Kaze: *can't really dodge falling chandeliers, as he's chained up, and is therefore hiding under SJ's desk* Really. I wasn't about to take the fall for you tomb robber.
Yami Bakura: *still dodging chandeliers* It's as much your fault as it is mine! By Ra, where is she getting all these things?!
Voice from above: You lost my muse!!! You LOST my adorable little Chibi-muse! I'll KILL you!!!
*The camera pans up to reveal SJ in the rafters, tossing chandeliers down upon Yami Bakura with an enraged expression on her face. Someone in a long black cape and a half-mask is standing next to her, and handing her the various lighting implements*
Yami Bakura: *dodges another chandelier and shakes his fist at the Phantom* Traitor! Since when do you work for her?
The Phantom of the Opera: ^^ What can I say? I don't think I've ever had an honest to goodness fangirl before.
SJ: *squeals and does indeed latch onto the Phantom, nearly causing them both to tumble out of the rafters* ^o^ Phantom-san!!
Yami Bakura: *scowls and crosses his arms* Anyway, it's not MY fault the little brat ran away. And furthermore- *gets hit on the head with a chandelier and falls over* My, what pretty little birdies... *passes out*
SJ: *hops down from the rafters with the Phantom (who, in case you haven't figured it out, is her newest muse) close behind* Kaze, are you sure you have no idea where Chibi-Malik might have gone? I kinda need him.
Kaze: *causiosly coming out from under the desk* No, I really don't. Sorry. Don't drop anything on me please, HCG might not like that.
Phantom: *bows to SJ* Diahorah and I can go find him.
Kaze: Oo; Dia-who?
SJ: *either didn't hear or just ignores Kaze* Phantom-san! That's a great idea! *snaps her fingers*
*A small, humanoid figure appears hovering over SJ's right shoulder. It's wearing a minature Egyptian pleated knee-length hip-wrap and a beaded collar, along with sandels. Although only a foot or so high its, his bare chest is slightly muscled, and so are his arms. His head is a falcon-head however, rather resembling the god Horus save the fluffy white angel wings that portruded from his back. He giggles slightly and hugs SJ's neck*
SJ: ^^ *pets the little... creature* I tend to compact my muses for storage purposes. This is Chibi-Horus. Like Chibi-Malik he can't talk in this form, but is really very cute. Unfortunately, we don't need Chibi-Horus right now, we need Diahorah. *she pokes the chibi-god on her shoulder* Hear that? Transform and go with Phantom-san please, I really need my muse back.
Chibi-Horus: *saluts smartly and hops off her shoulder onto the ground. There he grows much, much bigger until he's about seven feet tall and more muscular than a certain Californian governer. His wings morph into all out angels wings, so big they almost sweep the ground. Now he really does look like Horus except, of course, for the wings*
SJ: *resists the urge to glomp* Get going you two! And I want my chibi back intact. You hear me Phantom-san?
Phantom: *hides the Punjab lasso behind his back* ^-^ Yes ma'am. *he and the newly-transformed Diahorah leave to find Chibi-Malik*
Kaze: Oo; What the hell?
Yami Bakura: *groans and sits up, pushing the chandelier off him. He rubs his head as he looks around* SJ, I knew you were a weird authoress, but creating your own kaa-beast?
SJ: ^^; I felt left out. Your past self has Diabouno, Seto's past-self has a kaa-beast with a name I can't pronounce... I wanted one too. Plus, he's really handy for chasing off bullies. :p
Yami Bakura: *sighs and rubs his head again* Can we get on with the actual chapter?
Kaze: For once I agree. We've already taken up, what, three pages of you dropping chandeliers on grave-boy over there?
SJ: ^^ So we have. I don't own YGO. Karim, Najib, and Kaela are mine. *snickers* Hehehe... You know, I just realized, if Isis and Shaadi get married, then Rashiid will be dating his adopted half-cousin-in-law...
Kaze & Yami Bakura: Oo; Whaaaaaat?
SJ: *snickers* You'll see... Oh yeah, no review responces this chapter except for one. Indigo-san, how is it you're ALWAYS the first to review when I put a new chapter up? 0o;
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Hot Sands Warm Arms
Chapter 8 -- An Artist's Passion
"I don't need your pity! I make a fine shopping-for-clothes-person-spirit-thing! Haha, jealous are we?!"
