Chapter 6: The Tower
"Ruin—The decapitated pyramid is the death of hope, the ruin of our constructions."---The Egyptian Tarot
She didn't get any sleep that night either. Once more, the woman began to wonder if this was healthy, or if perhaps she was avoiding her sebah so she wouldn't have such a weight on her heart when she faced the men they knew they would face.
Phileas and Rebecca were up as well, if the sounds from below meant anything, and obviously preparing as well. Passepartout was up only because he had to steer the ship: Jules and Saim were either being quiet or both were asleep.
The Divine Law of Ma'at...
That had been taught by Akunadin, the eldest of the priests, the first to hold a Millennium Item...and the first to fall to its darkness...
--"Why must I learn this as well? I am supposed to defend the Valley of the Kings."
"Yes, this is true," the old man said, the golden eye glistening as his real one showed only some amusement.
"I am of a low birth!"
"So is Seto. His father was only a nameless soldier, I have heard, and yet I teach him. Besides, you should not speak so of your family. Your father was well-known for his weaponry, and your brother was best at the sword, and rising in the ranks before their mysterious deaths."
She felt her hand go to the sword-hilt that was lined with gold: all that she had left of her family.
"So why should you not learn it? It is something that I am teaching to the Prince and to Seto. Don't you want to learn with them?"
"I am to train them," she told him, her eyes downcast, "I am not their equal."
There was a long pause before the old man placed a hand on her shoulder, "But you are. The Pharaoh has made it such."
"What are you talking about?"
"For saving the life of his son, and of Seto, and many others, from the Cult of Osiris, you have been given the rank deserving of such, and your namesake is now your title. You are Sakhmet, the one who rides with the Pharaoh into battle...just as Seto will do when he inherits a Millennium Item."
She blinked. When did this happen? Why was she never told...and if she was, why did she never believe it?
"You are lying."
"I don't lie about such things. Now come. We are almost late for the first class."
Mutely, she followed him into the room and sat where he motioned to. Both Seto and the Prince exchanged a grin, and the girl sent them a glare. If they thought this was funny, they should remember that one of their classmates was also one of their teachers...—
During the years, Seto had taken to Akunadin, looking up to him as a father-figure he never had. It was obvious in the way he moved and looked to the older man for his approval in most things. She had never found it odd that the older man had approved of this and even encouraged it in Seto: Akunadin had no heirs, and Seto had no father.
Then the truth—Seto was Akunadin's heir, and thus the cousin of the Prince. Had the news not come at such a price, she knew that her sebah and her other would have celebrated, both realizing the family they had. She was also sure this would start a new rivalry between the two: as they grew, both became rivals of sorts, but the fact that they were so close to the other and challenged the other more so then any other priest or priestess showed how important it was for them to be together. Without one, the other wouldn't grow.
My sebah...my other...Mahaado, Mana...she smiled at the new memory, the one where she now saw the newest of the groups, and realized that her sebah's legacy of dueling would continue.
--"Wait up, please!" the dialect of Egyptian that she hadn't heard for a few years caused her to pause in her walk and turn as she saw a boy with light hair that stuck out many ways rushing after a taller boy with darker hair. The two wore outfits that reminded her of her sebah and other while they were young, but it was the next line that caused her some worry.
"Please, Prince, we need to get back or else we'll be in trouble!"
Prince? She decided to follow the two—if they were speaking Egyptian, and one said 'prince', then that would mean...
Their trail lead them to a dark alleyway, where a man in a dark mask was laughing, holding a young lady captive. The girl was obviously taller then them, and had light hair and slightly lighter skin then the boys.
"Let her go!" the dark-haired Prince said, glaring at the man.
"Oh, for what, dear Prince of Egypt?" the man asked, smirking, "I would like your Soul—it would do well for my collec--."
She didn't let him finish the sentence as she came up behind him and plunged the knife into his throat. The man dropped the girl, who stirred and blinked quickly enough to take in the situation and rush over to where the two boys were before the blade left the man's throat and he crumbled to the ground. A small amount of blood had hit her face, and her eyes glowed slightly from the release of her powers. She looked at the trio before seeing the one called Prince move forward, intent on protecting the other two. "Who are you?"
"I am no one of consequence to you," she told him, "but you are far from your homes. You should return."
The girl nodded, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "She's right, or else Mana will be worried again."
The smallest boy blushed red and the woman blinked. Mana?
"Mana, the Girl Magnus?"
The group looked at her and the smallest nodded. "How do you know her?"
There was a long pause before she answered. "I am an old friend of hers. I will help you return home safely, if you allow me to speak with her."
The Prince nodded, his face breaking into a large smile. "Of course!"
With that, the small group headed for the house where the Prince and his 'court' were staying. This included the girl, who had been a servant that the Prince had saved from an abusive household along with her brother, a young studious man who had not joined them on their adventure because he was being punished for writing the Greek equations on the walls, the smallest boy's older brother who was going to take the test for the Millennium Scales, and a boy who had run away from his home and who seemed to give the Prince as much rivalry as the other had given her sebah 1.
So they had entered the house, and the first person to come up was Mana, the Millennium Ring around her neck. She paused and looked over at their savior before gasping.
"You!"
"It's good to see you too, Mana. How is the Pharaoh?"
Mana had blinked, then smiled and jumped up to hug her. For the first time, she didn't stop the woman from doing so, allowing her to hug her and cry, as if their sebah had returned from the Dead and spoken those same words.
Then, of course, came the offers: will you stay? Will you come back with us, and train them? For each, the answer was no. The harm that had been done by many of the lower priests was too heavy still, and she had promised to not return until her Pharaoh allowed her to.
And her Pharaoh wasn't Seto, or his son, or any of the children after that. It was the one who wandered the banks of that dark river, waiting for his trapped self to remember his name so he could cross and be at peace.—
The woman stood, ensuring she was ready to face the group now. Her life had been long and tied just as much to her past as to her present. The young Prince had grown to be a Pharaoh, and after their dynasty had died out, a new one had risen up, and with its rise came the loss of the Shadow Games, or at least the knowledge of how to play them.
