Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of its characters. They belong to their respective owners.
The legend of the three souls
Chapter I – The sun and the sand
-by Alena S. Anigor
Mai stretched lazily, spreading her arms in the air and hearing the cracking sound coming from them. She grimaced slightly; wondering how was she still mobile in the first place. She looked at the girl next to her, who was fidgeting with her backpack, trying to stuff the book back inside, but somehow failing to find the appropriate place.
The stewardess announced the arrival, and the rest of the passengers were also making a commotion in the plane, stuffing their bags and purses with their personal belongings. Tea managed to squeeze the book between the plastic bottle of mineral water and her sandwich leftovers from the early in the morning. She didn't want to travel with an empty stomach, compared to Mai, who only drank a cup of coffee, and there was no wonder she felt so sick during the whole flight.
"Aaahhh...", Mai yawned, totally oblivious to the fact that she should've covered her mouth, "Finally! One more hour of sitting in this seat, and I swear, I'd hijack this plane, demanding from the damn pilots to fly faster." She commented, making the bypassing stewardess stare at her suspiciously.
Tea only smiled, closing her backpack, and getting up, she leaned over Yuugi's seat to see what he was doing. She almost giggled, seeing the both Mutous sleeping soundly. Solomon was snoring softly, mouth open and totally oblivious to the fact that he could be heard a few seats in front of him.
Tea shook her childhood friend gently, making him stir slightly, and he opened his eyes, violet orbs staring at the ceiling first and then at the cerulean - eyed girl behind him. He cleared his eyes with his fingers, yawning a bit, and then leaning to the left to wake his grandfather.
Solomon mumbled something and turned to the other side, making Tea giggle and younger Mutou sigh in irritation. His grandfather was definitely in a deep slumber, and he even considered the thought to yell in his ear to wake him up, but he decided to shake him a few times instead. Mai didn't miss the opportunity to take out her camera from the depths of her closed jacket, and positioning herself over the sleeping grandpa, she took the right angle and the camera made a clicking sound, a slight flashing light evident for a second. Yuugi just shook his head, and Mai grinned.
"I could actually sell this very well", she said with amusement in her voice, eyeing the old man grinningly, "I can already see the title – the world's famous archeologist caught drooling in his sleep." She added, directing her eyes upwards, and Tea raised her backpack, positioning it on her shoulder, and shaking her head.
"You're horrible", she uttered, and Mai only smirked.
"It's all in the description of my job, honey", she coaxed, and putting the camera back inside her jacket, took her small backpack, putting it on her back.
Yuugi was busy with trying to wake up his grandpa, until he has had enough and leaning closely to his ear, he took a deep breath, having no choice but to use the other method.
"Wake up!" He shouted, making Solomon jump from his seat, eyes wide in shock.
"What happened? Where am I?" He asked, frantically scanning the surroundings, until his eyes met the ones of his grandson, and two girls staring at him from above the seat.
"Well, glad you could make it back", Mai grinned, and Tea was laughing softly. Yuugi was looking at his grandfather, looking disapprovingly at his behavior. Solomon only shrugged, and placing his sweetest smile, he stood up, watching the passengers walking out of the plane.
"Oh, we better hurry, I don't want to be late!" He said in a rushed manner, and grabbing his bag from below, he scurried past Yuugi, getting lost in the crowd. The three of them stood there, looking blankly at the old grandpa, shoving his way trough the crowd of people, yelling something about getting late.
Yuugi shook his head again. "And he was snoring just a minute ago."
Mai and Tea looked at each other, and only shrugged.
Walking carefully down the metallic steps, Tea breathed the air of Egypt, and sensed the difference immediately. The air was dry, carrying the dusty fragrance in it, and she looked around the airport, seeing nothing but mountains of sand in the distance. The sun was practically burning, making her temperature rise in the long sleeved shirt she was wearing. Mai let out a whistling sound, eyeing the airport in surprise, deciding to take off her jacket and place it around her waist.
Yuugi went ahead, afraid of loosing his grandfather in the crowd of people. Tea rushed after him, absolutely delighted with the first impression of the ancient country. Mai pulled the two strings of thin rope from her camera, taking the first photo of the airport, and then placing the camera around her neck, letting it hang there.
She hurried after Tea, who called after her, already far ahead. She skipped the last few steps, and securing her backpack once again, went after her friends.
Solomon, as old and weak as he seemed, was unusually fast for his age. Yuugi had to run after him to the airport building to catch up with him. Turning his head every now and then to see if the girls were behind, he had to yell at his grandfather to slow down. He looked at his watch, noticing that they still had an hour and a half to get to the Museum of ancient artifacts, where the convention was about to take place.