~(Yami Bakura; Angelforceus; A Day of Shopping)
"So what's this Kaela person like?" Angeline asked, eager for another female to join them. She, Cynthia, and Isis were still the only women around, as all the workers were male and they all left their wives at home when they came out to work. "How old is she?"
Shaadi scratched his chin in thought, allowing Shen to snatch up his deck of cards and start shuffling them for a quick round of poker with Pegasus, Sugoroku, and Arthur. Over the past few weeks the men had been playing poker more and more, betting with either small rocks or tatters of cloth in place of poker chips. So far Sugoroku was up the most, with Rashiid right behind him, and surprisingly enough Pegasus had very poor luck when it came to cards and was farthest in the hole. Occationally the women would join them, and among the three Isis was most up, nearly passing Sugoroku. Of course, no one would ever hold any of the others to their debts, but it was fun to keep track anyway.
"Well now," Shaadi said, "It's been awhile since Kaela came to visit. How long Isis? Two years? Three?"
"Two, I think," Isis said, trying to keep a squirming Malik on her lap. "No Malik, you can't go sit with Angeline. She has no lap anymore. Try and sit with her and you'll squish the baby." This wasn't true, of course, but it sure quieted Malik down. The little Egyptian was exstatic that his new baby brother or sister would be here in just two short months, and constantly asked Angeline why she couldn't have the baby now, to which Angeline always gave a laughing and somewhat silly answer, such as "Oh but Malik, if I had her now, you'd hug her so much she'd suffocate!"
"That would make her..." Shaadi frowned slightly. "Twenty-one, I think. She's quiet and tends to keep to herself, but put her together with her half brother and they'll start playing pranks." His frown deepened a little. "That could be a problem..."
Isis snorted her laughter, casting a sly look at the still-blushing Rashiid, who was desperately pretending he couldn't hear their conversation. "I remember when Rashiid and Malik and I first came to live with Shaadi. Kaela and her half-brother and their mutual father were staying with Shaadi at the time, and the two of them put frogs in my bed and lizards in Rashiid's."
"That was not funny," Rashiid rumbled, trying without success to banish the color from his cheeks as everyone looked on curiously. "One of the darn things bit me!"
"Well, they weren't poisonous..." Shaadi said, sweatdropping a little. "We may have to warn Najib and Kaela against anything too extravagent though. We don't want to scare our friends off." He winked at Pegasus and the others, but Shen was frowning slightly.
"Wait..." Shen muttered, brushing some of his purple bangs away from his forehead. "Najib is Kaela's brother?"
"Half-brother." Isis corrected. "Karim is their father, although they have different mothers."
"Why didn't you ever tell us Karim-san was your uncle?" Pegasus demanded, looking up from where he was sketching another of his monsters.
Shaadi had the grace to look sheepish. "It never really came up."
"I'll go in to town tomorrow and call her." Isis promised. "Anyone feel like coming along?"
"I will," Cynthia said cheerfully.
"Me too." Malik spoke up, craning his neck to look up at his sister. "I wanna go to town too!"
"I would go," Angeline said with a good-natured grimace. "But you've all but confined me to bed rest."
"And with good reason." Isis shook her finger at Angeline in mock-severity. "That baby of yours needs all the rest it can get!" Angeline sighed, but nodded in agreement.
"I'll tell Karim to get the boat ready to cross the river," Rashiid murmered, rising from his seat. Everyone stared after him as he left the tent, until Sugoroku finally ventured to ask "What was that about?"
Shaadi chuckled as he took his cards back from Shen and began to shuffle. "When Rashiid and Kaela first met they were sweethearts. They haven't seen each other in a good year or so now, though. Poker?"
"I'm in," Pegasus declared, laying aside his pad and pencil in favor of a hand of cards. "This will be good for Rashiid. He's too quiet for his own good." The others nodded in agreement, but the thought of calm, stoical Rashiid in love made Cynthia burst into giggles.
The next morning Isis, Malik, and Cynthia rose early and left for the east bank. They took a quick stop at Shaadi's house to pick up a couple more of Angeline's loose maternity dresses, and then Isis excused herself to go send a telegram to Kaela, leaving Malik and his "mommy" to wander Luxor.
