Chapter 15: Interlude to a New Shadow

The next few days seemed to move in slow motion...Atem had used all of his power to trap Heishin inside an enchanted tomb locked with a seal that couldn't be broken easily. The tomb was buried deep within the very pyramid we had fought in, and Atem, depleated of energy, was immediatly taken back to the palace for rest. Everyone was happy the danger was finally over, but worried about the Pharaoh. The best we could do was continue as normal...if there was anything normal about it...

Juliana stood in a small room facing a large group of children, all boys and girls around the age of seven. The children sat with small staffs in their hands, eagerly listening to Juliana. She looked over the classroom and sighed. "Alright children, let us begin with warm ups."

The children simultaneously stood and held their staffs in front of them with both hands. Small lights appeared all over the room and danced, almost like fireflies in the night. Some were bigger than the others, showing the more experienced ones away from the less knowledgeable.

Juliana walked around the room, inspecting each child and helping the ones having trouble. She turned her back to help one small boy when a large blast sounded from the other side of the room. She didn't even have to look away to know who it was. "Children, it would seem Lady Mana has graced us with her presence."

The children quietly giggled and dropped their spells, parting away so Mana came into clear view. She had tried helping a student with a spell, but had borrowed the amateur staff instead of using her own and overloaded it. "Eh heh. Good day."

"Good day." Juliana turned and faced Mana. "May I ask why you have come to visit, Lady Mana?"

Mana shrugged. "Was hoping to get some extra training in." She smiled happily. "Anyone training under Lady Juliana is sure to get stronger."

"Shouldn't you be with Priest Mahado?"

She shook her head. "He left with Priest Akunadin to the Valley of the Kings. Everyone's sort of taking some time off to relax. Maybe you should do that same. I can take over here."

"Hm...perhaps you're right..." Juliana looked at the children around her, then at Mana and nodded. "Alright children, Lady Mana will be your instructor for the day. I want you to give her the same respect you would me."

They all replied in unison. "Yes, Lady Juliana!"

Juliana bowed to the children. She waited until the children bowed in return and then she left.

It was a clear and sunny day and the movement of the palace was as it would be any regular day. Servants cleaned anything and everything, also tidying up the garden as they went. Juliana was watching one servant plant a few flowers when she looked up a bit more and saw Vash and Isis sitting across the garden talking. Vash spoke, smiling, and Isis laughed. Juliana could have eavesdropped on their conversation, but decided not to intrude in their personal conversation.

"Can you imagine it?" Naru said, walking up next to Juliana.

"Hm?" She looked at her.

Naru looked over at the two across the garden. "Vash and Isis together." She laughed a bit. "I admit, I saw it coming but they make a nice couple."

"Hm..." She looked at them. "Yes, I suppose they do..."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm worried..."

"About Vash?" Naru laughed. "Don't worry about him, I'm sure he can handle-"

"No...Atem."

"Oh..." She looked down, then at Juliana. "Well, Heishin is sealed in the pyramid, and he won't be getting out any time soon. So there's nothing Atem or you should worry about."

"But there's something...else. I know you sense it." Juliana looked back at her.

Naru nodded. "Yes, but there are times for worrying and this is not one of them. When the time is right, our new fate will reveal itself and we will be ready to face it. We always are."

"Hm...you always have wise things to say, Naru."

She smiled. "Well here's something else; go take a walk. I'm sure some fresh air in town will help clear your thoughts."

"Hm...yes, I think I shall do that. Thank you Naru." She bowed then walked toward the entrance to the castle. She removed her cloak from a rack and put it on, not bothering to place her hood. She walked out of the palace and down the path leading to the gates and left the palace grounds.

Everyone in town was outside enjoying the weather and newly restored peace. Adults gathered in places either talking or trading with others, children ran happily around their parents feet with sticks and noise makers, and the normal housewives were busy sweeping out their homes. It was truly a peaceful day in Egypt. It was as if nothing could penetrate the peace and happiness of the day.

A small group of about five children ran up to Juliana happily. "Priestess Juliana!"

She stopped and looked down at the children. "Why hello," she said kneeling down. "How may I help you, young ones?"

One boy, most likely the oldest, spoke. "When is the Pharaoh waking up?"

"He has had lots of rest. I'm sure he will awake any moment now." Of course she was lying, but she didn't wish to worry the people. The truth was, it was uncertain when he would wake up, if he woke at all. Then she sensed something and slowly stood, scanning the area. "...Run along, children."

"Ok. Thank you, Priestess Juliana!" The children then ran off, laughing and skipping.