The woman walked out and now looked over to see Saim nearby. He shifted slightly and she now noticed the kukri knife added to his wardrobe.
"You are prepared to use it?" she asked him.
"I am...not so much against some...but I will do what I can."
She gave him a rare smile. "If you wish...at any time, you may address me as 'Mighty One'. I no longer mind it, Saim."
Saim looked at her with surprise, then bowed quickly, though not quick enough for her to miss the fact that his eyes were becoming watery. "It is my honor...Mighty One."
"Come then, Saim. We must go and reclaim the missing Items."
-o-
Rebecca was beginning to wonder if the words "simple grab-and-go" were every going to be used in a sentence and not jinx the whole operation altogether. Her opinion had been voice to the woman and to Phileas, both of whom had the same reaction.
They smiled, told her that they had the same thought, and it would be best to plan for the worst.
It was as if they were related or something...
Rebecca triple-checked her weapons and their places on her catsuit, walking out to see the woman speaking to Saim, who sported a kukri knife she wasn't sure he had even had. The boy and Jules were too much alike for her to enjoy the idea of him coming along as well, but both he and the woman had insisted on it, and so it seemed necessary.
The woman looked up at Rebecca and smiled, noting the suit. "Interesting. I guess I was expecting another dress, but I like this better."
"You should've seen some of the looks on the men's faces when they first saw it...Jules went red."
The woman smiled, turning to see Saim was looking away and also had become darker. "I think Saim is having the same reaction."
Saim turned even darker at her gentle teasing and muttered something about going downstairs to check on the others before making a quick retreat.
"I think you scared him off," Rebecca said before saying, "I have a name for you. It would suit you, anyway."
The woman smiled and said, "Tell me after this. I would rather know it then instead of before."
"You're an odd one."
"I know. But I have a reason to be."
Rebecca gave her a small smile then turned to head down. Her dream had been odd, where Erasmus had appeared and took her over to a man sitting on a rock on a side of a dark river. The man had dark skin, and hair that stuck up like a crown and, despite the gloom, Rebecca could see it was multiple colors, a reddish tone on the outside while dark inside, and his bangs colored golden along with streaks that flowed upwards into the dark part of his hair, like lightning. Crimson eyes, saddened for a reason, had turned to look at her, and she saw that his sandals and the bottom of his cloak were caked in dirt and mud.
"Who are you?" he had asked.
"Rebecca," she told him, realizing that he spoke in Egyptian, and it was much the same dialect as what Phileas had somehow been able to translate.
"You are Phileas' cousin, then?"
"How did you—you've met Phileas?"
"Your other cousin has been kind enough to act as my emissary between this world and the other. Mahaado was acting as one to the boy with the Book of Knowledge within him. I have yet to meet him, but I suppose that is fine."
"I see. Then you must the one that my friend called her 'sebah'."
The man had smiled, moving to touch his hair. "I used to think she was teasing about that."
Erasmus had smiled at Rebecca and she then noticed the same mud caked his shoes as well. "Ras..."
"It's okay, Rebecca. I'm stuck here for a good reason, at least..."
"You could never lie to me, you know that."
Erasmus finally shrugged then motioned over to the young man, "Well, he's been keeping me company, at least. Oh, but if you have the chance, and she doesn't get too upset, tell that Sakhmet lady to—" he looked at the boy at this point for clarification.
"To realize that opening her heart will not kill her, but will allow the time to pass quickly. If she does not, then she may miss the one who will lead her to the rest of my spirit."
"I am going to pretend I understand that," Rebecca had told him with a slight smile. "Does Phileas know about this too?"
"I spoke to him, but I felt it would be best to speak to you as well. Both of you seem to have a way with people."
"Thank you—I think."
The boy smiled at her again, then had told her, "Please...do what you can to protect her from loneliness. I have watched for all these years as she has slowly grown more depressed, and slowly began to lose hope of seeing me again in the land of the Living. I have long lingered on this side of the river, and she has long been ready to give her life that I could cross. But I will not until she is ready to give me up."
Rebecca then realized the fullness of this, and had let some tears slip by before saying, "You know, then. You're an idiot if you don't."
The boy had nodded. "I know. I should've thought of that, but I thought that it could only be myself...and had it been her, then I and my High Priest would've tried to get her back, and possibly lost ourselves to the darkness of time as she has."
Rebecca gave a sad laugh then walked over and hugged the young boy. "Thank you."
"I wish to thank you, Rebecca, for helping her. That is all."
Rebecca came back to the present, where Phileas was loading up as well with dynamite and bullets as Jules looked uncomfortably at the small gun that Phileas was insisting he carry.
"We are almost there, Master," Passepartout said from the front of the room, getting everyone to ensure that they had what they needed. The plan was the go down via the drop box, and then from there Passepartout would fly a safe distance away and wait for their signal before coming back to pick them up via the same drop-box. Saim and Jules had looked a little uncomfortable about it, Jules having only seen it done but not actually trying it before while Saim simply looked uncomfortable about it, and the group looked out from the window to see what there was.
A large, relatively abandoned castle loomed nearby, the normally green hills turned brown and black, as if scorched by some unknown monster. Rebecca glared at the destruction while the woman looked down at her arm where the golden ankh tattoo was glowing slightly. Saim put a hand to the Tauk as it glowed as well, and Jules seemed more uncomfortable then before.
"Those aren't normal," Saim said, "that is the power of the Shadows, rebelling against the one using them in such a way. What has my sister been doing?"
"We're going to stop her, no matter what," the woman said, and the rest nodded as Passepartout announced they were at the site.
-o-
"Sir! Ma'am!"
Zalika turned as the messenger ran in, reporting that the back gate had been breached by a group of five...the two Foggs, a woman of unknown origin, Verne, and a man with the Millennium Tauk.