But they still had to find the hotel they were staying at and check in, making Yuugi realize that perhaps they should speed up the things a bit. Waving to the girls, he turned his attention to the smaller plane, landing not so far away from the plane they arrived in.
'Must be a private jet or something', he thought, but had no time to look around, already loosing his grandpa out of sight.
"Geez, what's up with him?" Mai asked, panting slightly after running around the whole airport to get to the building. Tea smiled a bit, out of breath herself and turned around to look at her blond friend.
"I guess grandpa Mutou is in a hurry", she replied hastily, trying to find at least one of the Mutous in the large sea of people. The airport building was pretty, she thought, most of its part made of glass, reflecting the blue sky and shining on the sun. She blocked the reflections of the glass with her hand, scanning the crowd and trying to find the tri – color haired boy in it. She spotted him a few feet away and grabbing Mai's hand who yelped slightly, being pulled unsuspectingly, she sped up towards the main entrance of the building.
Yuugi was holding the sleeve of his grandfather's suit, feeling like a little lost boy, but that was the only way not to loose him out of sight again. He felt someone grabbing the end of his sleeve, and he turned around to look at Tea, heaving heavily, holding her chest.
"God, where's the fire?" Mai asked, panting as well, looking angrily at the boy in front of her, and then at his grandfather, who was currently trying to find the best way to wiggle trough the crowd.
"I'm sorry, but my gra-whoa!" Yuugi didn't manage to end his sentence because he was being pulled by Solomon, who already found a way to bypass the people around him.
"Come on, my boy, hurry!" He yelled enthusiastically, and Yuugi had no choice but to comply, and drag the two girls with him.
Mai sighed heavily, wishing she had a leash to secure them all from running away like a herd of wild ducks.
Ten minutes later they were by the reception, with their bags securely in their hands; Mai almost got in a fight with some crazy woman, who demanded that it was her bag, on which Mai growled scathingly, asking her how could that be her bag when it had a tag with a name Mai Valentine on it.
Exiting the building, they stopped suddenly, the river of cars and taxi drivers all around them. Even children were running around them, offering them a guidance trough the city. Solomon declined firmly, saying he already found the guides, and pointing at the two young men, standing slightly away from the exit, holding 'Solomon Mutah' sign in their hands.
"Mutah?" Tea and Mai asked in unison, raising their eyebrows questioningly, while Yuugi sweatdropped. Solomon shook his head dejectedly.
"Must've been some misunderstanding in our communication", he commented, and headed to the two young men standing by the taxi car.
"Hello there", Solomon said politely, eyeing the two tall Egyptians, one having a long blondish hair, while the other had a darker hair, short and neatly combed.
"Ahh, Solomon Mutah!" The blond one said cheerfully, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously. The other smiled as well, nodding with his head, "I heard so much about you!" He added, still shaking his hand, smiling widely at the older man in front of him. Mai couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, while Tea giggled silently. Yuugi was left speechless, gaping at the young men, not believing that those two were supposed to lead them trough Egypt.
"It's such a pleasure to see you here", the dark – haired Egyptian said, eyeing him with respect.
Solomon smiled, letting out a few chuckles himself. "Thank you boys, but you must know that my last name is Mutou, not Mutah."
The blond Egyptian's wide smile froze and he smiled uneasily, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"We are sorry", he said, and Solomon smiled understandingly. Then he turned around, catching the stunned expressions of his grandson and his friends.
"Oh, this is my grandson, Yuugi Mutou", he introduced, slightly emphasizing the last name, and Yuugi smiled politely, shaking their hands, "And these two lovely ladies are our friends, Tea Gardner and Mai Valentine", he added, introducing the two girls to them, and the boys smiled, shaking their hands happily.
"Joey", the blond Egyptian said, and then pointed at his friend, "and this is Tristan."
The girls nodded, and Solomon looked at his watch, rubbing the palms of his hands impatiently.
"Well, shall we go then? I think you already know the schedule", Solomon asked, and the blond Egyptian named Joey, took a crumbled piece of paper from his green jacket.
"Ah, yes, first the hotel, then the Museum", he exclaimed, and Solomon nodded, already taking the bag in his hand.
"Well let's go then, there's no time to loose!" He shouted, already walking down the street victoriously.
Yuugi, the two girls and the two guides gaped at him, sweatdropping.
"But, sir", Tristan yelled after him, "you're going the wrong way! The hotel Oasis is on the other side!" Solomon turned around, looking at them in confusion.
