Chapter Three
The falcon opened her eyes slowly and looked around her. Her head spun slightly, and the scene before her swam like a mirage.
She closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to stop. Then the falcon examined the room she was in.
She seemed to be wrapped in soft cloths on a couch of some kind, although it was much different than the couches the falcon had seen before. She was in a carpeted room with smaller couches, bookshelves, and a strange glass box on a table. There were picture windows that faced the street, revealing a uniform, perfectly green manicured lawn.
Carefully, the falcon hopped out of her makeshift nest. She yawned and glided off of the couch. With the help of her magic, her broken bone had healed quickly.
The falcon decided to explore the house. She hopped her way to a doorway that led into a long corridor. At one end was a door that she guessed opened to the outside. The falcon set off down the other.
She hopped past a room much like the one she had woken up in; a room with many humming glass machines and wires that attached to the wall; the kitchen; a bathroom and two closets. Then she came to the stairs. At the top, there were four doors in another hallway. One, a bathroom, was open. Two were tightly shut. But one door, the door at the end of the hall, was open a crack.
The falcon hopped over to the door, curious.
She squeezed through the space and walked inside. It was a spacious room with a large bed, a sofa, a shelf with one of those strange glass boxes built into it, and a table with a smaller box. There was a closed door in the far wall of the room.
Suddenly a person stepped out of it.
Seto gave the falcon a raised-eyebrows look and crossed his arms.
"How did you get up here?"
"I hopped."
"So you're feeling better?"
"Yes."
The falcon did not mince words. "So is that little boy, Mokuba, your brother?"
"What did you think? That I normally let kids follow me around?"
"I suppose that's a yes," said the falcon to the room at large, and hopped up onto a bedpost.
"Get off of there. I don't want bird germs all over my house."
The falcon crossed her eyes at him. "I'm not a bird, remember?"
"Whatever." Seto crossed the room at departed through the door to the hallway.
"You're really rude, did you know that?" she called after him.
The falcon followed him out of the room. She flew down the stairs and swerved into the kitchen. There was a door that led to the dining room, where the falcon could see Seto sitting and glancing over the newspaper. Beside him was Mokuba, eating something out of a bowl with a spoon and chatting away a mile a minute.
She flew through the kitchen, and then fluttered into the dining room and onto the table. Might as well just do it now.
Seto gave her an annoyed glance but continued reading.
Mokuba gaped.
"Good morning," said the falcon.
"You can talk?"
"Yes," replied the falcon.
Mokuba looked at her with wide eyes. "But… that's not possible…"
"Normally, it isn't," she said. "But I'm not a talking falcon. This isn't really my true form."
"Then what is your true form?"
"Oh, please no," muttered Seto.
The falcon hopped onto a chair. She disappeared into a cloud of golden mist. When it faded, a girl sat in the falcon's place.
She held out her hand to Mokuba. "You may call me Samira."
Shakily, Mokuba took it. "P-pleased to meet you," he said.
"There's no need to be afraid. I'm strange, I know, but I won't hurt you."
"Where did you come from?" asked Mokuba.
Samira sighed. "It's a long story," she said. "I think you know of the seven Millennium Items, and the story of the Egyptian God Cards, and the Pharaoh, and all of that?"
Suddenly Seto was watching her with a slightly pinched look on his face, his eyes narrowed.
"Oh please," he scoffed. "Not more of that Ancient Egypt junk. Ishizu was bad enough-"
Samira propped her chin on her hands. "Oh, you know Ishizu?" she said. "Enlightening soul, isn't she?"
Seto rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Samira laughed.
"Ishizu was one of the six priests during Pharaoh Atem's reign in Egypt," continued Samira.
"Who's Pharaoh Atem?" asked Mokuba.
"The Pharaoh, the one in the Millennium Puzzle. Haven't you met him?"
"You mean Yugi?"
"Well… sort of. Anyhow, you two have probably met at least one of the priests at one time or another. Do you know Bakir? Of the Millennium Ring?"
"Bakir?" Mokuba said.