Cynthia made a beeline for the bazaar, and Malik trailed behind her, shouting greetings in Arabic to those faces he recognized. Most of the shopkeepers spoke English at least passively, and by the time Isis found them again Cynthia was carrying quite a few parcels.
"What is all this?" Isis asked, sweatdropping a little as she observed the packages piled in Cynthia's arms.
"I went shopping." Cynthia declared happily, hefting her packages triumphantly. "Just look at this adorable little baby blanket I found for Angeline! And aren't these earrings gorgeous? And this little statuette of Hathor! The shopkeeper said it's five thousand years old, but of course I don't believe that. But still, I just couldn't say no!"
Isis sighed and shook her head ruefully. "I suppose it's a good thing you have plenty of money to spend, then..."
"Funny..." Cynthia muttered as she and Isis headed toward where Malik had agreed to meet them. "Pegga always says the same thing..." She shrugged and then turned her cheery smile on Isis. "So you sent a telegram? When will we know if she's coming or not?"
Isis shrugged. "I told her to just show up, if she could, so she should be here any time in the next two weeks." The two women came within sight of the house, and Isis stared in surprise at the small blond figure slouching on the front porch. "Malik! For heaven's sakes, you look like you rolled in the mud with the pigs!"
The little boy pouted, kicking at the dust under his feet. "Tenre did it first..." he muttered sulkily.
Isis sighed. "What am I to do with you? Come on, you can wash off in the Nile while we're crossing the river."
Malik looked absolutely striken. "No Sissy please! Too much water!"
"You should have thought of that when you rolled in the mud with Tenre and the pigs." she answered crisply, all too aware of Cynthia giggling hystericly beside her. "Come on now, the faster we get to the river the faster it'll be over with. I'll just hold you by the ankles and rinse you over the side of the boat, what do you say?"
Malik planted his hands on his hips, glaring at his sister defiantly. "I say YOU need to go jump in the river, Sissy."
Cynthia burst into full-fledged laughter, and Isis chuckled. "I don't think so Malik. You're going to have to get clean sooner or later. You don't want to make Angeline's baby sick, do you?"
This shut Malik up quicker than lightning, and he all but bolted for the Nile. The excitement of not being the only little kid around had been knawing at him for months. Often Angeline woke up with his small form draped over her, Malik's head pillowed on her middle as he murmered quietly to the baby. When asked what he was talking about, Malik clammed up. Isis worried that Malik was prematurly teaching the poor child Arabic curses, but Angeline just laughed it off.
As for the rest of the dig, there wasn't a single workman who didn't know the Sitt Angel, and there was quite a large betting pool going on the sex of the infant. In regards to the archaeologists themselves, Pegasus, Shen, Sugoroku, and Shaadi held firm that it was a boy, while Arthur, Rashiid, and Cynthia declared loudly that it was a girl. Isis and Angeline just smiled and refused comment, and Malik had made it clear long ago that he didn't care whether he got a new brother or sister.
After Isis made sure that Malik got clean at the waters edge, the trip back to the dig was uneventful. They arrived right in the middle of a loud, rather rambuncious argument between Pegasus and Shen, of all people. They kept switching rapidly between English, Arabic, and Japanese, so one could hardly keep track of what was being said. As soon as they came within hearing distance, Malik clamped his hands over his ears and ran to half-hide behind Angeline, who was sitting calmly on the sidelines. All at once Shen took a swing at Pegasus, who retaliated in like. Within seconds the two men were on the ground, scuffling like little boys. Everyone else was anxiously trying to pull the them apart before someone really got hurt.
"By Osirus, what happened?" Isis asked, her eyes wide as she hurried over to Angeline. Cynthia sprinted to her husband, trying to get the silver-haired millionaire to calm down.
To Isis's surprise, Angeline chuckled. "They were discussing the betting pool again, and Pegasus asked what would happen if my child was born an it." She frowned deeply, a couple dark thunderclouds drifting over her head. "If Shen hadn't jumped up and given him a black eye, I probably would have."
Isis sighed, and Malik giggled. "It won't be an it!" he chirped, grinning up at his sister and Angeline. "It's a little boy!"
"Malik dear," Angeline said, slightly puzzled. "I thought you didn't care whether or not I had a boy or a girl."