Zalika felt her hand ball up tightly. "Ammut devour him," she muttered, wishing for the power to smite her younger brother. He dare steal the Tauk from her, and now he comes to reclaim the other Items as well?
"Are there enough to keep them from the Items?" Gregory asked, Zalika's hate unnoticed.
"We believe so..."
"Strengthen it with as many as you can. We must not let them find them, nor must we let them leave here with them. However, the one who kills Verne is the one who will answer to me."
The messenger paled and nodded. "Yes sir." He raced off to relay the orders and Gregory looked to Zalika.
"Who is it that you cursed so?"
"No one of your consequence," Zalika growled at him, her face to the door and not bothering to face him. "He will be dead by my hand anyway. I am going out."
"We need you."
"And he will not stay with the Foggs or Verne, or the woman...if he knows where I am. This is something we must do, Count. I'm sure you'll understand, or you would, if your sibling came after you to kill you."
The Count gave a short laugh. "I killed all of them when they refused to join me."
"I thought as much."
-o-
The group had split up shortly after entering the castle, and despite the number of men, she had not seen a reason to summon any of her monsters, thinking it would only spoil her fun and her vengeance. These men were helping to destroy the countryside of a land, and they should pay. While she held no particular love of England, she despised wanton destruction of anything, and thus found herself taking her time as she killed, though she did remember that, at one point, leaving someone alive to tell her where things were could be a bonus.
Her trail left a good deal of blood on the wall, but she savored in it, feeling the strength of her monsters within her. If they couldn't come out, they would gladly add their bloodthirsty natures to her and help her defeat the ones in her way.
A man was cut down lengthwise, and his companion nearby screamed as half of the guard fell upon him before his head, and half the head of the former guard, when flying down the way to land in a pile of blood and body parts from the previous ones who tried to stop her. Around her was a golden glow, while her clothing had changed to that which she wore in Egypt, and was now dark and red with the blood of her victims, the blood seeming to be absorbed slowly, white spots appearing then disappearing as she ran into more men that she cut down with her sword, the curved Egyptian-style blade cutting sharply and swiftly. She looked and saw one man cowering to the side before going over and, noting that he was the survivor of her carnage, picked him up by the scruff of his neck as one would pick up a cat or puppy.
"So you survived."
The man was shaking visibly, parts of his face having blood droplets on it, and from the smell he was going to lose his mind soon, or in the very least realize that when she threatened him with something, she meant it.
She looked back at her work. The nearest and first had been shoved hard against the wall, his head caved in by the force while his partner has lost the right side from the left shoulder to his right torso. Another had been run through and then cut across to cut down another man, and a few more where in much the same state.
Not the worst she had done, but no where near the best either.
"I can never make as much carnage as I like with so many," she told him seriously, looking to him, "Do you want to live?"
The man gave a weak nod.
"Then don't try to fight me, and don't argue. If you do...well, your life is worth little now, so don't think I won't hesitate to kill you."
With her subject currently cowed, she half-pushed, half-dragged him along, meeting no resistance from the League. When she heard gunshots she paused, then relaxed after she heard Phileas curse.
Well, at least they were okay.
She walked around the side, saw Rebecca point then lower the pistol, and came upon their new dilemma.
The other group had a hostage as well...and this one was being rather annoying.
"You damned heathens, how can you follow that desert mongrel and believe you will win? Count Gregory shall show you no mercy! You will die by his hands and beg for it in the end!"
And loud.
"Good Lord, what happened to you?" Phileas' exclamation brought the group to look at her, Jules turning pale before the blood on her clothing disappeared completely and she tossed down her own captive, who quietly was shaking like a leaf.
"I ran into problems. They are currently fine. Oh, and don't go down the corridor I chose. You might slip."
"...we'll take your word for it..." Rebecca said, and from their looks it was clear that both Phileas and Rebecca knew what she had done on the other airship, they had simply forgotten for convenience sakes or, perhaps because of the way she had acted, had not wanted to mention it in front of Jules. Now with her standing there with an obviously scared and cowed hostage, it was clear that she was capable of very scary things.
"Who's that?" she pointed to the silent-but-steaming hostage which Phileas and Rebecca had managed to secure. Saim and Jules were watching over him and it appeared Saim had taken up a good idea by gagging the man shortly after she had walked in.
"...our hostage, actually," Phileas said, "I see you have one as well."
"We really only need one."
"So what do you suggest we do with the other? Release them?" Rebecca asked.
"No...kill them, actually."
The gagged man stopped trying to shout through his gag. The silent one cringed and looked up with pathetic "I didn't do anything wrong please don't kill me like you did the others" eyes.
"While I agree, how do we decide which one to kill? They both seem reliable...to a point," Rebecca pointed out. The gagged man went back to shouting, or trying to. The silent one whimpered.
"I haven't said I'd kill you," she told him, glaring at the man and causing him to nearly jump, "I said one of you. If you're good, maybe you'll be the hostage. After we're done here, you'll just have to worry about jail."
The prospect seemed to cause the silent one less worry, but he remained silent and with pleading "I'm being good don't kill me" eyes currently directed at the woman who had wiped out everyone else in his corridor.
"I wouldn't make promises to him."
"He's a little jumpy, Rebecca."
"I guessed as much. So how do we decide which one to take?"
Jules now joined in the conversation. "What about whoever answers which way we go? I mean...if they give us good directions, we'll be able to get to those Items and back, right?"
The group of Foggs and woman looked at him, then at each other.
"He has a point," Phileas said.
"Why not just flip a coin?" Rebecca asked.
"That's a little chancy," the woman pointed out.
"So are they're directions," Rebecca argued.
"I think mine will give us the best ones," the woman countered.
"If he can still talk after whatever it was he saw you do!"
You can see where this is going, right?
"Like yours is any better."
"Why are we having this argument? Why not just decide on the question so we can get the bloody Items and leave?" Phileas could and is now trying to stop it.