"Well, anybody with a name like his? Names can change over time…"
"Oh, you mean Bakura!" Mokuba exclaimed. "Yeah, I know him-"
"You're saying that all of these priest people have come back as people we know?" said Seto suspiciously.
"Exactly," replied Samira.
"-and Marik must be the priest of the Millennium Rod, right?" asked Mokuba.
Samira jerked her head so fast that her braids were a blur. "Marik?" she said incredulously. "And the Millennium Rod? You mean— you mean Ishizu's brother?"
"Yeah," said Mokuba. "He had it for a while and he was doing all these bad things with it because his evil side took over his good side but then Yugi beat his evil self in a duel so his good self came back and the good Marik gave Yugi the Millennium Rod-"
"Wait, wait, wait, slow down," said Samira, shaking her head. "So now that short person with the Puzzle also has the Rod!"
"Yeah."
"But," Samira exclaimed, "That can't be right…"
"Why?" inquired Mokuba. "Marik wasn't a priest?"
"No, he wasn't," Samira frowned, twisting a strand of hair around one finger.
"Well then who was the priest of the Millennium Rod?"
"I was," said Seto quietly. Mokuba stared at him. Samira's look suddenly softened.
"I'm not stupid," he continued. "I saw that stone tablet. According to you crazy people, I'm the one who owned the Millennium Rod, which is complete nonsense."
"No, it's not," snapped Samira. "The Lithograph speaks the truth. You are the High Priest and the Millennium Rod is your birthright."
"You mean… Seto was a priest?" squeaked Mokuba, his bowl of Cheerios quite forgotten.
"Yes, he was," said Samira, glaring at Seto, who glared right back. "And I had the great misfortune of being his advisor."
"You're insane," Seto said flatly.
Samira fixed him with her golden stare. "Explain to me, then, how you won your duel against Ishizu Ishtar," she said in a soft, dangerous voice.
Seto's eyes faltered, and he looked downward, not speaking.
"Do you remember how Marik's Millennium Rod mysteriously lit up, and your Blue Eyes White Dragon called to you?" she said, probing further. "Do you recall those visions-"
"Shut- up-" growled Seto, gritting his teeth.
"Oh, have I touched a nerve?" asked Samira calmly. "All I ask is for you to stop and think…"
Mokuba was looking back and forth between them, eyes wide. "Seto, what's-"
"Forget it, Mokuba."
"You must at least accept your heritage," Samira said, more gently.
"What heritage? I'm not from Egypt-"
"It is true that Seto is a Japanese name," continued Samira, "But you'd be surprised."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. You were named Seto for a reason. Have you ever seen a family picture of your parents?"
"N-no."
"Well, if you ever do, you will notice that your mother is most certainly not Japanese."
"Leave my mother out of this," snarled Seto. "What do you know-"
"I know more than you realize," said Samira smoothly. "I swear on my honor that I will tell you no lies. Now I shall lay it out for you plain and simple.
"You are of Egyptian descent. You are the reincarnation of High Priest Seto from the royal house of Sayidh, cousin of the Pharaoh and protector of the throne. If you do not at least acknowledge this, I can certainly predict that you will not last very long."
Seto looked dumbfounded. He did not reply.
Samira sighed. "Seto, I technically was not supposed to tell you this, but I am going to now because you seem to need some extra convincing."
He blinked, his face now strangely expressionless, but did not say anything.
Samira began:
"As you know, your Duel Monsters was played in Ancient Egypt, but known to us as the Shadow Games, owing to the fact that the players had to use dark magic to summon monsters. It was quite popular during the reign of Pharaoh Akunamon Sayidh. No one is exactly sure how it came about, but there are legends that tell of a tablet that explains the mysteries of the Shadows Games and its origins. Unfortunately, like many other artifacts, this tablet is lost to us. Perhaps forever, or maybe we have not rediscovered it yet. Who knows?