"I don't." Malik shrugged, then reached out a small hand to pat Angeline's belly. "But it's a little boy. He told me so."
"Who told you so?" Isis asked, exchanging nervous glances with Angeline.
"The man in my dreams," Malik said, slightly exasperated, as if they should already know this. "The one with the scar and really white hair. He told me that the baby was a boy."
No more could be said, as Rashiid and Shaadi finally suceeded in breaking up the two combatants. Pegasus did indeed have a black eye, and Shen had a nice split lip. Both were breathing hard. "Where's my glasses?" Shen asked, and Sugoroku handed them to him from where they'd been recovered. They were miraculously intact, save for a slightly bent frame.
"Now see here," Angeline said, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "No more of that! We're supposed to be a team! Shen, I appreciate you jumping in to save the honor of our child, but really, Pegasus was just joking around. And you," she turned to Pegasus himself, and to the surprise of all delivered a sound smack to the millionaire's cheek. "If you ever talk about my baby like that again, I will beat you black and blue, so help me Ra!" She spun on her heel and stormed off. After a moment Shen ran after her, and to Pegasus's consternation Cynthia burst out laughing.
It was several weeks later, around the first of September, that a battered old jeep drove into the camp, honking its horn. Isis looked up from where she and Angeline were working on reassembling an old, beaded necklace and gave a shout of recognition. "That's Kaela." she explained to Angeline. "You stay here. I'll go get her and then go figure out where the men are."
She left the pavilion, and moments later came back with a young woman in her early twenties. She was finer boned then Isis, and a good deal shorter. Her glossy black hair was clipped at her shoulders, and her green eyes were turned shyly toward the ground. She was dressed in tan and dun digging clothes, just like the rest of them, and tall hiking boots.
"Welcome!" Angeline said, turning away from the beadwork on the table in front of her. "I suppose you're Kaela?" The woman nodded, and Angeline held out her hand. "My name's Angeline Bakura, but please, call me Angel. My husband and I are together on this dig, and it's a pleasure to have another woman around at long last." Isis chuckled at that, and Kaela smiled. "Forgive me for not rising to greet you," Angeline continued, patting her stomach, "But I have strict orders from Isis that if I so much as twitch a finger I'll be confined to bedrest for the next month."
Kaela giggled. "That sounds like Isis." she agreed. Her voice was soft and resonating, not so loud as Cynthia's, or so firm as Isis's, or so warm as Angeline's, but still a very pretty voice. Her Japanese was accented softly, but unlike her half-brother she could speak it. "My name's Kaela Abdul. It's a pleasure."
Angeline waved her into a seat beside her. "The pleasure's all mine. I hear you're an artist?" And so Isis left them talking to go find the rest of the archaeologists, as well as Malik, who'd disappeared once again. He had a funny knack for that, disappearing whenever he was wanted. He was probably in the underground temple again. As much as they tried to keep him out of there, he just kept going back.
Isis found the men easily enough, and Karim and Najib were there as well. Malik was not, so Isis sent Rashiid to go find him, and waited until he was out of ear shot to announce matter-of-factly to the others, "Kaela's here."
"My sister's here? Finally!" Najib took off across the sands toward the pavilion, while the others followed leisurely. They came upon the pavilion just in time to see Najib and Kaela embrace. Everyone took seats, and Angeline and Isis abandoned their restoration of the necklace for the moment while everyone introduced themselves to Kaela.
"I'm Pegasus Crawford," Pegasus said, last of all. "I'm the main artist on this expedition, and it was me that requested another one be brought in. We've discovered some very intresting carvings, and I want to concentrate more on them and leave the artifact cateloging to you."
Kaela nodded and gave him one of her rare smiles. "That sounds good. I would love to see some of your work Mr. Crawford."
"Please, just Pegasus." He handed her the sketch book he carried around with him almost everywhere, the one with the monsters and cards. She flipped through it, and her face lit up. "Oh, these are beautiful! Is it a card game?"
"Well, it'll be there eventually, yes." Pegasus said ruefully. "I haven't had much time to work on it lately..."
"You should find time!" she said, nodding. "This looks like it would be very fun! When it's finished, you should market it as an actual game."