"And if one doesn't answer, then what? We kill them? Why not just get it over with and kill the one that is too traumatized to talk?" Rebecca asked.
"You don't need to talk to point out 'left', 'right' or 'center'," the woman countered.
"No, but noticing a trap might help," Rebecca isn't letting up, can't you tell?
"Not if you send him in first and he's the one who release the trap and dies," the woman pointed out.
For those who are curious, the shouting man has now stopped trying to shout and is currently contemplating his life. The silent man is cringing and actually hoping for such a death if it should come up, or that he'd be very lucky and actually get to go to jail. Jail was nice...no scary lady to kill everyone, just him, guards, and smelly other people who weren't psychopathic killers.
"Then we're down a hostage."
"Get another one."
"You make it sound simple."
"Shouldn't it be?"
"Dynamite doesn't really allow it to be."
"Then just shoot them and use dynamite only if necessary."
"We should stop them," Jules whispered to Saim.
"How?" Saim asked.
"..."
Phileas gets an idea. Raise gun and--"QUIET BOTH OF YOU!" 2
Plaster rained down on the two arguing ladies, causing them to look at Phileas, who was putting away the gun. "Now, Jules, Saim, if you could put our hostage over there with the other? Thank you." He turned to the women, "How about we ask if they'll show us the way?"
The two nodded, brushing the plaster off themselves as Jules took the gag off of the loud hostage and moved away while Rebecca walked over to her own hostage, knelt, and said, "As I'm sure you heard that argument, I'm also sure you heard the question. Now, which one of you will show us the way to the Items?"
"Slut!" the shouting man began, "I wouldn't show you the way if you offered me what's obviously used goods!"
"If you don't tell us in a polite manner," the woman started, angry at the man who should realize that insulting anyone, especially a woman with a gun and her cousin nearby, as well as a woman with a rather deadly-looking sword, was a bad idea, "I will take you to the next room, cut you open, tear our your insides, and shortly before you die from lack of blood or from some part of your organs being force-fed to you, I'll see about either setting you on fire or dragging you across the wall until your face and most of your skull has been destroyed and is in pieces on the ground or on the wall."
"..." "..." "..." "..." "...I think I'm going to be sick."
"Please do that elsewhere, Jules, you'll ruin the moment."
The silent man had gone back to shaking like a leaf. The loud man had glared at her and now said with a smirk, "You think I believe that, you desert bitch? I've had to listen to orders from one of your kind before, and I'm not about to listen to them again. You and those damned items can all go to hell, along with the ones who've worn them before and the ones who are going to wear them! You're a liar and a cow--."
The woman walked around Rebecca as the man said this, then grabbed him and now proceeded to drag him into the next room.
"Let me go, you cunt, I'm not through with you! If you think I'm scared of your bullshit, you have another--."
The door to a room nearby closed with a rather loud slam, causing some dust to rain down, while the group looked over at the door and Rebecca, calmly, looked back at the scared, silent man.
"I take it you're our guide. You will behave, I take--."
"AGH! NO, GOD, I'M SORRY I---AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"I'll behave!"
"At least he talks." "I am going to be sick." "I wish that door was sturdier." "...history didn't lie, and I'm probably going to be sick too."
-o-
The woman contemplated the mess in front of her as her three beasts appeared, eager and hungrier then usual.
"I'm amazed it took so much out of me to do that...but perhaps it was so I could keep him awake."
Merew, Menw, and Itert growled and looked at her, then at the dead man, or remains.
"Are you turning towards carrion in your old ages? Trust me, you'll get sick."
Three more frustrated growls before she sighed. "Fine, eat what remains, but I did warn you."
The three pounced on the body, only slightly fighting for who got what as she put her hand against the wall to help herself up. Her fingers slipped slightly due to the blood and she looked at it before licking some off her hand. She spat it out and shook her head at the three chimeras. "Your tastes have dulled as well. Or you're very hungry."
She had expected the man to be loud, but he was rather vocal for the most part...and it thus made it easier to start force-feeding him his own liver. Of course the man had started to choke on it and that had made it so she had to figure out what to do with him. The walls could only help out so much when it came to dragging him across them—but then there were the torches.
She flicked her hand clean of most of the blood that hadn't decided to cling to her and sighed. Were the rest still out there? The door probably wasn't thick enough to stop the man's cries from going through, so they quite possibly heard him screaming as she pulled out the various insides and either cut them out or pulled them out. Again, the liver had helped, but the fact that the man passed out twice and had to be revived didn't help her situation.
With another sigh, she walked over to the door and opened it only enough to let herself out, then closed it before turning to face the group, knowing that blood covered her face, arms and hands, as well as was being slowly absorbed by her skin and outfit. To her surprise, the group was at the wall furthest from the door, and Jules looked a little green. Saim looked pale. Phileas and Rebecca were trying to hide the other captive.
"He said he'd behave," Rebecca told her as the woman walked over, feeling a little more energetic as the chimeras returned to their spots within her.
"I never said I'd treat him the same as the other man, as he is behaving and was beforehand. The other man was rude and called me a liar. I don't take well to being insulted and I never lie."
"Remind me to never invite you to a poker game," Phileas said, checking his gun and ammo quickly before saying, "So, where are you going next, so that we can avoid it."
The woman snorted and said, "Wherever there is Gregory or that girl whom Saim wants to fight."
"My sister, and you aren't supposed to fight Gregory."
She and the rest blinked before Saim shifted at their gazed then said, "In the vision, it was Phileas who fought him, not you. I saw those two fighting, and from the ground came a pillar of white light, and the White Beast Tamer."
The woman blinked rapidly before frowning then looking at the scared man. "Answer me this: did they bring more then just the Items to this castle?"
"Th-they brought...stone tablets. One with a dragon...and—"
"And? Any others?"
"...I don't know. I only know of the Dragon."
Anger took over and she growled softly, "Where is it?"
