All chapters have been typed and will be edited! This story will from now on be updated on a weekly basis on Friday: since its Fanfic's official "Update" day ^^ So, enjoy! I'm so happy I can FINALLY post a story with regular updates!
Disclaimer: I only own the plot! Yu-Gi-Oh and all its characters belong to Kazuki Takehashi and Koonami (since the Doma Arc is anime only), and Atlantis is loosely based on Plato's Timaeus, and the Atlantis accords that Plato got from Satron while in Egypt (further proof everything the Greeks did they got from Egypt).
Dedication: Always to my Beta Val, who without, this story would've never have made it to the computer! You're awesome girl! Also to BadBlackCatXV who got me into Knightshipping in the first place!
Historical Note at the bottom and as always, read, write, review, criticize, comment, ask questions and theorize! Have fun!
Chapter II: Ujalah
He awoke while Nut was still arched over the land. The pearl light of her starlit outline pooled through the many stone slivers, casting purple shadows on the walls—perfect for nights spent stargazing and days away from the stale, dusty air of the temple and the unbearable heat of the day. He'd chosen the open, airy room to rebel the claustrophobic feel of the cave-like dwellings and sacred rooms located deeper in the darker confines of the House of Life that the hem-netjer preferred.
Outside, the night faded from inky blue darkness to the brightening lavenders of dawn—a visible warning to hasten his movements. With a sharp inhale, he pulled up his foot and balanced it on the edge of his bed. His brows knitted and his tongue stuck out in concentration. Anxious struggled fingers impatiently with the impossible straps. His toes wiggled rebelliously, displeased with the confines and longing for his simple, comfortable, leather sandals. With a growl that morphed into a cry of aggravation, Yugi ripped the shoe off and flung it across the room. It hit the wall with a papery smack and dropped with a flop. And the hem-netjer expected him to wear these horrid monstrosities every day?
He didn't bother with the second and shoved it away. It and the rest of his gift—a heavy pleated robe—slid off the bed and pooled to a pile on the floor. He sighed, hopped off the bed, smoothed the crinkles from his shenti, and combed his sleep-tossed hair poorly with his fingers until it spiked up in its unusual shape. His toes wiggled, brushing the polished sandstone with his toes. They would have to do for now. He'd wasted enough time. He slipped from his room with the sleekness of a prowling jungle cat, and raced through the shadows. He'd deal with the mess and the hem-netjer's scolding later.
The temple's shadows made Nut's cool touch even more chilling and he felt it nipping at his skin like countless, tiny bites. The rough sandstone felt surprisingly refreshing against his feet, despite the cold bites—still much more bearable than those ungodly uncomfortable papyrus sandals and those ridiculous heavy and hard robes the hem-netjer "insisted" on.
Ank-menu was a massive complex: a giant's forest of rusted-red granite pillars and sandstone architraves depicting great victories of previous monarchs, and miracles of beloved Gods. Located at the heart of Amun-Ra's precinct and with convenient access to the central court where Amun's primary image stood toweringly powerful and ever-watchful on an active alabaster slab. Perfect for conducting rituals and placing morning sacrifices, it was an ideal choice for service. With the flood-fed canals of Sphinx Avenue bringing boats from Waset just outside the enclosure wall, and countless long chambers and suites left empty in once-dedication to Sobek and other lesser Gods, it served as the perfect makeshift palace. During the day, it was a labyrinth of shadows. At night, these same shadows danced and cast illusions of false hallways, and pretend-exists, but Yugi knew better. It was another reason Yugi preferred the solar complex where his room was built.
He navigated the enclosed labyrinth of massive stones and tall columns with the skill of somebody well-versed in its tricks and the ease of one who'd mastered its secrets. After all, he'd been raised here.
As a child of a Singer of Amun, he'd lived all his life in the Ipet-isut, specifically the House of Life of Amun-Ra and that of his consort, Mut-Sekhmet. And like all the divine servants, he lived in the temple. Previous generations of hem-netjers had served the Gods faithfully and with the entire King's loyalty, but the death of Ramses XI had changed the Divine Servants of Amun's role. They had wasted no time refurnishing the spare rooms with rich lavishing and beeswax candles. They owned two-thirds of all the temples in Kemet, controlled its ships and ruled the red land in all but name. Position and power had made them spoiled and they toyed with their power the way children pretended to be soldiers—and for a brief moment, believed they were. In the past, Yugi had ignored them. His role in the House was limited, if at all. But following her death, he'd found himself the unwanted focus of their attention. His last protest had earned him confinement in the scribe rooms copying scribe texts, knowing full well it was his most hated job.