Pegasus's face lit up. "Now there's an idea!" he said, rubbing his chin in thought. "A very good idea indeed. But what would we call it?"
Everyone frowned in thought. For several minutes they just sat there, proposing and then discarding several names. Suddenly Cynthia's head jerked upward. "Wait koibito, the carvings! Didn't they say that the ancient priests used these monsters to fight each other? What about Duel Monsters?"
Pegasus jumped up from his seat, pulling his wife close to him and spinning her in a circle before setting her down to give her a kiss full on the lips. "Oh Cynnie, that's a wonderful idea! Thank you!" Cynthia just giggled and gave him a kiss of her own.
During this exchange, Malik and Rashiid had walked into the pavilion without anyone noticing. Rashiid froze, but Malik shrieked in happiness. "Auntie Kaela!" He ran toward her and hopped into her lap, and she laughed and gave him a hug. "It's good to see you too, little Malik. Where's your big brother?"
Rashiid finally managed to unfreeze his tongue, and took a step forward. "Right here Kaela."
Kaela stood up and turned, letting Malik down out of her arms. He ran to sit on Isis's lap while Rashiid and Kaela just stared at each other. A faint blush crossed Kaela's cheeks. "H-hello Rashiid. It's been awhile."
"Too long." Rashiid stepped forward again and held out his arms to her. She hugged him tightly, and then they broke apart and took seats together, both of them blushing a bit.
Angeline coughed quietly to break the silence. "I'm going to go take a walk. It's really hot in here. I need to cool down a little."
Isis frowned as she started to get up from her seat. "That isn't a good idea Angel..."
"Oh come off it," Angeline said, a frown of her own on her pretty face. "One walk won't hurt. I'll be back in twenty minutes, tops." Reluctantly Isis let her go, and she started off into the desert. Night was quickly coming on as the sun sank below the horizon, and the workmen had all broke for the day. Now they sat around in groups of six or seven, laughing and talking as they lit fires to cook their dinners. Everywhere Angeline passed, men called out to Sitt Angel, wishing health for her and for her child. She smiled gratefully at them all, occationally stopping for a moment to chat with the ones she knew.
She was just wandering aimlessly, and didn't realize where she was going until she found herself past all the campfires, in the cave-like entrance to the underground temple. The moon was full, and cast plenty of light, but in the cave it was dark. Angeline started to turn away and head back, when a movement in the shadows of the cave caught the corner of her eye. "Hello?" she called tentatively. "Is someone there?"
"Sitt Angel, may I have a word with you?"
The voice was that of a man, speaking in Arabic. His speech was accented, but with what other language Angeline couldn't tell. Looking hard she could see him now, leaning casually against the wall of the cave. Thinking it was one of the workmen and worrying that he might have found the underground labyrinth despite all their efforts to hide it, she answered "Of course,"
The man pushed himself off the wall, and the moonlight glinted off of something sparkling around his neck. "Sitt Angel, do you know how important that baby of yours is? That son that you carry will one day change the fate of the world."
"What are you talking about?" Angeline asked, her heart rising in her throat. The man took a step forward, and the moon shone off his eyes. Hard eyes, they were deep brown, with just the barest hint of red around the edges. "Wh-what do you want with me?!"
He reached out and grabbed her wrist in a surprisingly strong grip, pulling her toward him. All the time he was staring into her eyes, and she felt almost like she was being hypnotised. She couldn't move, couldn't speak or cry out. The baby in her belly kicked in responce. Almost as if he'd heard or felt or sensed it, the man ran his other hand over Angeline's swollen belly, causing bother her and the baby to shiver. But somehow Angeline knew that while she shivered in fear and dread, the baby squirmed in excitement.
"Sitt Angel, Angeline, this son is the most important thing in the world to me. Keep him safe, keep him strong. We'll meet again, I promise you."
The baby shivered again, and Angeline's belly tightened. The man smiled, and Angeline could see the moon glinting off of pointed teeth. Her terror rose, but he didn't seem to be making any threatening gestures to her, unless hypnotising her counted. "Pegasus is dipping into things that are far beyond his control. They were sealed away for a purpose, but now it's destined they be released once more. Oh yes Sitt Angel, we'll meet again."