"Fortunately, there is another tablet that currently resides with the Scorpion Tribe of the Hidden Desert and has been under their careful guard for millennia. It is in a very old script that has been dead for years and years. It is rumored to be set down in the hand of Azukhtar the High One himself. This tablet tells of an event called the Time-Cleft, when there will be enough dark power accumulated on Earth for there to be a hole in time, so to speak. You see, the Shadow Games back then generated a lot of dark power on Earth, so much that the Dark One was able to enter this dimension. Of course, that is not a good thing. The Time Cleft was going to happen right then and there, but luckily, Pharaoh Atem, Akunamon's son who was reigning at that time, stepped in and was able to prevent the Dark One from using the Time Cleft to control the world."
"Wait," said Seto abruptly. "What about the priests, and the Millennium Items, and all that?"
"I'm getting to that. Before Atem came to power, his predecessor Akunamon's high priest, Akunadin, was given the task of creating the Millennium Items to give the priests power to protect Egypt from the darkness of the Shadow Games- and the Egyptian God Monsters. Odd though it may seem, the three monsters were created by mistake.
"You see, one hundred souls were needed to be sacrificed to create the Items, and so the Pharaoh Akunamon chose the Village of Thieves, home to one hundred allegedly notorious scoundrels, to be sacrificed. Unfortunately, one person was able to escape the city before the spell had been invoked. Interestingly enough, this man was not a thief, but a fugitive who had come into the Village of Thieves to hide. He left the village under the cover of night, even though the Pharaoh's soldiers had been sent to guard all the gates to prevent this. The escapee hid right outside the village and watched the spell take place. But since there were only ninety-nine men left in the village, the spell went wrong. It still produced the Millennium Items, but something else quite unexpected was created that night.
"A shroud of shadow hovered over the now empty village like a cloak. At the stroke of midnight, three huge beasts emerged from its depths: the Winged Dragon of Ra, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and Obelisk the Tormenter. Akunamon was panicking; he had no idea what to do with three huge, dark, dangerous monsters on his hands. He quickly went through the initiation ceremony to be able to control the Millennium Puzzle. But without the other items, the Puzzle's power was limited. Akunamon was killed that night. No one knows exactly how. His bed was found empty the next morning, and a search party was sent out. All they found of the Great Pharaoh Akunamon was the Millennium Puzzle, lying mysteriously in the desert sand."
The room seemed suddenly colder, darker and agonizingly silent.
"Wow," Mokuba whispered, his eyes distant as he imagined.
"So Yugi becomes pharaoh, right?" Seto said in an almost bored voice.
"Very good, Mister Kaiba," Samira said dryly. "Riders were sent out to all corners of the kingdom to find the five hidden priests and priestesses that would wield the remaining Items. By the end of the month, they had all been found and everything was ready to invoke the Sevenfold Spell. Bakir of the Millennium Ring, Ishizu of the Millennium Necklace-"
"Ishizu!" Seto exclaimed, gaping.
"Does it surprise you?" Samira asked, chuckling.
"Hey Samira, does that guy, Bakir, have anything to do with Bakura?" inquired Mokuba. "Because I think Bakura, Yugi's friend, has the Ring."
"Hmmm," Samira mused. "Bakir is most likely a version of Bakura. That is probably him, if he has the Ring. I also think you've met the Puzzle and Rod?"
"Several times too many," grumbled Seto.
"But Samira, that's only four Millennium Items," said Mokuba. "What about the other three?"
"Don't forget the eye that Pegasus had," Seto reminded his brother.
"Pegasus?" asked Samira, curious.
"He was a dirty-rotten cheater, a lying, underhanded scumbag who nearly killed us," Mokuba said angrily, his hands clenching. "He's gone now, thankfully, but…" Mokuba shivered and trailed off.
"Oh, the Millennium Eye?" said Samira, her brow furrowed. "That's strange, because a female owned it in Ancient Egypt. Priestess Ranya, to be exact. As for how this man Pegasus almost killed you, I think I shall not ask."
"He… kidnapped Mokuba," muttered Seto after a moment. "Then… he imprisoned us in our own cards." His face darkened like a thundercloud, burning fires of hate kindled in his eyes.
Samira fell silent, watching Seto's stormy face with a closed expression. She folded her hands and examined her intertwined fingers, not speaking.
