would be afraid of curses!"
"That's it!" Joey roared.
"Boys!" Yami cried, ducking under Joey's raised arm to fish in his pocket. "If you don't stop fighting, I won't share my cigarettes." Taking the Lucky Strikes hostage, she retreated across the hallway.
"We'll be good," both boys immediately vowed, letting go of each other.
Yami nodded and distributed the cigarettes evenly as they walked out of the building. Joey grumbled and shoved his share in his pocket to save for later. "Since she only smokes when she's with us, I don't see how she's always the one with the cigs."
"Because she's the only one who has money," Tristan hissed. "They're not cheap, you know."
"Seven bucks a pack now, don't think you two don't owe me," Yami said. "I'm walking next to you, not deaf."
Both boys cringed. Tristan decided to change the subject. "Listen, why don't we meet at the museum at one o'clock tomorrow and Josie over there can practice being a man?"
Joey growled. "You're on, Tracy. See you at one, and bring an extra pair of pants. When we get cursed, I guarantee you're gonna be so scared you're gonna need one."
Yami shook her head and smiled. "Check your cigarettes, boys. I think you've been smoking something a little stronger than nicotine!"
Her friends laughed as she waved and struck out for home. "See you tomorrow!"
Yami waited until she was out of sight before lighting a single Lucky she'd kept for herself. She smoked it fast, nervously, wanting to finish it before she reached the game shop. The reason for her sudden stress was lying on her chest.
I didn't want to tell the others, she thought, inhaling the poison in quick, nervous sips. But ever since I completed the Puzzle, there have been times I've lost my memory...
She finished the cigarette, flicking the period away and smoothing her hair before opening the door to the shop. I can't tell them. They'll think it's weird, and Joey might not EVER stop shaking me!
**
The next day dawned sunny and bright. Clouds piled high over the Domino City Museum like fluffy cotton. Joey fiddled with the zipper on his white letter jacket as he and Tristan approached the building. "Aw, man. A beautiful day, and we're gonna be stuck inside learning stuff."
Tristan clapped Joey on the back and chuckled. "Don't worry, Joey. If nobody forces you to do it, it counts as fun."
"Really?" Joey seemed to perk up. "Oh. Okay, then." He didn't tell Tristan he had his own pack of Lucky Strikes hidden up his red leather sleeve in case he needed a reason to go back outside. There was no smoking allowed in the museum.
Tristan's brown trench coat flapped around his legs as they looked around for Yami. "You know Yami, though, she's always late," he said, using one tanned hand as a visor for his eyes in the early afternoon sunlight. "Here she comes, and Grandpa's with her."
Yami was talking animatedly to her grandfather, nearly dancing on a pair of knee boots with larger-than-usual treads and pockets on each side. A black plaid miniskirt and a sleeveless white mock turtleneck completed the outfit, making the Millennium Puzzle the only bright thing about her.
"Looks like we're the lucky last, Yami," Sugoroku chuckled, taking a hand out of the pockets of his denim overalls to wave at Tristan and Joey. "Have you boys been waiting long?"
"Nah," Tristan said with a smile. "But you got here just in time--Joey was just about to chicken out and go home!"
"I was not!!" Joey hollered, bristling.
Luckily, before a fight could break out, a voice called out, "Motou!"
The voice belonged to a blond man in a wheat-colored suit jacket over a pair of Dockers. His collar was open; he wore no tie.
"Well, you certainly look like a college professor," Sugoroku chuckled, clasping his friend's hand and shaking it. "All that's missing are the elbow patches!"
"On my other jacket," the professor joked with a twinkle in his eyes. "It's good to see you again!"
"Thank you for inviting us to your show!" Sugoroku answered. "Let me introduce you to my granddaughter and her friends. Professor Yoshimori, my granddaughter Yami and her two best friends, Joey and Tristan."
Yoshimori's brown eyes sparked. "So you're Yami! I've heard nothing but praise for you from your grandfather."
"Aww." Yami kicked a foot, looking down and blushing.