The man quickly babbled the directions and she headed towards it, ignoring the yells from the Foggs and not noticing Saim racing to catch up with her.
They dare desecrate her other's tomb and bring his Beast here? Did they not know what it meant to him?
She had heard the story, almost disbelievingly, of his near imprisonment and the death of his mother at the hands of raiders. However, the raiders had been killed by the sudden appearance of a great white dragon which shot lightning from it's mouth and devoured the rest. Years later, and after the punishment of her sebah, she learned that a pale girl with blue eyes had appeared in town, and she had been the vessel of the White Dragon he had seen as a child. He had taken her in after she had nearly been stoned by the villagers, and nursed her to health. However, his intention had been to see her power.
Her power came while she was asleep, her ba and ka too mingled to separate properly and allow her control of the dangerous monster in the frail woman.
And then...Akunadin had killed her, taken over her other's body, and forced him into a duel he never wanted.
Now his symbol was the White Dragon with the same blue eyes as the woman he had cared for...and they had taken it from his tomb. They had brought it here against it's will, and taken it from him, her love, her master...
The guard before her had no chance to raise an alarm as his head was severed and the partner next to him had no chance to yell out as a hand, nails longer and almost turning to claws, ripped into his throat. Inside of her, Itert raged at the thought and she let out a cry before attacking the group, her features seeming to gain feathers and her free hand becoming like a talon as she attacked the men and cut them down, even those who were already dead.
-o-
Phileas considered the mental map in his head, along with what the hostage had told them before they had departed. Both Items were in two chambers, and a middle chamber held the stone tablet that the woman had gotten worked up about. Phileas doubted she could've gotten angrier, and he could almost swear that her eyes glowed a dull golden color before she had gone off in the direction the man had said, Saim following behind her...which probably was only a little worse then before her.
But with the way he had told her, she would reach the chamber around the same time they did, if they went quickly and got the Items just as quickly. Well, to be more precise, if Jules got the Items quickly.
Phileas once more frowned. He hated that Jules had to be involved, especially seeing how the woman could act when provoked or when attacked. He and Rebecca had only caught a glimpse of the carnage left on the Prometheus, and hearing the screams of the man only showed them that the woman who could be kind and such was still also dangerous.
Sakhmet...the Egyptian deity of war and pestilence, but also she was the dark side of the goddess of peace and cures.3 She fought with the Pharaoh in battles, and for the Pharaoh, but when there was no one to fight she had to stay in the palace and be tame. But who in their right mind thinks they can tame a lion?
They reached their destination and Phileas let out a sigh. So far, no woman and no bloodshed...and no guards...
This only got Phileas more alert for possible traps, and he motioned as the group headed over for the first door containing an Item.
1—I just described the Yugioh GX characters, because I like past lives. They help screw with people's heads (like Kaiba's during Battle City...but I'll stop) and, as mentioned before, during the second episode one of them mentioned that maybe they were from Egypt or something. I thought the picture was too cute, and liked the idea so I went with it. Just so you know:
Prince—Yuki Judai/Jaden Yuki, who is the main character of the story, and who, here, is supposed to be the heir to Seto's throne. I mentioned him earlier, he duels with an Elemental Hero deck, the only exception to it being Hane Kuriboh ("Winged Kuriboh"), who is his 'aibou' (partner).
Short Boy—Marufuji Sho/Syrus Truesdale, the one who said those things about Judai being a Pharaoh and he being the High Priest or something. He is Judai's loyal sidekick and just as cute as Yugi. Seriously, the boy is CUTE...and yeah, obsessing over an anime character with eyes as large as their head is wrong, but again...CUTE. In the dubbed, he is almost constantly saying "wait up!" while running after Judai.
Girl—Tenjoin Asuka/Alexis Rhodes, the main girl of the group and current crush for pretty much everyone (with the exception of Judai, he likes Dueling too much to notice girls, school, or most other activities). The brother mentioned is her brother Fubuki/Atticus, whom she cares for greatly (for about half the anime he's missing and she's spending a good deal of time trying to find him, including wandering into creepy abandoned house and nearly getting herself kidnapped).
Studious Boy—Misawa Daichi/Bastion Misawa, who is one of Judai's rivals and who also puts equations on everything (seriously, in one episode he wrote equations on a baseball bat...). This somehow helps him Duel better, as he sees everything as a balanced equation and therefore tries to balance his decks (he has about eight he carries with him at all times, though he probably has more and they change depending on his opponent and how well he knows their Deck). He also uses equations to create decks that might defeat another person's deck (he does this twice: once to Jun and again against Judai, though he lost against Judai...and beat the snot out of Jun...)
Short Boy's Brother—Marufuji Ryo/Zane Truesdale, who was the top in Duel Academy and called "Kaiser" in the original anime. He can be cold but he does care for his brother...in a sense...you have to wait a while before it comes up, the guy is an iceberg when it comes to stuff like affection. He also has a Cyber Dragon deck, which is to say he's extremely hard to beat and I wouldn't go near him with any of my Decks unless you paid me good money in advance and then put in a bet for me to lose and split the earnings. I have him getting the Scales because that was the only one that seemed to suit him. He is a guy who likes balance in his life, and is hardly ever thrown a curve ball, though if one is sent his way he'll react how he sees fit.
Runaway Boy—Manjyome Jun (Thunder)/Chazz Princeton, who was supposed to be the best and help his brother's gain control of Dueling, Politics and Business. He's not very nice to Judai, often calling him "Dropout Boy" ("Slifer Slacker") and wants to defeat him utterly in a duel. Unluckily, evil things keep popping up and stopping that from happening...(yeah, this is the 'Seto/Yugi' duo for the new show, only they have more emotion to them—and physically fight, then get detention with each other.) At the middle of the first season, he leaves Duel Academy and ends up dueling Judai for a school tournament. When he loses, his brother's disown him and he ends up staying in Duel Academy, mainly to get back at Judai, and because he feels he belongs their. The two are very much like Kaiba and Yugi—not friends, but at the same time they'll join together and kick bad guy ass if need be, just so they can have a normal life and go back to dueling each other. Of their age group they're also the best of the Duelists.
