I am very proud of this story. Unlike my other chaptered story, this one is going to be quite short, but I love this idea.

Disclaimer: Eta nye maya (It isn't mine. Well, aside from the idea for the fic.)

Prologue

The once Priest, now Pharaoh, Seth strode down the corridors of his palace on the way to the dungeons, servants bowing to him as he passed, and soldiers leaping to attention. He continued downwards, passing through several deserted areas, until he reached the place he was looking for. Two burly guards on either side of the door jumped to attention and bowed. The door itself was engraved and painted with complex wards, the beginning of the security measures taken here. Seth passed through, noting the slight tingle from the wards with satisfaction. Their power was great. Nothing less would do for keeping the creature they had captured under control. He continued further into the wing, evidence of the more powerful spells laid here becoming evident. The Pharaoh finally reached his destination, and entered the large cell where it was kept. Aside from the monster, two of the Priests were there as well, keeping vigil over it. Seth finally allowed his eyes to stray to the monster, which was chained to the wall at the back of the cell. His lip curled in revulsion, as he surveyed the creature, which was slumped against the wall, bleeding slightly from the many wounds on its body. It was part of a legendary race of beings which had tried to pass themselves off as gods. Unfortunately for them, they had nearly been destroyed by one of their own, and very few were left. Once they had been thought of as gods in Egypt too, but thankfully, now the Egyptians knew better. Those monsters were demons, a scourge upon humanity and a blasphemy to the true Gods. Under other circumstances, when they had discovered this one, it would have been killed immediately. Now however, they had need of its power. Though these creatures were acknowledged as monsters and vermin, they had great power, and it was that power that the Pharaoh needed. That power was also the reason for the tight security and numerous spells set in the area, for even young ones such as the one they had captured were dangerous adversaries.

The two Priests rose and bowed. Seth nodded at them, then turned his attention back to the thing.

"I see that you have not yet broken it," he commented, slight disapproval in his voice. He was not truly angry at his Priests; he knew the greatness of the task he had set them, and was participant in it himself. They had already spent a week trying to break its spirit, but it stubbornly refused to cooperate. Despite the spells and coercions laid on it, and the physical torture that left it broken and bleeding, it still refused to obey their demands. Even now, it stared at them insolently, though he could see hopelessness reflecting from its three eyes.

"It should not be long now, my Pharaoh," the priest Karim said respectfully. "Even a creature of its kind will break eventually, and this one is young."

"Remember," Seth cautioned, "there is to be a Priest in here at all times. It doesn't matter who is chosen, as long as it is one of the Priests who will be faithful to Pharaoh Atem's memory and to his duty." This vigil was kept up mostly by the male Priests, as the females tended to be more emotional. Seth had no doubts about any of his Priests, and about their commitment to him and to the task of preserving Pharaoh Atem's memory until he could reclaim it, but he still worried that their will would weaken if they took an active part in this effort. Women tended to be emotional about younglings, even if they were abominations.

Seth strode across the spell-engraved floor, until he was close to the monster. He was careful not to get too close to it, as there was no knowing whether it could still have any abilities it could use to attack, despite the subjugation spells on it. The thing straightened in its chains to the best of its ability, knowing what was coming. It glared at him fiercely, its pointy fangs clearly visible.

Despite its show of bravado, Seth could see how its willpower had weakened. Karim had spoken truly when he claimed it was close to breaking. Gripping his Millennium Item tightly, he directed his mental power at its mind. Like all the other times, he encountered a wall of resistance, pushing him back. He drew back slightly, then resumed his attack. The outer wall of its mind crumbled quickly, causing it to pull against its chains with the pain. Seth picked up a whip, attacking the monster physically while continuing to bombard its mind. It cried out in pain, struggling to maintain its mental defenses while the whip raised bloody welts on its skin.

When the Pharaoh finally stopped, the other Priest present, Shadi, stepped forward. Concentrating on its mind, Shadi sent a gentle probe to worm its way through the creature's defenses, leaving a trail of depression, exhaustion, self-doubt, and defeat behind it. The thing sagged against the wall, its face screwed up as it attempted to fight the new intrusion into its mind.