Yugi passed the central court where Amun's primary image stood like a watchful guardian. He quickly skittered past the Great Hypostyle Hall with a side glance only, and ran through the maze of granite statues chiseled in the likeness of previous kings, towering columns, sculptures of watchful Gods—complimentary obelisks bearing laws and messages of old. Once he breached the Osirian pillars flanking either side of the fourth pylon—a massive wall of sandstone blocks—he veered left to the adjacent first court.
Entering the open, airy desert, Yugi paused to squint. The pale pink and lavender of Amun's rising splashed across the sky, brightening the retreating darkness and filling the air with a damp, dewy smell. Yugi inhaled the morning with anticipation, stretching his arms and greeting the God of Dawn with a warm smile. It wouldn't be long now.
His sanctuary glittered in the pale red and yellow dawn just beyond the courtyard. The huge lake—small compared to the rest of the complex—shined with a soft lavender sheen in the morning light. Palms flocked the sides and the water was calm and quiet like the surface of a lapis lazuli mirror. In his more imaginative moments, Yugi could almost believe it was solid and reach out to touch it. On special days, the hem-netjer would bathe in the sacred waters: purification before beginning rituals. Yugi hiked along the shore past lesser temples and the engraved botanical garden of Thumoise III to the far side bordering the desert where palms and reeds had overgrown the banks.
Only he knew the sacred spring's secret now. He settled among the reeds and plopped comfortably on his stomach, watching Amun's birth through the far-off sand dunes. Colors splashed across the sky, banishing the darkness and the golden sphere of Amun-Ra rose over the capital city and the far enclosure wall, symbolizing his return from the Underworld and his triumph over the demon beast Apep—and Yugi watched it all in the reflection of the sacred spring. It was his favorite time of the day.
For those few hours, Yugi's actions and whereabouts were the least of the Amun servants' concerns. For that short span of time, there were no lectures on proper priestly behavior, no endless rules and countless training on the flawless procedure of rituals, or annoying advice on the importance of advisory, or hunching over stone tables copying scripture. For those precious few moments, Yugi was free.
He fidgeted in his position, waiting in a fit of anticipation—Amun's light drawing slowly towards the spring, but only once it touched would the miracle start.
Slowly, dark shapes swayed beneath the surface. Yugi's heart quickened and anxious fingers clenched the reeds so tightly they pinched his fingers. He inhaled sharply, then released a gasp of delight.
Deep blue pods swayed like cobras in the water. Slowly, they broke the surface of the water, creating tiny interlocking waves. Leaves and petals unfurled from the tear-shaped pods in a single, flowing spin. Luminous petals fanned open, boasting soft, beautiful blooms—an indigo so deep it put lapis lazuli to shame. Their golden heart sparkled in greeting to the Atum. Soon, all the flowers were open, floating on the sacred pool's dark surface like an organic galaxy of stars against Nut's midnight. The magical dance complete, Yugi exhaled a breath and lied on his stomach, basking in the morning's warmth and enjoying their peaceful presence. His own lotus blue eyes, wide and large, sparkled with childish wonderment.
He'd lost count how many years he'd been in the Great House of Amun, but watching his favorite blue lotus rise from the depths of the pond each morning filled him with the same mystified wonder as it had that first morning when he was just a squirming toddler in his mother's lap. It had become their own secret morning ritual, as sacred to them as the hem-netjer's in their dutiful service to the Gods. Her death had only made its continuance that much more important. If he closed his eyes and remembered hard enough, he could clearly picture her sitting there: her long ebony hair, streaked with gold and adorned with a royal diadem. Her brown eyes, large and spaced wide, glittering with the gentleness of a deer against sandy gold skin—a keen intelligence glistened in them like sparks. Her face was a heart, completed with a smooth chin, high mobile cheeks and a generous mouth made for smiling. She was beautiful, and Yugi had inherited all of her beauty. All but her eyes: the deep blue, almost violet color, of lotus blossoms. "That, my habibi," she'd told him since he was old enough to remember, "Is yours alone, my Habibi Ujalah."