Juliana continued to look around. Something didn't feel right. Something was off...different. Something in the area did not belong, and she wanted to know what. Then she saw a group of five men walking. They were all well built, wearing cloaks that covered their faces, but she saw strange swords sheathed to their sides. She followed them to see where they were going, then stopped, her eyes wide. The men met with with another man, this one different then the rest. He wore the same cloak she had seen on the man in her vision, and his sword gave off a strange aura.

When she moved over a bit to get a better look, she saw for a split second a light shine from his chest, as it did in her vision. But it was only for a minute, and nothing was there. One of the men spoke to the other, who Juliana assumed was the leader, as well as the man in her vision. The leader nodded and the group began walking away.

"Wait!" She yelled and ran after them. "Please, wait!" The group turned then walked into an alley and Juliana followed, but when she turned the corner the group had disappeared.

That night, Juliana sat in a small lounge room in front of a fire with Naru, explaining to her the vision she had, as well her experience earlier in the day. When Juliana was done talking, she leaned back and watched Naru think in silence. "What do you think...?" Juliana asked.

Naru sighed and looked at the fire for a moment, then back at Juliana. "First of all, what you just explained to me doesn't sound quite like a vision. More like...a visitation from someone from the future, or a call from your fate. I'm not sure."

"But it's real. I actually felt him, as if he was right there in the room with me. And then I actually saw him in the town. I don't like the weapons they were carrying though...what if they are a threat to the Pharaoh?"

"I don't think that's it." She leaned back. "Didn't he say to you he wasn't your enemy? Any friend of yours is a friend of the Pharaoh and the rest of us. Plus, I don't think anyone aiming to harm you or anyone would tell you to keep fighting."

"He would if he wanted a good fight..."

"I suppose, but you're missing the point. You see-"

"My ladies," said a guard that had just walked in.

Naru looked at him. "Yes?"

"The Pharaoh has awakened. He requests to see Priestess Naru first."

"Excellent!" Naru stood and looked at Juliana. "We'll talk later, alright?"

Juliana nodded and watched Naru walk out of the room with the guard. She sat for a few moments, then stood and faced the fireplace, staring as the fire crackled and sparked against the wood. She sighed then saw a white feather fall in front of her face and quickly turned around. "It's you again," she said.

"It is. I apologize if I startled you..." said a voice in a corner. Footsteps were heard and the figure walked out of the shadows. He had long blonde hair and strong but gentle golden eyes. He wore a long magenta shirt with golden cuffs on his wrist and a golden shirt over the magenta one. Blue and gold straps hung attached to his golden shirt and wrapped around his arms. White angel wings extended from his back and cast everything behind him in shadow.

Juliana stepped back, never taking her eyes off him. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Matt. I suppose you can call me a guardian, like yourself." He folded his wings and walked closer to Juliana, who kept her distance. He looked at the fire. "And as for why I am here..." He looked back at Juliana. "You beckoned me to speak with you...perhaps not with your words, Priestess, but with your heart."

"What are you talking about?"

"Questions are swarming inside. You wonder of secrets and unanswered problems. The thief named Ishico, your past, your parents, Sethos, Naru and Vash, as well as yourself. I'm afraid I cannot assist you with most of your questions, but I can explain what happened to Sethos."

"How is it that you know all this...Matt?"

Matt looked into her eyes with a sad look in his own eyes and said, "I'm not proud of what Sethos did but I feel it necessary that you know. So I've come to tell you that it all started when Atem became the pharaoh. At first Sethos was thoroughly excited for his brother, but… hmmm perhaps it would be better if I showed you."

As he gazed into Juliana's eyes, as his own eyes began to shine off a mysterious glow that made her feel tired and she soon began to nod off. Her mind was soon swirling with unconnected images as she finally woke up in Sethos' room.

She looked around and didn't see Matt anywhere in sight. "Wha… that didn't show me anything, but how did I get here?"

Suddenly the bathroom door flew open and Sethos stormed into the room. "I can't believe he'd just blow me off like that! Without even acknowledging my being there…"

"I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason, perhaps it was that he was swamped with all the things he has to take care of that built up when your father died." And to match the voice that seemingly came from nowhere a soft ball of light departed from Sethos' chest and it slowly took the shape of an angelic boy whom was very familiar to Juliana.

As Matt tried to explain to Sethos that his older brother must have a perfectly good explanation, Juliana soon began to wonder what sort of magic could have done this. 'This is simply amazing,' she thought to herself as she went over to Matt as he was just then succeeding in calming Sethos down. 'It seems as if Matt is replaying the past for me… perhaps I can change it for the better this time.'

