Title: Yami mata Hikari no Tenshis
Author: Mitsuko-chan
Date: January 8, 2005
Summary: AU-Egyptian-ish. An ancient prophecy is to be fulfilled as an evil High Priest kills the King and Queen to take over their kingdom, leaving their two twin boys in the hands of maidservants. Will the prophecy come to pass or will darkness forever cover the land? Yugi & Yami centered fic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh!, any of its characters, or themes. I will not profit from this story except receiving enjoyment of your questions, comments, and input on this story.
Claimer: I do, however, own this story and its plot and any Original Characters that I may use during the duration of the story making process.
A/N- I'm sorry! I know you all are going to want to kill me once you see how short this chapter is after I've been making you wait so long, but the sad truth is, I've developed a common writer's cold, better known as writer's block. Eep! Please don't hurt me. If you're a writer, you know exactly how frustrating this is and I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that this is all I have for now.
Chapter 8: The Riddle of Millenniums
"I will give you this-it has the locations of all the Millennium Items save the Millennium Puzzle, Scale, and Ankh. Those are already in our grasp."
Shadi handed an old, worn-out scroll to Yugi who grasped it gently as the others crowded around behind him to read it. It was filled with riddles! How on earth were they supposed to find the locations of the millennium Items with this?
"Shadi-sama, how are supposed to-"
Looking up, Yugi noticed that Shadi had disappeared as quickly and mysterious as he had come. Internally he groaned, how where they supposed to know what to do? Everything was just so confusing!
Looking back at the parchment in his hand, Yugi read the riddle out loud.
The guardians hide
The secrets of a millennium
Hidden chambers
Shelter a resting guardian
Where the flowing dream
Meets the stone obstruction
In peace
There shall you find
The timeline ornament
Past the sandy crossing
Where the death house rests
There shall you find
The pointing circle
Beyond a moment in time
Lies a rebel
And wedged in the rocks
There you shall find
The ruler's staff
Stored in the depths
Of the purple chasm
Awaits the all seeing mistress
There you shall find
The soul's window
Go, seek, find
O, prophecy's devined
Yugi scrunched up his head in confusion and turned to the others standing around him. Looking at the dismay blatantly displayed on each face, he figured that none of them had any idea what it was supposed to mean either, but then again, wasn't that how riddles were meant to be?
Yugi sighed and asked, "Anybody even have a clue?"
There was a slight pause before Jounouchi started in hesitantly, "Well..."
"What is it, Jou?" asked Yami.
"It's just...did you notice those parts that were repeated? 'There you will find' yadda, yadda, yadda? I think whatever comes after that is the item that we're looking for and the rest is describing the location."
Everyone considered for a moment before Honda looked at Jounouchi, stunned.
"Wow, Jou, I never knew you actually had a brain up there!"
Jounouchi fixed him with a glare and pushed him, causing Honda to shove back. It would have ended up with a full fledged fist fight if Mai had not spotted the trouble and chided, "Settle down, boys. This is important."
The two quieted immediately and Yugi turned back to the enigma at hand, Yami coming up beside him to look at the riddle as well.
"Hm..." he commented. "I wonder if there is something guarding them? It says 'The guardians hide the secrets of a millennium." After a few moments contemplation, Yami said, "Apparently, all of the Millennium Items are hidden in their own secret chambers with some kind of 'resting guardian' that might just wake up if we try to take the Items. I wonder what that could be..."
"I'm more interested in the geographical aspects of the riddle," announced Anzu at large.
Everyone turned to her in surprise at both her extensive vocabulary and the meaning of her words.
"The who-radical-a-pecks?" Jounouchi inquired, scratching his head.
Anzu rolled her eyes at the typical boy answer, at least to her frame of mind, before repeating, "The geographical aspects of the riddle, meaning where things are located in the world."
Jounouchi mouthed the word "Oh" and turned to look at Honda and Bakura, both who were rolling their eyes at him as well.
"What do you mean, Anzu?" Yugi asked eagerly.
"You know that my mother taught me things at home? Well, one of the things she taught me was the geography of our island. She taught me the names of places and their meanings. Like that bit about the flowing dream reaching the stone obstruction in peace? I'm pretty sure it's talking about the Yume River connecting with the Ishi mountains at Salama."
Everyone looked to Anzu with surprise. Yugi's eyes glittered with delight as he asked, "Can you do that for the entire riddle?"
"I think so. Read it again."
Yugi read it again, slower-in pieces-so that Anzu could decipher the locations in the poem. When they had finished, it seemed that they had revealed all of the places and were able to head out.
The sandy crossing was the Sanford desert where the Takai Temple (death house) was situated.
It also seemed as if a moment in time referred to Saniya city, as past it lied Markku Volcano, also known as the Rebel.
The purple chasm was easily identified as Murasaki Canyon, which meant – Purple Canyon.
All they had left to figure out was which Millennium Item was which and figure out the direction to take. (Of course, Yami liked to remind them all that they might have some kind of protectors to deal with once they found the places.)
With the help of Mai and Isis, the group decided to travel north from Sono-the city they were currently in-to Salama in the Ishi Mountains by following the Yume River. After that they would travel east through the Sanford Desert to the Takai Temple, grab whatever Millennium Item that was there, head southwest to Markku Volcano, poke around a bit to find what they were looking for, and skip on over to Murasaki Canyon just to the west.
When laid out, the plan sounded simple enough, but everyone knows that most things are "easier said then done."
(To Be Continued…)
A/N- Sorry, sorry! (runs and hides) I figured you would rather read what I have than to not get another chapter for a while and wonder (once again) if I've died. So, there's what I have...and just note that if you kill me, I won't EVER be able to post again...(smiles tentatively). If you have any ideas for the guardians please leave them in your review. Thank you.
Review Responses:
Fushicho Hime: So you would like to be my beta reader? That's great! Thank you...I will be sending you an email shortly to make sure I have the right email address. Thank you so much for the compliment on Shaadi! He's a hard character to write. I had to redo it several times in order to get it just the way I liked it. He is REALLY mysterious!
Pharaoh Atemu's Angel: Well, I'll let you in on a little secret, he's not the only one confused...This is a really complicated and complex plot (from my POV Neways) and I'm having a hard time trying to straighten everything out and get all the right information to you at the right time. His confusion is simply echoing mine...Really? You'd beta read for me?! That's awesome, thank you so much! you give me your email address...I looked on your profile page, but you didn't make it accessible. Thanks!
Game Lover: Thank you! You just made my day!
Nicky: Man, you have such a long screen name! Rambling random nonsense is cool too! It makes me laugh anyways (reset! LOL). All I have to say to all that is HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Etc.
Subieko: Yeah, I know. He's just one of those know-it-all characters that pops up to give information that you couldn't get from any other source! Just think, you'll be seeing him again sometime...(oh, what fun!)...Uh, so you, er, you caught that did you...All I'm going to say is that the ending will be nothing like what you would expect and it is most definitely going to be surprising! I've been told before that I'm good at digging myself into holes and finding ways out that no one else would ever think of...this is definitely one of those times...And that's all I'm saying on the matter! Oh, trust me, this has been complicated from the start, you just didn't see it at first...sheesh, to think I've gone and confused myself into writer's block!
koriaena: Yeah, I know, but that's what makes it so funny! (giggles) He'll be dropping by again soon. No, Marik/Malik's not going to be in it...I think you've seen all the characters by now, although I'm not sure as this story seems to be writing itself...and sometimes chooses not to share it's ideas with me – like now, which is why I'm suffering from writer's block! (sigh) Sorry.