He picked himself up when he heard a rustle of wind, and saw shadows fall over the pool, and frolicked towards the open desert. Yugi left his hiding place and hurried inside. He came out a moment later carrying a reed basket under his arm, and hurried back to the courtyard. At his arrival, lovely black and white ibises flocked at his feet, impatiently waiting for their breakfast. Yugi chuckled and took a handful of seeds, but instead of throwing them down, he trailed them away from the spring and into the open desert of the courtyard. Quickly, Yugi molded handful of seeds into neat little piles, and the ibises attacked them in orderly fashion. Those unable to reach simply flocked to the next pile in Yugi's line until each one ate its fill. Those ill or too young to compete with their stronger, livelier flock mates, Yugi let feast directly from the basket. It took longer this way to feed them all, but Yugi doubted Thoth would appreciate his sacred beasts fighting like jackals over scraps.
When the basket was empty, he set it aside and the ibises examined it, curiously looking for anything else to munch on. Yugi left them to their play and lied down upon the sand, watching his feathered companions walk and flap, squabble and screech, and flock and fly—regardless of the precinct's towering stone walls, admiring their outline against the sky where he could still make out the outline of Thoth's eye. He gazed beyond the pylons, where another avenue of sphinxes led to the precinct of Amun's consort with a smile of admiration. He imagined the vast open desert surrounding them both; its golden sand dunes, shaped by rough winds that promised freedom at the price of survival, and once again, Yugi wished he had the courage to answer the call the ibises did without any doubt or hesitation.
The flock surrounded him; some took to the air, others waddled about, and a handful perched at his side. They stared at him, with multiple emotions glistening in their intelligent eyes like tiny black stars, and smiles forming on their crescent curved beaks. One straddled over to his side and curled against his hip, tucking its small head in its plumage to sleep. Yugi smiled and stroked the soft feathers. The creature cooed in pleasure, the sound soft and bird-like.
Of all his chores, this was the only one Yugi loved. He'd helped his mother feed the birds each morning even though ibises were sacred to Thoth, not Amun or Mut—but they called the valley their home, and that was enough for her.
"All the Gods are precious, habibi," she'd told him. "We must always show them our love and respect their presence when they reveal it to us."
And that was what he did. He'd grown up with his flock. Trust had been built, and he admired them with a mixture of envy and love. As much as Yugi enjoyed their company, a pang of jealousy clenched his heart whenever he watched them fly. They were not bound by the enclosed walls of Waset. They were not forced to remain in a singular place. They were not confined to a dark, dank, crowded temple away from the sun, the water, the air—even the town. They were not subjected to the orders and obligations of arrogant men. They had the power to fly and begin somewhere new. They were free.
Yugi had no such luxury. An arm draped over his eyes, blocking the heat, but he couldn't blame the sun for their sudden wetness. Yes, he'd spent years in the Precinct of Mut-Sekhmet under his mother and sister's tutelage, learning the art of herbs, physicians, and the magic to expel pestilence that made him more suited to the priesthood of Sekhmet rather than Amun. But no, Mut's precinct had been forbidden to him as well, though he never understood why the Divine Servants all but demanded he remain at the precinct after she died. As a Singer of Amun, she had only a temporary role in the chief God's ritual, and though he shared her love of music, hymn, and song, Yugi never imagined he'd be destined for a similar fate—even if the House's religious residents didn't think so.
A lone tear escaped his eyes. Yugi had never hated the precinct—not really—but the past weeks had grown incredibly lonely, his existence even more isolated, and though it was gradual, his home had become his prison. He wished Mut was here. She'd been the one to hold him when his mother died. It had been she who stroked his hair, held his head in her lap, and let him cling to her like a beloved security toy and cry when everyone else had all but ordered him to be strong. He wished she'd taken him with her, but the Divine Servants wouldn't let him accompany her to Djanet. They had an entirely different destiny planned for him. One Yugi wanted no part in—but he knew better than to place his hope on wishes and dreams. Wishes would not buy his freedom. Dreams would not provide him the means to escape the expectations of temple life and its tedious chains.