2—Not the best of all arguments but it's one still...and it helps to remember that it's not all blood and gore...its some fun. Of course, if this was a horror movie, some large man wearing a mask of human skin and with a chainsaw would probably be rampaging the hallway, but this isn't so I'll stop with the horror movie references. (That one was Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
3—According to the Encyclopedia of the Gods and a few other websites I've visited, Sakhmet is the Egyptian Goddess of War primarily, and also of pestilence and disease, at least against the enemies of the Pharaoh. She is said to ride into battle with him, and is also supposed to be the embodiment of vengeance used by her father, the Sun God Re. In some myths, she's another form of Hathor or Bast, both of whom are healing or calm deities. Despite being a goddess of war and disease, she also helps protects against diseases.
Chapter 7: The Wheel
"Destiny—Destiny turns under the impulses of the wheel: Ermanubi grows while Typhon falls headlong."—The Egyptian Tarot
The wooden door was without a lock, and the moment Jules stepped in his stomach turned. On a pedestal in the middle of the room, without much flair, was a small object that looked like an eye, complete with the odd eye-like symbol that adorned the Tauk which Saim wore. Around the pedestal and in most of the room were the corpses of men and women, all burned and all missing their left eye, though on the floor around them were the remains of those eyes, making the stench of the room unbearable, or near to it.
Jules felt himself shake as he cautiously and slowly took a step in. On the pedestal, the eye began to glow as if in response to his presence, and he swallowed down the bile building up before taking a few more steps, feeling himself shake as he made his way to the Eye. He finally stopped at the pedestal and looked around. If there were traps, he doubted it, as who else would come into such a room unless to take the trial? Still, he was worried and carefully reached over to touch the Eye before fully grasping it in his hands.
There was a brief flash before he heard an man's voice, pained and seeming to come from years ago, like that of the Magnus of Illusions.
--"A wish? Fine...I wish for my son to be Pharaoh."—
Then there was another voice, one from the future and faint, with an American accent to it.
--"I will see anything? Then I wish to see Cynthia again, if only once!"— 1
Jules gasped as he was thrown back into reality and the glow of the Eye went dead. His hand shaking, he put it into his pocket and turned to make his way just as slowly across the room again and shut the door.
"Are you okay?" Phileas asked.
"A little...ruffled, but I'll be fine."
Some of his visions had been as vivid, but most had been machines of the future, giant towers of glass and steel, not visions of the past or with the voices from them. Were those the ones who had owned, and would own, the Millennium Eye?
Swallowing again, Jules followed the Foggs and their hostage to the next door before opening it. Instead of the same carnage as before, this one held few bodies, if any. Most had turned to ashes it seemed, burned by some marks made from one part of the wall.
The far wall, leading to where the stone tablets are, which would mean where that Dragon that she got to worked up about is.
Jules recalled his dream and the fact that the White Beast Tamer had been the woman's other, whom she cared for just as much as the one she called her 'sebah' and whom the Magnus of Illusions had been watching over as well.
Just as slowly, he entered the room only to have the door quickly shut behind him as Phileas and Rebecca let out a surprised yell and tried to open the door. Jules turned and suddenly the room was bathed in golden light. He turned and had to shield his eyes, seeing it coming from the Rod, before feeling himself moving forward, heading for the center point.
--"High Priest...Seto...I have no way of thanking you for my life. You have my eternal gratitude."
The man with cool blue eyes looked at her critically. His hair was hidden by a tall blue crown that symbolized his authority, a golden snake rising from the center. His whole outfit was blue, saving for the golden ankh that spread across his chest and for the bangles that adorned his upper and lower arms and wrists.
"Woman...what is your name?"
His voice was steady and just as cool, like water in a pool, giving no trace of how safe or dangerous it was.
"I am called Kisara." It was a plain name for one such as herself, and she only briefly saw him still studying her before out of the corner of her eyes she saw something that caused her a good deal of fright.
Nearby, above a large platform of wood and rope, were two men who fought with monsters, the beast's cries and such shaking her into a sudden outburst that she wouldn't have normally said, especially in such high company as High Priest Seto.
"Priest Seto...Why have I been brought here? What is this place?"—
"Stop this..." Jules whispered, still continuing forward as the golden light became edged with blue lightning.
--The two monsters turned for her and Geblek had said she would call the God, the White Dragon which he had seen as a child and who had saved him.
Why wasn't it appearing?
What was wrong with the girl?
"My spirit Duos!" the sword-wielding spirit that he had raised himself through training and meditation jumped forward as he did, racing over to come between his spirit and the girl, grabbing her hand in case of anything. The pale woman, Kisara, seemed to be in a stupor, unsure as to what was really going on and, just as oddly, seeming to know that something bad was going to happen.
"Why won't you call the White Dragon?" he asked her, then glared at the other two prisoners, those who remained of his ka hunt, "That's enough, you two! Stop!"
One of the prisoners laughed. "So a priest has joined us, eh?"
The other jumped in, "Now we can repay you for all we've gone thorough."
His plans for letting these two live were gone.
"Go my spirit! Aura Sword!" the sword cut into the chains around them, sending one man and his demon to their deaths while, somewhat luckily, the Rod acted as a way to hold him to one of the last links in the chain, while dangling from his free arm was the woman Kisara.
She's too light...she should've eaten more...I'll have to make sure of that, when I get out of here.
"Girl...are you alright? Hold on!"
Above him he heard a laugh, causing his attention to shift to the last of the prisoners.
Who's monster could spin webs and who had trapped his Duos spirit.
The large spider monster came for him and as it did, he heard Kisara whisper one word. "Seto..."
Below them appeared a blinding light, transforming into the shape of a white-scaled Dragon, the same he had seen before, the one who had saved him.
Then she was the girl from his youth...she had now saved him twice.