He stepped forward, and Angeline fought the paralysis to scream. The man had white hair, a deep tan, and heavy scaring down one cheek. This was the same man that was on that tablet so many months ago, the one Malik said he dreamed of. Around his neck swung a golden ring enscribed with the Eye of Horus, but that wasn't the most frightening of all. Although his grip was still firm and tight around her wrist, she could see right through him to the rocks that lined the entrance of the cave behind him.
Reaching up, he stroked her cheek with one transparent finger. "Don't fear me, Sitt Angel. I am a friend. In ways you won't understand for many years, I am your son." He stroked her belly again, electing another shiver out of the baby, and then, right before Angeline's eyes, he dissolved as if he were no more than dust in the wind. His grip disappeared from her arm, and with it the strange paralysis that had come over her.
She dropped to her knees in the sand, her knees too weak to hold her up. Her hands were shaking as frightened tears fell from her eyes, and her belly tightened again. Suddenly she gasped in realization, and struggled to her feet only to fall down again. Her belly wasn't tightening in fear, it was tightening in labour!
Raising her eyes up to the full moon, Angeline yelled at the top of her lungs, "ISIS!!" The name grew into one long, endless scream until the world went black.
He was standing once again in the mouth of the cave, invisible this time, as Sitt Angel's friends rushed over the hill to find her sprawled in the sand. He watched with cold brown eyes, and only grunted in greeting when another joined him. "What do you want?"
"Was it really wise to show yourself to her? Now she'll be wary of us."
"Yes," the white-haired man agreed. "But her babe knows me now. He will not be afraid when the time comes."
The other one bowed his head in agreement. "Yes, that will be a problem my aibou and I will have to overcome. We don't know when he'll arrive, so there may be no chance to aquaint myself with him before he has to take up the Puzzle. If he's scared of me, any number of things could go wrong." The white-haired man said nothing, and after a moment his shorter companion continued. "I am curious though, why did you send dreams to the little blond one, if it's the babe that's to take the Ring?"
"You know Ankhkare's been taking an unnatural intrest in these humans. He says the blond one is excited for the baby's arrival. There's a good chance the babe and the blond will grow up as brothers, so there's a good reason to make the blond trust me as well."
The shorter one nodded in understanding. "A shame Seth isn't here. He would have had a fit seeing these mortals excavating our city."
The white-haired man chuckled and turned away from the mouth of the cave to head back into the labyrinth of twisting passageways. "Damn tomb robbers. I don't see what was so special about the Rod that they took only it."
"Watch what you call yourself," the shorter said, rather amused. "And I suppose it was Fate that gave them what they needed." He shook his head. "Even if Seth and the Rod are in the hands of the enemy now, we will still overcome."
"We must." the taller agreed, fingering the Ring around his neck. "Who would have thought that three children would carry the weight of the world?"
The spike-haired smiled secretively, running his hands absently over the heavy pyramid that hung on it's chain in front of him. "Stranger things have happened."
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WSJ: And so ends chapter 8!
Yami Bakura: ^^ I got to be in this chapter! Yayness!
WSJ: Hold it you, you're not out of hot water yet.
Yami B: v_v;
Kaze: ^^ Leave nice reviews everyone!
Phantom: *runs into the room with Diahorah on his heels, holding a certain blond chibi over his head* Found him!
WSJ: *squeals as Phantom drops Chibi-Malik into her arms* Finally! Where have you been young man?
Chibi-Malik: *giggles* Mosshead!
WSJ: XD You said your first word!! *cocks her head as somewhere not so far away there is a scream of agony* Nevermind minna-san. *looks up at Phantom* Phantom-san, where'd you find him?
Phantom: He was trying to charm his way into the heart of a shopkeeper so he could buy you a present to celebrate your 100th review.
WSJ: Aww! CM! You got me a present?
Chibi-Malik: *nods* Mosshead. *hands her a GBA with Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town*
WSJ: *eyes light up* YES! I love this game!!! Thank you CM!!!
Yami B: -_-; Now she'll be obsessively playing it for the next three weeks or so...
Kaze: ^^ If it keeps her from latching onto me...
WSJ: *snuggles down with Kaze as a pillow and turns on the GBA* Now, Kaze-san, should I plant turnips or potatoes?
Kaze: v_v; Drat...
Yami B: Reviews minna-san!
God bless minna-san!