"Really?" He asked, looking around the busy street, putting two fingers on his beard and smoothing it. "Oh well, let us go the other way then!" He exclaimed again, and almost storming past them, headed the other way down the street, leaving his companions stunned once again.
Joey and Tristan looked at each other, and Joey mumbled something to his friend, on which he only nodded.
'Wait sir', and 'Grandpa, you'll get lost again!' was heard after the three boys started running after him, leaving Tea and Mai half – eyed behind.
"Oh, brother..." Mai muttered, before Tea grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her after her, not wanting to risk her own safety in the unknown country.
Ishizu eyed the upcoming guests with great interest; she could see Mr. Hawkins, also a well known scientist and she smiled softly, glad that she could present them all her newest discovery.
She looked at her watch, calculating till she would have to get out on the small stage and present them all the bust of the Second soul. She almost grinned in satisfaction, wanting to see the faces of those old geezers who were proclaiming that the busts couldn't exist.
She turned around, feeling someone tapping her on the shoulder, and smiled, seeing one of her coworkers looking at her expectantly.
"Yes, Rashid?" She asked, looking at him, and the man smiled, peeping trough the curtain slightly to see the big hall, filled with chairs and the neatly looking stage, with a small representation desk and a few microphones on it.
The hall was starting to fill slightly, people buzzing around to make the last alterations till the beginning of the convention.
"It'll be a great event as I can see", he commented, and Ishizu nodded almost absentmindedly, already thinking of the best way to present her discovery. Then she almost slapped her forehead, and Rashid looked at her in surprise.
"Is something wrong?" He asked, observing her, slightly worried face. But she smiled only, reassuring him that nothing was wrong, except to the fact that she forgot to write her speech. Rashid chuckled softly, reminding her that it won't cost her a lot of time anyway, since she was a master when it came to speeches and shaping words into perfect sentences.
She smiled at him, and then disappeared behind him to write her speech and get ready on time, leaving Rashid to peep behind the curtain and observe the upcoming guests.
She nibbled on her pencil, thinking of the best way to present her new pride, and she started scribbling down the notes, words flowing effortlessly over the paper.
She hadn't noticed Solomon Mutou yet, but she hoped warmly that he would make it on time; she could still remember how she met him before on one of her trips and the next day, he came late to the restaurant and on top of it all – barely recognized her.
She smiled, scribbling the notes and wishing for her convention to be a success.
"You say you know the young lady?" Solomon asked the brown haired Egyptian, and he nodded, looking around the street.
"Yes, Ishizu, Joey and I are friends for some time already. We helped her with the diggings once, and since then, she considers us friends. She is very nice." Tristan notified, and Solomon nodded, smiling. Yuugi was listening carefully.
"I know, I've had the privilege to meet her, as well", he replied, positioning his bag a bit in his hands.
Joey and the girls were walking behind them, listening to the conversation. Tea was trying not to stumble too much due to the fact that her head was constantly turned in all directions besides the street. She was astonished with the buildings, people who were walking in long robes down the street, men wearing turbans, and women having their faces covered with veils. She spotted a large market, and Mai grabbed her camera instantly, stopping a bit to take a photo of the man, sitting on the ground, snakes placed in the wooden basket in front of him, and the crowd of children, laughing every time the snake would jump in the air from the basket. Tea smiled, noticing how the man seemed to meditate on the sun, and wondered if the man hadn't fallen asleep.
Joey noticed a few men looking at Mai with interest, eyeing the blond girl with eyes that held no good intentions, and he threw them a dirty look, slightly pulling Mai aside, and she looked at him, surprised.
Joey turned around to see the men standing not so far away, and frowned.
"What's wrong?" She asked, and Joey looked at the camera in her hands.
"You better hide that camera, Mai Valentine", he said, and she turned her eyes to the little black thing in her hands, "that thing costs a lot, if you know what I mean."
She raised her eyebrows, turning around to see the suspicious looking men still staring at them. Slowly, she put the camera inside her shirt, and glared at the men in long white robes.
"I see what you mean", she replied, and Joey nodded.
"Tourists are easy targets here for those like them", he commented, and then pulled her hand, guiding her trough the crowd on the street.
Solomon eyed the watch, and then frowned slightly. Tristan noticed his discomfort, and smiled.
"Do not worry, the hotel is behind this block", he said and pointed to the end of the street. Yuugi almost gasped, noticing the large buildings, skyscrapers reaching the blue sky, reflecting the day on the clear glass. He was gaping; astonished to see such a difference from the dusty streets they were walking down just a few minutes ago.