"Pleased to meet you"s were exchanged, and then Joey interrupted, seeming to have forgotten all about curses. "You're famous! You're the guy who found the pharaoh's tomb!"
"That's it!" a voice yelled excitedly before Yoshimori could answer Joey. All heads turned to see a short, round little man scurrying towards them as fast as he could. His suit was white linen, and he carried a cane.
Yoshimori waved the man over. "This is the owner of the museum. He provided the grant for the excavation and is sponsoring the exhibit."
"Kanekura's the name!" the fat man blared. "Welcome to my museum!" He hurriedly shook Sugoroku's hand. "A pleasure to have any friend of Yoshimori's."
Sugoroku started to reply, but Kanekura's attention was immediately diverted to Yami. "And you must be Cleopatra," he joked with a big, hard smile.
"You must be blind," Yami answered coolly, arching a dark brow.
"Yami!" Sugoroku reprimanded even as he hid a smile, but both Yoshimori and Kanekura laughed.
"But you do hold a royal treasure, Yami," Kanekura said, indicating the Millennium Puzzle lying on Yami's chest. Yami looked down and realized what had been "it".
"It is my treasure," she answered softly, cradling the pyramid.
"It's the legendary Millennium Puzzle!" Kanekura announced importantly. "You must show it to me!"
Yami hesitantly tugged on the cord that held the Puzzle around her throat. "Umm...okay..." Almost as soon as it had been removed from her neck, Kanekura snatched it in his chubby little hands.
"This is wonderful!" he shrieked. "Amazing! Such an important piece of pharaonic history, and it's hanging around your throat!"
Yami brought a fist up to her mouth, a childlike gesture, as she turned to Sugoroku for help. Yoshimori stepped in to soothe her. "Kanekura makes his living in the art business. He has a real eye for antiquities--your Puzzle must be really special!"
Yami liked that and smiled, but Kanekura interrupted again. "Yami, I beg you! People have got to see this! Let me display it at the show!"
"Whaa?!" Joey and Tristan yelled.
Yami immediately shook her chocolate-vanilla head. "Oh, I don't know. It's mine--"
"Please!" Kanekura pressed.
"It's not special," Yami protested. "Worthless to anyone but me." She was finding it difficult to get out of this gracefully.
Luckily, once again Yoshimori stepped in to save the day. "Well, it would only be on display for one day," he said, putting a hand on Yami's slim shoulder.
"One day?" Kanekura said, alarmed, but a look from Yoshimori silenced him. "Right! Of course! One day is plenty!"
Yami slowly agreed. "I guess one day would be okay..."
"I'll just run ahead and put this on display, then, so that you can see it when you get into the museum!" Kanekura turned. "Take your time--enjoy yourselves!"
"That guy is shady," Joey whispered to Tristan. The darker boy nodded.
"Ready to go, everyone?" Sugoroku asked cheerfully. Everyone nodded except Yami, who was staring down her sleeveless mock-turtleneck at where the Puzzle had once been.
"Come on, Yami, let's go see your Puzzle," Joey said, grabbing the brunette's hand, and in they all trooped.
**
Already inside the museum, Kanekura chuckled, caressing the Puzzle. One day is plenty...
**
Sugoroku's old Nikes made no sound on the polished museum floor. Joey's Air Muscles squeaked every time he dragged his feet, until Tristan kicked him with one of his Doc Martens. Yami was still looking apprehensive, despite all the splendor around them. She had one hand over her ribs, where the Puzzle usually rested.
"What's wrong, kiddo?" Tristan asked.
"Somehow I just don't feel right without the Puzzle," she admitted shyly. "I've been wearing it so long now..."
"I think it's cool!" Joey chimed in, wanting to make Yami feel better. "Your treasure's gonna be famous!"
Yami brightened. "You think so?"
Tristan was reminded of something he'd brought with him. "Wait, guys, look what I have." He dug into a pocket of the brown trench coat and came up with a camera. "We can take a picture in front of it later."