No, I owe you my eternal gratitude, Kisara...
He chanced to look down and now saw that the woman's eyes were completely blue and vacant, as if she was not within this world. He had to wake her up, to get her to use the Dragon—2
"Stop!" Jules fell to a knee as the lighting crackled around him, "I'm only here to return you to your home! I'm not here for the test! I swear—Sakhmet sent me to retrieve the Rod!"
The lightning and golden light suddenly died down, and Jules found himself breathing heavily before seeing the ghost of a golden-sandal enter his vision. He looked up to see the ghost of the man from before standing in front of the Rod, looking at him critically. "Is this true?'
Jules nodded.
"Then I have a favor to ask of you, holder of the Book of Knowledge."
Jules raised to his feet, feeling himself shake from the memory/visions that had assaulted him, then answered.
"What do you need me to do?"
-o-
Saim had slowed due to the carnage left behind by the Mighty One, and found himself wishing he had stayed with the Foggs and Jules instead of going after her, but he knew this wasn't something good. He hadn't expected for his sister to do such a thing, but bringing one of the stone tablets, and a tablet that had rested in Pharaoh Seto's tomb, was obviously not the best of ideas she had come up with.
The trail of bodies left were all torn or shredded, as if a large lion or bird of prey had come though and taken out many of them. His body shook as he tried to force down the bile rising from the sight before him.
He turned and found himself facing Rebecca and Phileas, both of whom were trying to force open a wooden door with a blazing Eye of Wadjet on the surface.
"Damn!"
"What's wrong?" he asked, coming up to them and causing both Foggs to turn and look confused.
"What happened to our angry friend?" Phileas asked, looking around.
"I thought she came this way."
Rebecca shook her head. "We haven't seen her, and now Jules is trapped in there."
Saim looked at the door and put a hand on it. The Tauk glowed slightly but he was given no insight as to what was happening, only that Jules was safe for the moment.
"He's fine," he told them, "I'm not sure what is going on, but I know he's okay. But for now he's safer there then he is out here. We have to find and stop the Mighty One. If this continues...I don't know how many will be killed or if her rampage is easily stopped."
The two Foggs nodded, casting one last look at the door before the three headed out in search of the Mighty One and the two who had caused such destruction.
-o-
Zalika waited, wondering if her brother was dead already, thus taking one opportunity to relieve herself of that family tie forever.
How she hated her brothers. They were chosen by the Items, loved by her parents, while she had been shunted off to other servants, and treated as one as well. She was the first girl-child, and the Tauk, by right, should've been hers. Instead, it went Saim, the youngest. A boy!
All other holders of the Tauk had been female, had been women!
The sound of faint voices reached her and she looked up only to see Count Gregory be wheeled in. A snort of hate and contempt escaped her as she stood from her spot. "Do you think you'll be safe here?"
"There is someone after us."
"I am not surprised...we are under attack, after all."
The man with him was splattered with blood and shaking. "You don't understand...this woman! She...she..."
Zalika did understand, though, from his reaction, and smiled at it. "She is the Mighty One, whom I warned you about, Count." Her smile grew at the thought. "How fitting. I heard in some of the cultures from south of our divine land, to enter into adulthood one must kill a lion. I wonder, if one kills a lioness-goddess, will one attain godhood then?"
The pistol she reserved for her brother was cocked with a click as she gave a smile to the Count. "Perhaps today you will see how you truly destroy the past, and with more then just the words of a man who was crucified with two common thieves."
"Do not insult my Savior again."
"Your very presence and your acts in my land have insulted my Gods, as well as destroyed the holy monuments dedicated to the Dead Osiris of our past, to all of those who went before him and who took the trial of the Scales of Ma'at. I have all the reason to insult one who would be gentle with humanity instead of do as your God of Old did and rain down fire upon the wicked. The Mighty One is supposed to be Divine Wraith. If I kill her, if I take her Items, then I will become the Mighty One."
"Such foolishness."
"Do you not drink of your Savior's blood, or eat of his flesh, to be one with him? Do you not hang his image around you so that he may be shown in all of his suffering, that you would know your suffering is less then his? He did not have to defeat his uncle to win a throne rightfully his and only lose it just as quickly, so that all those after him would be the Living Horus and the Dead Osiris. He did not search for the body of his loved one and then have to search again after it was torn by the one who slew him. The suffering of one who knows what will come is nothing compared to the suffering of those who don't and have, for that brief moment, faith that they might be reunited with their loved ones again. Do not call my faith foolishness, and do not insult my Gods. Perhaps then I will not insult yours." 3
The Count growled but said nothing, and Zalika turned back as a few shots were heard but nothing conclusive. She was personally amazed that the Mighty One would come this far, or even go to such troubles to gain back the Items she turned her back on. After the event which created the Millennium Puzzle and a Nameless Pharaoh, the Mighty One had killed many priests and then left the palace. The tale was that these priests had defiled the tomb and erased the name of the Nameless Pharaoh in order to make a magic that would reopen the door to the underworld, where Zork had come from. Instead of staying to punish more for their misdeeds, or to help find the one who would summon Zork again, she had left the palace, only being seen once by Seto's son and what would become his court, but by no one else.
So the Mighty One had left Egypt, and none could bring her back.
None but the Nameless Pharaoh, who's soul was lost to time, for without his name he couldn't enter the world of the dead, and because he sacrificed himself to save them, he had no body to embalm.
He was only a wandering spirit, punished for saving the world, and the Mighty One had turned her back on the Living to follow such a spirit.
I will take your Items, and become the Mighty One. Then I will raise the great Pharaohs again to their glory, and the world will fall before them as they should. I will be the Divine Wraith of the Sun, and you will wander with your Nameless Pharaoh, never entering the world of the dead to be with your court or your friends, if you had any.
-o-
The trail of corpses slowly lead around and back, causing Phileas to grimace as he considered everything. Jules had gotten the Eye, but for whatever reason the Rod had decided to trap him in the room, and now he, Rebecca and Saim, following their silent guide, were on the trail of the woman who seemed to have gone insane.