"Sethos you have to understand that your brother cares deeply for you and…" she reached out for his arm as she did this and simply passed straight though him and she simply gave herself a mental slap in the forehead. Of course she couldn't do anything if they hadn't seen her standing in the exact center of the room. This was no more than a replay of what had already happened, and she felt a small drop of despair sink in as she knew now that she could not change the fate of one of her friends.

"Yeah, I suppose you have a point Matt… I'm sure Atem was simply too busy with all the new things he has to do." Sethos said, with a clear look of sadness on his face, but all the anger seemed to have left him.

Matt smiled at him and nodded, "yes, and now perhaps you should start on that report you promised Juliana."

Sethos laughed in his face and threw a pillow at him playfully, "I'll start on that when I'm good and ready!" he was laughing as he dashed out of his room with Matt close behind, but in a strange transparent form so no one could see him.

Suddenly she gasped as all the scenery around her began to swirl together into meaningless colors and she was soon dizzy and fell down on… well she wasn't quite sure exactly WHAT she fell on seeing as the floor had disappeared beneath her.

From all around her Matt's voice filled her ears and head saying, "I won't bore you with the details of things that really don't pertain to what you asked to know, so let's skip forward a little bit, shall we?"

She simply sat on the floor not saying anything, seeing as she clearly had no choice in the matter. Soon things were swirling at an even faster pace as they began to form objects of a different room and a different time. She silently prayed for this to stop soon as she was beginning to feel her stomach swirl with the scenery, which she took for a very bad omen of what might follow.

With barely a second to spare before she lost consciousness, the room stopped its mad swirling and began to come in focus and she slowly stood up on shaky legs and looked around.

Finally when everything came into focus she noticed that a scene was paused in front of her with Sethos pressing his guardian angel against the wall. Before she could even begin to guess why Sethos would do such a thing the entire scene exploded to life in front of her.

"Tell me where I can find it Matthew!" Sethos screamed into Matt's face. Matt, however, kept a perfectly calm face at this and merely stayed as he was, not attempting to free himself from the hold of his charge.

Matt opened his mouth and spoke with the gentlest of tones, saying, "Sethos, just please listen to reason, your heart has recently started to cloud over from me… you must understand that there is something wrong with y… ," but his sentence was cut short when Sethos suddenly punched him in the mouth, causing him to slide to the ground.

"Don't give me your stupid excuses Matthew… tell me where to find the staff that you said was created with the original 7 Millennium Items. The one you said was the by-product of the extra power the other 7 couldn't contain. I'll only ask you once more, where did they seal it!"

Matt sighed and stood up, "I'll tell you where it is, because that in itself isn't a sin, but I refuse to take part in breaking into the sacred chamber to help you obtain it. You know very well I cannot help you commit sins…" He looked at the ground and then back at Sethos, who had a raging glare glowing from his eyes. "It's in a hidden room inside the Millennium Chamber where the items were forged, sealed in the room by a powerful spell that Mahado placed there. I beg of you Sethos, please stop this foolishness and come to your senses."

Sethos merely smirked and dashed out of the room, leaving his guardian angel behind for the first time since he was born.

Juliana simply stood there speechless at the sight she had just seen, thoughts flying through her head at a lightning-quick pace. What was clouding his heart? How long was this scene since the last one? Why did Matt tell him how to get this mysterious staff? She simply couldn't think of why Sethos would do anything like this and suddenly the room began to swirl and meld into a variety of colors once more. "Oh no… here we go again…"

Similar to last time, the spinning stopped just in time for her to keep her conscious, but still keep her head spinning. As soon as she was able to look around she did, and to her surprise she was in the throne room. However, her biggest shock came when she looked to the throne and saw herself conversing with the new Pharaoh Atem.


"Wow, this is a strange feeling... seeing yourself across the room talking to someone when you clearly remember that conversation yourself... wait... Sethos is coming in right now!"


Without a split second difference, she looked to the door just as it opened, to reveal the young Prince of Egypt standing over two unconscious guards with the very same golden staff she saw not too long ago. Just as she remembered it, Sethos walked into the room, leaving the guards behind him to lay in the bloody mess he had created of them. He walked up and approached the throne, but as was custom, he stopped short and stood a few feet away from his older brother.


"I've come to exact my revenge brother..." Sethos said with a fiery light in his eyes.