"Good idea, man!" Joey said. Sugoroku smiled.
Yoshimori fell into step beside Yami. "I'm sorry, Yami," he said softly. "I know you didn't want to lend your Puzzle to Mr. Kanekura."
"It's okay," Yami lied bravely, shrugging her bronze shoulders. "It's only for one day."
Yoshimori smiled kindly. "You're a good girl. I'm not in much of a position to complain, since none of this would have happened without Mr. Kanekura...but he can be somewhat...self-centered."
Feeling guilty, Yami pointed at a papyrus scroll. "Hey, Professor, what's that?"
Yoshmori immediately went into college-professor mode, explaining the scene painted on the papyrus. "This scene depicts the weighing of the heart--the judgment of the dead."
"Eww," Yami said, wrinkling her nose. "They weighed the heart?"
Yoshimori chuckled. "Not really, Yami. It's part of the Egyptian religion--however, the heart was a very big deal to them. They threw out the brain when they removed it from a dead body. They believed that the heart did all the thinking!"
"That's gross!" said Tristan at the same time Joey muttered, "Cool!"
"The dead are judged by Osiris," Yoshimori said, indicating a figure on a throne. "That's Anubis to the left--" where a jackal-headed man was weighing something small on a golden scale. "If a person's deeds weigh less than a feather, they pass on to the afterlife. If not...they are fed to Ammit, the devourer of the dead!"
"Ewww, gross!" Joey finally agreed. Yami could see why--Ammit was a disgusting-looking amalgamation of a lion, a crocodile, and a hippopotamus.
"And over here, we have the mummy!" Yoshimori continued, and suddenly Joey wasn't having fun anymore.
"Do we have to see the mummy?!" he hissed.
"Scared, Josie?" Tristan teased, elbowing his friend in the ribs.
"That's it, make fun. Fine. Go see the mummy. Go get cursed." Joey folded his arms
Yoshimori roared "There's no such thing as curses!"
"See, I told you, Joey!" Tristan said.
"You want a rosary or something?" Joey offered, still refusing to go near the mummy. Sugoroku roared.
Meanwhile, Yami leaned forward, pressing fingertips delicately against the glass case that protected the mummy from her. "Oh, my!"
The mummy was dried and shriveled with age. His arms lay forever folded on his chest, the bandages rotting away to so many shreds. His eyes seemed not quite closed, as if he were a restless sleeper...
"I wonder if he was handsome," she murmured, looking at the dry and dusty face.
"I must look upon the face of one who wonders such a thing," a voice said to her left, and Yami whirled to see a man standing there.
He was dressed all in white, in a long, flowing robe that matched the turban wrapped around his head. Golden rings were in his ears, and in one dark hand he carried a scale. That's odd, Yami thought. Why a scale?
The only part of the man that didn't match his outfit was a pair of turquoise blue eyes. They were slanted, and tears were streaking from them down his bronze face.
"Why are you crying?" Yami asked gently, touching the white sleeve.
The man didn't seem to mind the casual touch, and glanced at the mummy before answering. "These tears are not mine. This shriveled form...he has become a doll of dust. But he is still the eternal pharaoh...his spirit lives on with his name. And now, even the eternal sleep is denied him...the cry of his soul becomes tears and flows down my cheeks." He had a funny voice for someone so tall--kind of light and toneless.
Yami blinked, looking from man to mummy, until a soft chuckle interrupted her. The man stroked a gentle hand down her hair in a casual touch of his own. "You're a good girl," he said with a smile.
Yami blinked, that being the second time in as many hours someone had said that to her today. Weird...
"Hey, look!" Joey called, pointing. "Yami's Puzzle is on display!"
Yami promptly forgot the man and hurried over to see her Puzzle.
**
"It is magnificent," Kanekura's investor murmured appreciatively, admiring the Millennium Puzzle's gleam. "I'll pay any price. It's spectacular!"
"Shall we finalize the sale in my office ten minutes before the museum closes?" Kanekura asked, taking the man's arm and steering his away from the case. He'd heard the sound of booted feet hurrying towards them.