"I know your life has not been easy," she said quietly. "I know of your abuse by that hateful man Gozaburo. You have every right to be resentful. I… just want to help you. Terrible, dark times are ahead for us, for everyone, and I can help you." Gently she set her hand on top of his.
Seto's impulse was to jerk back and say something nasty, but for some reason, he didn't. Grave golden eyes met wary blue ones. A sudden feeling of calm permeated the room, of clouds drifting by in a sapphire sky and a gentle breeze wafting softly.
The moment of peace was shattered as quickly as it had come. Shaken, Seto stood up abruptly.
"I must be going," he said, and walked out of the room, a little too hastily.
Mokuba took a big mouthful of cereal. "I hink oo ad im," he mumbled through the food.
Samira laughed. "Come again?"
Mokuba swallowed. "I think, you scared him," he repeated.
Samira grinned. "It figures. He is rather antisocial."
"Yeah," Mokuba sighed, nodding sadly. "He has no friends."
Samira's eyebrows shot way up. "I see," she said quietly.
Mokuba put down his spoon and looked at Samira. "I- I remember a time, when Seto was always happy. He-" Mokuba wiped a tear away from his eye. "He used to call me Mokie," Mokuba choked out. "We would always play together, and dream of a better life. But now-" Mokuba put his head down on his arms and sniffled.
She leaned over and gently hugged him. "It's okay," said Samira softly. She looked out through the window into the sunny sky, and rested her chin on her hands. "I know it will be."
"You do? How?" Mokuba asked, looking up and wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
"I was sent here… for a reason. I can't tell you everything now, but times will change. They are about to. Very soon…" Samira drifted off, staring far into space.
Mokuba didn't probe further. He was still a little suspicious of this sudden intrusion. Although Samira didn't seem hostile… there was always a first time.
"By the way, what is that you are eating?" she asked.
"Uh- what? Oh, this is cereal. Cheerios."
"Looks revolting." Samira rose and trotted into the kitchen to inspect it. Quizzically she surveyed the refrigerator. Spying the handle, she gingerly took hold and pulled. The door opened.
Samira jumped back in surprise, clearly startled. Mokuba laughed. "That's the fridge," he explained. "It's where we keep our food."
"But then all of your food will be cold!"
"That's good, see? Because then it won't spoil. If we want it warm we heat in up in the microwave."
"Which is…?"
"That other smaller… uh, box with a door in it."
"Oh." Samira curiously examined the buttons on the microwave. "Interesting." She glanced back at the fridge. "It looks like you are running out of food. Where do we get some?"
"At Kroger… I mean, our store, you know, our grocery store. We can go right now, if you want."
"All right. I would like to see what a store is like." Samira suddenly disappeared in a cloud of misty gold.
"Eek!" Mokuba said with a start.
"Sorry," amended the falcon. "It must have startled you."
"Yeah."
"Lead me to this store. I will be flying above."
"Okay," Mokuba said eagerly. He left a scrawled note on the table: Gone to the store.
And off they went. The falcon coasted lazily on the updrafts, following Mokuba as he walked through the streets.
She spied a building with the word Kroger on it. This must be it.
Samira was transformed and waiting at the doors when Mokuba arrived. Suddenly she realized something. "Oh, no! My clothes… people are going to think I'm strange."
"No, it's really okay," Mokuba assured her. "Domino City is the definition of strange, beginning with its name. People wear capes around here all the time. Don't worry."
"That's good," she said, looking relieved; and they went into the store.
An hour later, they came out laden with shopping bags. After intense scrutiny, many foods hat Mokuba had never seen before passed Samira's test. Some included: pita bread, three kinds of hommus, baba ganouch, grapes, dates, figs, pine nuts, five loaves of sourdough, grape juice, four whole cucumbers and a roast chicken. There were also the basics: milk, apples, carrots, cereal, et cetera. It was a wonder that between the two of them they managed to get it home all in one trip.
After that, Samira got to work cooking something very elaborate in the kitchen (Mokuba had to explain to her how to work the oven and microwave first, but she caught on quickly). Two hours hence, it smelled really good.