"This is the industrial area, am I right?" He asked the dark haired Egyptian and he nodded, guiding them further trough the streets made of concrete. The amount of cars and taxis was practically swimming down the road, which lead to the center of the city. Buses were full of people, and Yuugi noticed a policeman, standing in the middle of the street, with a whistle in his mouth, directing the traffic around him. It was so new to him, so different, and yet, he felt as if he was walking down the so familiar street, making his insides churn with a strange feeling of acknowledgment.
Joey turned around briefly, noticing that they lost the men in the white robes and sighed inwardly. Mai looked at him, observing the slightly darker shade of his skin, and his more chiseled features. He turned to look at her suddenly, and she almost blushed, averting her eyes quickly to look at the little window of a gift shop.
He raised his eyebrows, wondering why was the blond girl watching him like that.
"Come on, hurry already!" Tea yelled from ahead, and Mai almost yelped, noticing the distance between their little group. Joey put his hand on her shoulder, guiding her trough the almost unbreakable crowd, and she wanted nothing more than to reach the hotel, enter her room and hit the shower.
Twenty minutes later, they were at the reception of the Oasis hotel, spilling information about their arrival and their reservations. The receptionist, a young man in a nice blue outfit, handed them the keys of the rooms, and they sighed, finally reaching their first goal. The lobby was large, the floor covered with perfectly clean tiles, and Mai observed that she could actually see her reflection in them. Tea was fascinated with the ceiling of the lobby, which was totally made of glass, enabling everyone to see the sky. Solomon and Yuugi on the other hand, were fascinated with the amount of restaurants in the hotel, almost drooling over the window with Egyptian specialties.
"What on earth is that anyway?" Mai asked, pointing at the funny looking thing on one of the plates in the window.
"I don't care, as long as it's edible", Yuugi replied, already hearing the howling sound coming from his stomach.
"Ahem", Mai coughed, pointing at the large clock, positioned in the middle of the lobby, and Solomon's eyes widened drastically.
"Holy Ra!" He yelped, noticing the time on the clock, "There's no time for food, my boy!" He added, and grabbing his grandson's hand, he sprinted up the stairs, feet thumping over the red carpet. Mai smirked, shaking her head, until Tea approached her, holding the key of their room, eyeing the Mutous with half lidded eyes.
Joey and Tristan waved to them from the bottom of the stairs, and they took their bags, noticing that the boys already had their hands full of bags that belonged to Yuugi and his grandfather.
"I have a feeling this will be one hell of a trip", Mai muttered, grabbing her bag, and walking behind Tea, who only managed to nod in agreement.
"Any news yet?" The almost hollow voice echoed trough the empty room, revealing the cloaked figure sitting on the chair, very similar to the throne of some ancient Egyptian palace.
"I'm afraid not, Ancient One", the cloaked figure bowed before him respectfully, although fear was evident around the edges of his voice.
The tall figure sitting on the throne let out a silent breath, raising his head a bit to reveal a pair of sharp, emerald eyes. They narrowed dangerously, and the man in front of him let out a surprised yell, suddenly choking in front of him, grabbing the sides of his cloak desperately, his body floating slightly above the floor.
He was shaking frantically, eyes wide in fear and pain.
"P-ple-ease Ancient One", he choked out, his voice barely audible, "I won't m-make th-e same mis-s-take", he added, pleading eyes looking at the tall figure on the throne, "p-please, s-p-pare me!" He shrieked, and the emerald eyes closed, making the man fall down in a heap.
He coughed several times, breathing hastily to catch some oxygen, bowing several times, more out of fear than gratitude.
"Very well", the hollow voice coaxed, the tall figure crossing his leg across the other one, "You'll have your chance, but", he stopped, narrowing his eyes again, mouth opening to reveal a line of white teeth, lips curled into a snarl, "fail again, and the consequences will be rather painful for you." He added, and the man in front of him shuddered at the though of failing. He bowed again, and then scurried out of the room, shaken with the fact that he managed to avoid certain death this time.
The tall figure leaned into his chair, relaxing his hands on the sides of it, glaring at he golden looking double doors in front of him. He smirked, letting out a few chuckles.
"The Three souls won't rise again...I'll make sure of that."
AN:
Whee, done with chapter I. It took me a while to write it, so I guess the other chapters won't come out that easily either. This will be a longer story, so be prepared for the lack of quick updates. *smiles uneasily*
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Tell me what you think – drop me your comments, suggestions and rants.
If anyone has a question, or anything else, you can e-mail me on sani_chan@email.htnet.hr
Ok, so much from me for this time.
Bye now!
A.S.A