Phileas didn't realize such carnage could exist, but it did. Many of the bodies encountered were simply cut down, while others had been overly mauled. It was like this woman was slowly becoming a beast.
If she is so rabid, will we have to put her down?
Something in Phileas told him no, not to. What harm was the woman after this was all done? Before any fight she was calmer, she was collected, but she was lonely. She needed someone to help her ease the pain of those years she had waited and would wait for her sebah to return.
Rebecca had said they would give her a name and the invitation to join them. Phileas had no quarrel with this, and he doubted Jules would either, even after knowing of her destructive nature. She had shown to be a good friend, if a little odd at times, but one who would be a great help. If his odd dream, that he didn't wish to think of at the moment, was correct, then she needed friendship, and he'd be damned if she rejected it from them.
Phileas silently cursed as they turned and once more found no sign of the woman, or that she might have come this way. Where the hell was she? Jules was trapped in the room with the blasted Item, and from what they knew, they were running in circles, trying to find a very elusive woman who seemed to have gone berserk.
But he did understand. If anyone had disturbed Erasmus' tomb...
It had been hard enough when they thought that his father's body had been taken, though the news that it was actually ashes still in the coffin was a small comfort.
The alien ship that rose up from the church...that was another story...
"Where did she go to?" Rebecca asked, obviously as annoyed as Phileas was. The captive shrugged, obviously hoping he didn't run into her, while Saim seemed more then a little worried.
They finally turned to the next corridor and found it devoid of any sign of the woman. Still, at the middle and to the left was a wooden door with a silver knob on it.
Saim blinked, then said, "There."
"She's in there?"
"She will be. But currently in there are Typhone cut in five and my sister. We must enter."
Phileas frowned. While he felt that something was drawing him towards that particular door, he didn't want to just rush in. And he had to guess that 'Typhone cut in five' was Gregory. The prospect of fighting him was a good one.
"That is where she will enter to help us, and that is where the last battle will occur. It is there all of fate will be decided, and the Tower will crumble."
Phileas shared a look with Rebecca, who seemed fine with entering into the space as long as they were careful. The guide was shaking, and then suddenly took off and back down the corridor.
"So much for him," Rebecca said, "I doubt he'll try to come back, anyway."
Phileas nodded, then let out a breath. "Well then. Let's get this over with."
1—The first voice he heard was Akunadin, the priest who originally owned the Millennium Eye. The second voice was that of Pegasus, who gained it during a trip to Egypt after the loss of his love. Akunadin was the one who created the Millennium Items and who was responsible for the way thief king Bakura turned out. He is also responsible for the death of the Pharaoh (see earlier chapters). Pegasus, later on, gains the Millennium Eye and uses it to humiliate various people, as well as to get Yugi to come participate in Duelist Kingdom in order to save his grandfather's soul. He uses the power of the Shadows to get Kaiba to Duel him in such a way that he would be able to read his mind and thus beat him (I call it cheating and don't count the Duel as one against Kaiba, he was under stress), then used that same power to put his soul into a card. While Dueling him, Yugi and Yami were able to evade the Mind Scan by switching places, but after a while it was turned into a Shadow Game and Yugi's soul nearly died.
I personally think Pegasus should be hit just for calling the two good Duelists "Kaiba-boy" and "Yugi-boy", but that's me...
2—Those scenes are from the manga with some elements of the anime thrown in. The scene is actually when Kisara first meets Seto in adulthood. In the anime, they put in a back story where Seto, as a child, freed a slave girl with pale skin who thanked him and only learned his name. When Seto returned home, he found his village being burned and his mother dead. The raiders were killed by a large white dragon, and Kisara is supposed to have a white dragon for her ka. In the manga, there's no such back story, as far as I know, only that when the woman falls asleep or into a coma-like state, the White Dragon appears, and Seto was looking for a ka that could help them defeat Bakura's ka. The problem was that Kisara's soul and the monster were so intermingled that it couldn't appear while she was conscious, and she couldn't exactly control it because when it was around, she was in a coma. Then the only way to actually have it was to take it from her, which would lead to her death.
I already explained this many times, so you probably get my drift. It's sad, and I feel for Seto. He loses his Pharaoh and his love in pretty much the same week.
3—For Reference: The Pharaohs were known as the Living Horus while alive, and the Dead Osiris while dead. This is because it was believed that the Pharaohs were supposed to be the embodiment of Horus in life, and after death they became the embodiment of Osiris. Osiris was the first king of Egypt (Re was the king of the Gods) who was tricked by his brother, Set, into going into a box and then, after being sealed in, tossed into the Nile. Isis, his wife, traveled to find him and finally did after years of searching. She and Anubis, the God of Death/Embalming, tried to restore him, but before she could complete it, Set found the body, tore it into 13 pieces, and flung it all over Egypt. This sent Isis on another quest for her husband's body, which she was able to put together except for one part, the phallus. Despite this, she did raise her husband, who stayed with her only long enough to somehow get her pregnant with Horus. After that he returned to rule the Land of the Dead. Horus, when he was old enough, challenged Set for the throne and eventually won, in a sense. In some stories, both die and end up becoming like the Angel/Devil on people's shoulders. In another, Horus kills Set and gains the throne, while in another Set is not killed but given rule over the Desert.
The Scales of Ma'at are the ones depicted in many of the drawings for the Book of the Dead. To on side is the feather of Ma'at, and on another is the dead soul's heart (the Egyptians believed all memory was stored in the heart). People were asked questions about how good they were in life and their misdeeds or lies were measured against the Feather. If the feather was lighter then their heart, they were heavy on misdeeds and punished, usually by being feed to Ammut. If the feather was heavier, then they had little or no misdeeds and were allowed to stay with Osiris' court.
And here Zalika is just being a bitch, so please don't hurt me for what she said.