Mokuba poked his head around the kitchen door. "When will it be done?"
"In about an hour. This is fun. I haven't cooked in a while. I'm going all out today."
"What are you making?"
"It's a surprise." Samira shooed Mokuba out of the kitchen. Lazily he flopped on the couch and turned on the television. He was only half-watching the show. Boy, would Seto be surprised when he came home. The kitchen was fully stocked and delicious aromas were wafting from it.
"Tomorrow I'm going to start on the other rooms," Samira called. "They all need a good dusting. Oh, by the way, where did Seto go?"
"I don't know," Mokuba replied. "Usually he has work off today, but he's probably somewhere else. I don't know where he goes a lot. Probably dueling…" Mokuba frowned.
Samira didn't reply. A buzzer rang on the stove. "Ah, done to a crisp," Mokuba heard. He smiled slightly. They were going to eat well tonight.
The front door opened, and Seto strode into the house. He stopped in his tracks and sniffed. "What is that smell?" he demanded.
"Samira's making dinner. We went on a shopping trip."
"Hmph," Seto snorted, tossing his coat onto a sofa. He departed down the hall for the kitchen. Mokuba got up and followed.
"What are you doing in my kitchen?" he heard Seto say.
"Hah. I doubt you know how to cook. Now that there's a lady in this house, it's actually being put to good use. It's my kitchen now."
Mokuba snickered at his brother.
Seto didn't reply. He couldn't.
"Now go into the dining room. Dinner will be out in a few minutes."
He had no choice but to comply. The table was set, complete with plates, glasses and silverware.
Seto sat down rather uncertainly. Mokuba plopped down on a chair and made himself comfortable. "You should see what we got at the store," he told his brother. "Dinner's gonna be so good, you won't believe it."
And it was. There were three kinds of lentils; a spicy sauce; grapes; roasted lamb, meat pies with pine nuts and seasoned with lemon juice; stuffed grape leaves, hommus with herbs; toasted pita bread; and a soft spongy bread that Samira said was from Ethiopia.
There was still tons of food leftover and Seto was already stuffed. Then Samira cleared the table and began to wash the dishes.
"So Seto, where were you today?" Mokuba asked, his eyes half-shut.
"KaibaCorp is developing a new simulation duel machine and I needed to go in again to try it out."
"Oh." Mokuba didn't really care; all that food had made him tired. He yawned. "I'm going upstairs now. Good night." Mokuba managed a malevolent grin before departing.
"Mokuba," Seto hissed frantically. "You can't just leave-"
His brother was gone. Seto sighed, annoyed. He got up and tried to leave too, but it was too late. He felt sharp talons clutch his shoulder; the falcon chirped deafeningly into his ear. "I'm going now," she said calmly. "I'll return tomorrow. See you then." And with a flutter of wings and a flurry of feathers, she went, out of the open dining room window.
Good riddance, said a voice in Seto's head.
Good riddance! exclaimed another voice. That girl saved your life!
Seto shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. His mind was like a convention sometimes.
It didn't work. Don't tell me you like her, sneered the first voice. I don't like anybody. The only one who matters is me. I live to serve only myself.
Oh really? replied the other voice knowingly. Then why did you help her, eh? That's not "serving yourself."
I owed her a favor, the first voice said grumpily. And I returned it. That's it. Nothing more.
Hm. Then what about all of that stuff she said about Egypt?
Random babblings of a lunatic, whined the first voice.
I'm so sure. She made you dinner, she cleaned up, and she's helping you out. Why are you so dead-set against other people?
The first voice was silent.
The second voice chuckled. It looks like there's going to be a new majority in the Senate! Pessimism, you're a minority now.
Shut up.
Sore loser!
Seto blinked in surprise. The phantom conversation had gone as suddenly as it had come.
He decided to put it behind him. No point in brooding over it, right?
Yet as Seto was trying to fall asleep that night, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get the day's events out of his mind. Where had Samira come from? Was that Egypt rubbish really true? Who was the assassin, and why did he want to kill Seto?
The questions spun around in his head like a top, finally whirling Seto into sleep.