"You know what we want." Shadi spoke in a soft, persuasive voice, keeping his revulsion of the creature in check. "Just give up, and we'll stop with this."

Seth was surprised that Shadi could muster such a compassionate sounding tone while speaking to it. He considered Shadi's words rather pointless, though. There was no way the monster would actually believe them.

Shadi maintained his façade as the thing looked up at him pleadingly, sweat trickling down its face to mingle with the blood running from different places on its body. Already some of its cuts were healing, as its quick metabolism took care of its wounds. Its mouth moved, though whatever it wanted to say was inaudible.

"I promise," Shadi said. A feeling of triumph swept through him as it lowered its head in defeat. A moment later, it raised its head once more, its third eye glowing. Shadi felt a strange lightheadedness, as the light seemed to call something from inside his body. Abruptly there was a feeling of tearing, as his soul left his body, to be absorbed into the creature's eye. Disorientation hit Shadi hard, as he collapsed to the ground, assailed by vertigo. The Pharaoh and Karim were at his side immediately, assisting their companion. Shadi finally looked up, and they could see the heathen symbol on his forehead that marked his connection to the thing chained to the wall. A grave silence settled on them for a moment, as they contemplated what Shadi had given up for the sake of Pharaoh Atem and everyone else. With this act, Shadi had pledged his eternal life to protecting the Millennium Items, and preserving the Pharaoh Atem's memory until the time he would return to reclaim it.

For that was the greatest power of this race of creatures, known as the Sanjiyan Unkara. They had the ability to grant immortality to whomever they chose. Not the kind of immortality they themselves had, which meant they lived until killed, but true immortality, the owner of which could never be killed, until the Sanjiyan who had granted him the immortality died.

Seth looked at Shadi with compassion. The kind of strength it takes to pledge eternal life to fulfilling a purpose is not easy to come by. In addition, his faithful Priest would spend that life shackled to some hell-spawn, forced to protect it, or else his purpose would be forfeit.

Shadi went over to the creature and freed its limbs from the chains, catching it as it collapsed onto him. He looked to the Pharaoh for confirmation, and received a nod. Their task was not yet over. A more permanent way of completely suppressing its powers could now be used, and the Pharaoh's memory linked to it. In addition, a system for keeping it under control would have to be devised, one that would last long past their deaths.

Karim grabbed its arm, and pulled it out of the cell, where they were joined by one of the new Priests who had been initiated to replace those who had died in the service of Pharaoh Atem. The two manhandled the creature roughly, dragging it into another room. It began struggling, looking to the impassive Shadi for help.

"You promised!" it cried, trying to dig its heels into the stone floor, as it twisted around in its captors' grip.

Shadi shook his head silently, and watched as it was dragged to the stone table in the center of the room. He had indeed fulfilled his promise, they had stopped the torture they had been putting it through for the past week. Even though he probably had no real obligation toward the thing, he had kept the promise, but would do nothing more.

The Sanjiyan's lavender eyes widened as it perceived the betrayal, and an expression akin to horror made its way onto its features.

"It's not supposed to be like this! You're my Wu!" it cried, as it was chained down on its stomach, arms splayed out. "Why are you doing this to me?" A tear escaped from its eye, as it watched Shadi turn his back on him and leave the room.

In an attempt to silence it, the new Priest yanked its head back by its spiky hair, and slammed it forward into the stone table. This produced the desired result, as its whole body went lax, allowing the two Priests to continue their work.

Karim finished heating his knife, and came over to where the child was chained down, and began carving into his back the spells that would forever prevent him from using his power. The child struggled and screamed as the lines of fire were driven into his skin, but what hurt him most was the sense of betrayal. The one called Shadi was his Wu! How could he turn his back on him? Why wasn't he helping him? What had he ever done to these humans to make them torture him this way?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This chapter is different from the others, in that it happens in Ancient Egypt. To those of you who recognized the Sanjiyan Unkara, this is a crossover with the series 3x3 Eyes by Yuzo Takada. Since not many people are at all familiar with that series, this will be written taking that into account. No characters from 3x3 Eyes appear anyway, so it shouldn't bother.