That Puzzle's going to make me a fortune, Kanekura thought gleefully as Yami and her friends raced over to the case and began to pose for a picture. Of course, I'll have to give Yami some to shut her up...
"Say cheese!" a voice said.
**
"Cheese!"
"Burger!" Joey joked.
The flash went off, and Tristan smiled. "That was a good one!"
"This place really is kinda cool, I gotta say," Joey admitted.
"I agree! Thank you for today, Professor Yoshimori!" Sugoroku said.
"It's my pleasure." The professor smiled. "Come by my lab sometime and I'll show you even more."
Sugoroku turned to his granddaughter. "Ready to head home, Yami? I've got to get back to the store."
The girl blinked. "Oh, you go on without me--I want to stay till it closes so I can get my Puzzle back before I go home."
"Of course." Sugoroku patted his granddaughter's head. "I'll meet you back home, then."
"See you tomorrow, Yami!" Joey called as he and Tristan headed for the door. "Don't bring back any curses!"
Yami laughed as she settled down to wait. Looking at her thick black watch, she saw that it was four-thirty.
**
Kanekura was in his office, eagerly awaiting his visitor. Little did he know that the visitor he was about to receive wasn't who he'd been expecting...
A white robe brushed against the investor's death-slackened jaw as the intruder stepped soundlessly over the body, with only the creaking door alerting Kanekura of his presence.
Annoyed that the man standing in the doorway was not his investor, Kanekura huffed, "Who the hell are you?!"
The man regarded him evenly with a turquoise gaze. "I am a servant of Anubis. My bloodline has guarded the tombs for three thousand years."
"A-Anubis?!" Kanekura choked.
"Because of your greed, another tomb in the Valley of the Kings has been defiled. You have trespassed in the territory of the gods." The man's turquoise eyes suddenly snapped, and anger filled his gaze. "For that, you will go on trial!"
"I get it!" Kanekura pointed an accusing finger at the man. "You're from the Egyptian government! I don't sell antiquities on the black market!!" he hollered too loudly.
The man sighed through his nose, annoyed. He stalked across the plush pale rug, slamming a scale down onto the mahogany desk. Raising a dark hand, he plucked a feather from the folds of his turban.
"The feather of Ma'at--Goddess of Truth!" Kanekura hissed.
"Exactly." The man placed the feather on one side of his scale. "That would make these the Scales of Truth. So says what you call the Book of the Dead. As you can see, the Scales are now balanced."
"It's just a myth!" Kanekura protested.
"No. It is a Shadow Game!" The man's eyes bored into Kanekura. "I will ask you a series of questions. If you do not tell the truth, the other side of the Scales will grow heavy...with the weight of your crimes." The man seemed not even to blink as he explained his game. "Should that side of the Scales touch the ground...the penalty game of death awaits you."
"P-p-penalt--" Kanekura began, but the man silenced him almost boredly with the first question.
"A young girl falls into a deep well. You are the only one to see it happen. However, at your feet lies the golden ring the girl was wearing...what do you do?"
"I save her!" Kanekura shouted immediately. "I save the little girl!"
And yet, the empty side of the Scales sank a little...
**
"Five minutes to five," Yami sighed, rising to her feet and stretching. "I think I've waited long enough."
She absently pirouetted once before wandering back into the museum.
**
"I'm telling the truth!" Kanekura protested, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. "How is the plate sinking without anything in it? What's the trick? What's a penalty game?"
"The penalty game," the man intoned, "awaits within your heart."
Kanekura's expensive leather chair seemed to move beneath him. Panicking, he began to rise, but the arms of the chair became claws that held him fast, long yellow talons digging into his white linen suit. The leather was now scaly skin that hid strong muscle and huge bone.
"The chair!" Kanekura shrieked. "The chair is changing!"
The man stayed silent as the back of the chair slid forward to become a snout full of razor teeth, drooling onto Kanekura's bald head.