"What? Sethos... what's wrong with you... you seem different," Juliana's past counterpart said with sincere concern in her voice.


"Shut up you stupid priestess... it's not you I want to kill"


Everyone in the room gasped as they realized that the Prince was admitting to plotting to murder his older brother. As soon as the sentence was out of his mouth, guards swarmed from their locations at doors and stood between Atem and Sethos.


"Sethos! What are you saying? Please put down that staff and stop this foolishness!" Atem said as she stood from his throne to approach his brother, but his progress was stopped by the guards, who had their duty to fulfill.


As soon as Atem said those words, a dark swirling magic began to circle in the crystal orb that topped the tip of the staff as its controller began to quake with anger.


"You DARE to give me orders brother! I will teach you to respect me! You will respect me as your equal and not some little Prince that is beneath you!" Sethos shouted to his older brother as he pointed the staff at Atem.


"Sethos! Stop this please! I'm not commanding you to do this as the ruler of Egypt, but as your concerned brother."


A brief flash of acknowledgement in Sethos' eyes registered as the staff lowered a bit, but that was the last time that his humanity would show as he raised the staff for the last time and a brilliant flash exploded from the orb and suddenly, the playback of the past stopped, leaving all these people frozen where they stood.


"What? Why did Matt stop it?" Juliana asked herself aloud as Matt himself appeared in front of her.


"Priestess, I cannot show you anymore because at this moment, my essence was pushed from this room by a dark force," Matt said, "but I do know that Sethos did not merely vanish as you all think."


"What do you mean?"


Matt sighed as he told her what he knew happened, but could not show her.


"Priestess, the same dark force that forced me from this room is the very same thing that controlled Sethos, it preyed on his fears of being inferior to Atem, his fears of never being able to match up to the brother that had seemed to risen so far above him. Sethos was a victim of his own nightmares."


Matt pointed to a dark corner of the frozen room and when Juliana looked there and she gasped, seeing something that was there the whole time, but unnoticed by all. In that dark corner, two glowing emerald eyes glared out into the chaos that had gripped the room.


"You see Priestess, that creature was here this whole time, influencing Sethos through his own inner demons. Unfortunately, he did not know that his own magic and the Millennium Staff would end up with such explosive results. After the flash of light from the staff, Sethos' essence was trapped in the staff, but not his true essence. A darker Sethos is now situated within the deepest reaches of the staff, waiting for it's chosen wielder. His true essence was fused with the dark influence of the creature you see in that corner, and no matter what is done now, he will forever remain a monster."


"That's... terrible. But what happened to the staff after the flash?"


"Well, the creature influenced you all into a comatose state, rushed out, and took the staff, therefore you all thought Sethos vanished in the flash, but really you missed a few seconds of time after it."


Suddenly the world began to swirl once more, and Matt vanished from where he stood.
"Priestess, if you learn anything from my story, remember this. Beware the Nightmare Shadow with eyes of Emerald. For what shines in those eyes is pure insanity If you ever meet this creature, know that you cannot kill it with magic or weapons. The only thing that can harm him is your heart."


The swirling continued and Juliana found herself unable to answer back to him, and soon she was enveloped in pure darkness. She slowly awoke in the same room she had began in, with Naru kneeling over her with a book in her hand. "Naru...? How long have I been out?"

"I'm not sure. You were unconscious when I got here. I was about to read off the spell in case you were...well, it looks like you're ok. What happened?"

Juliana slowly stood and rubbed her head. "Is Atem alright?"
"Yeah, he wants to talk to you now, but what happened to you?"

She ran her fingers through her hair and stopped, removing her hand and pulling a white feather out of her hair. "We shall meet again," Matt's voice echoed. Juliana gripped the feather and walked out of the room. "I'll tell you later, Naru." She quickly walked to Pharaoh Atem's chamber, knocked and walked in, bowing at Atem's bedside. "Glad to see you awake and well."

Atem nodded and smiled. "Glad to see you as well. Are you well? I sent Naru after you a while ago."

She stayed silent and only stared at him. 'You've been through so much, my friend...I couldn't bring the burden of this mysterious figure who brainwashed your brother. I promise I shall investigate this further, and bring Sethos justice.' She sighed and nodded to Atem. "I'm fine. I was in a different room and Naru had difficulty finding me."

"Ah. Anything to report that happened in my absence?"

"We've spotted some suspcious characters around the Valley of the Kings. Perhaps the last remnants of Heishin's army. We have some men out scavengering the area now."

"Very good. I guess tomorrow everything returns to normal, hm?"

'Yeah...normal...'