He expelled a long sigh and tugged a lock of his wild hair. His fingers curiously twirled the pale gold tendrils. His forelock was an unruly arched lock of pale gold and unusual compared to his native ebony locks, despite the fact they spiked wildly—blazing in the breeze like black fire. It was only a matter of time now, he knew. His father had patted the soft tresses for hours when he was a child and despite her employment at the House, her mother never developed the heart to take a blade to them. As son of a Singer of Amun, however, he'd been lucky to avoid having it shaved, but after the servants confiscated his shawls and leather sandals, it was only a matter of time until Menkheperre demanded he conform. The thought filled him with dread, until a bird brushed his side and chased the thought away.
Snuggling in the comforting acceptance of the ibis, Yugi laid back again, closed his eyes and, for once, allowed himself to be at peace.
"If I could wish for just one thing…" he breathed, pretending for that tiny moment that he wasn't a temple slave or surrounded by imprisoning walls. He was off in some sort of far-away land, like a bird fluttering among exotic flowers, or a serpent coiling in-between the refreshing cold and soothing heat of the Nile shore. Or even his beloved blue lotus making its morning ascent towards the sun, breaking the surface of its watery crypt and unfurling its petals and basking in the freedom of the light.
"That is why I named you 'Ujalah'," his mother had told him that first morning. "Because like the lotus that reaches for the sun… you, Yugi, shine."
"I'd like to have something that is just… for me."
Hardest thing about this chapter and the Egyptian setting in general? The Kemet/Ancient Egyptian names! Curse my obsession with historical accuracy! I did a LOT of research on Karnak and the Precinct of Amun and was very selective of the places I needed and would describe because there is just SO much, so I stuck with what I needed.
Glossary:
hem-netjer - Ancient Egyptian Title for High Priests and priests in general; literally "servant of God"
Ank-menu - Festival Hall of Thutmose III; normally translated as "the most glorious of monuments", but "monument to living spirit" is an alternative translation
Ipet-isut - Literally "The Most Selected of Places", refers to the area around Karnak and the Precinct of Amun and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty
Ujalah - Kemetic/Ancient Egyptian, literally "shine" (usually a female name)
Habibi - Kemetic/Ancient Egyptian form of endearment; literally, beloved; refers to either a lover or a family member
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Grammar Knight's Note/s:
Nut – Egyptian goddess of the sky
Sobek – Egyptian god of the Nile, the Army, military, fertility and of crocodiles
Amun – King of the Egyptian gods
Ra – Egyptian god of the Sun
Amun-Ra – basically, Amun fused with the sun god Ra; also another name for Amun, so Amun is also sometimes known as the Sun God
Atum – Egyptian god of creation; also known as Atem
Thoth – Egyptian god of Knowledge; his sacred animals are ibises and baboons
Mut – the World-Mother, Eye of Ra, Queen of the Goddesses, Lady of Heaven, Mother of the Gods, and She Who Gives Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any.
Sekhmet – Egyptian goddess of fire, war, vengeance, menstruation, and medicine
Mut-Sekhmet – the fusion of Mut and Sekhmet, wherein the goddess is loving and fiercely protective. Later chapters of the fanfic will go into more detail about her 'cause she's awesome. ;)
*Take note that there are two different Muts being portrayed here. One is obviously the Queen Goddess of Egyptian mythology, while the other Mut is the nickname of someone very precious to Yugi. ;D
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*Little note on Blue Lotus, or the Egyptian blue lotus is the sacred flower of Ancient Egypt, which sadly is extinct in the modern Nile Delta and grew along the east Nile but was also planted in Sacred Lakes for devotional purposes (specifically the Temples to Mut, since it was sacred and a symbol of Amun and the rising sun each morning). Contradictory to popular belief, the flower buds rise to the surface over a period of two to three days, and when ready, open at approximately 9–9:30 am and close about 3 pm. The flowers and buds do not rise above the water in the morning, nor do they submerge at night. I just has to add them ^^
NEXT TIME: The Priests of Amun-Ra send Yugi's least favorite person to fetch him, and we get a deeper look at Yugi's life in the temple—and what has changed.
Update date: Friday, June 27th