"You know her well," the man said. "She is Ammit, and she has made herself at home in the room of your soul. She wanted to be here for the last question..." Once again the angry look returned to the man's turquoise eyes. "Have you defiled the territory of the gods and sold their treasure to fatten your own pockets?"
Kanekura broke. "Stop! Stop!! I'll pay anything!! How much do you want?!!
The scales tipped with a sickening clank.
The man was not surprised. "There is no truth in the room of your soul. There is only greed...and a monster who will dine well tonight..."
With a snarl, Ammit opened her mighty jaws to swallow Kanekura's scream.
**
Yami jogged over to the case where her Puzzle had been displayed. She hadn't been able to help glancing at the mummy as she'd passed by, but she didn't feel right without the Puzzle around her neck. She wanted it back.
"Hey!" she cried, skidding to a halt at her destination. "It's gone!"
The glass case was empty. Yami looked around and found no one who could tell her where her Puzzle might be.
I'd better find Mr. Kanekura, she decided, turning on her heel and walking further into the museum.
**
His work done, the tall man was about to leave Kanekura's office when a gleam of gold caught his eye.
For the first time, shock registered on his usually blank face as he lifted a pyramid-shaped object from Kanekura's desk.
This is the Millennium Puzzle--and in its completed form! In three thousand years, it has never been solved! He stared down at the Puzzle in awe. Why here? Who in this country--in the WORLD--could have solved the Puzzle?!
As if on cue, a girl's voice called hello, echoing down the hall beyond the office.
**
Stepping into the hallway, the tall man confronted the girl from before, the petite brunette who had been concerned about him and the pharaoh. She cannot have heard anything, he assured himself.
The girl made a "stop" motion with one hand when she saw him about to turn. "Oh, wait, don't go," she pleaded. "Maybe you can help me. Have you seen Mr. Kanekura? He promised to return my Puzzle...it's gold and it's shaped like a pyramid...?"
For the second time in as many minutes, he was shocked. IMPOSSIBLE, he thought. NOT this GIRL!!!
"I guess you don't know, then," she said shyly. "I'm sorry I bothered you." She turned, and it was his turn to halt her.
If she's solved the Millennium Puzzle, it's SHE who will gain my bloodline's power! I must make sure! "Don't go."
"Hm?" she asked, and quickly he drew a large golden ankh-shaped key from the folds of his robe. Resting it against her forehead, he gave it a half-turn, surprising her--
--and then the vision was opened to him; the room of her soul.
Surprise, for the third time!
This girl has TWO rooms in her soul! he thought in amazement.
It was true. Instead of a normal soul room, he was standing in a hallway. On his left, an open door led to a bright, cheerful room. Peering inside, he saw an open window, a floor scattered with toys. Dice, game pieces, poker chips, playing cards, plush animals, but nothing sinister or dark.
It's...pure, he realized. Innocent.
On the other hand, the other room...
Exotic-looking vines climbed the right wall and laced over a heavy stone door, shut tight against the hallway. Carved into the upper half of the door was the all-seeing Eye of Horus.
Just as the tall man was wondering what he would have to do to get into that room, the door swung slowly open on its own to reveal a woman.
She was the double of the petite brunette he had met in the halls of the museum, and wearing the same blouse and skirt...but something about this girl was different. Her smile was silky and lazy, and while the first girl's eyes had been a curious scarlet, this new girl's eyes were the deep violet of the twilight skies.
"Well, well," she purred in a voice as dark as a night without stars. "A visitor in my room! It must be a special occasion."
No, this was definitely not the same girl.
She laughed, and there was no fear in her voice as she beckoned to him with simply a crook of one slender, tapered finger. "Come in...if you dare. A game awaits you!"
There seemed to be no end to the surprises today...
**
Author's Note:
So she has arrived at last! Who is the girl that Shadi finds dwelling in the second soul room? The only way to find out is to answer her challenge…
Finding out isn't going to be his biggest problem. Living to tell someone else, that might be a problem…
But that doesn't happen until the next chapter.