Lynette had been walking for a few minutes. She was very dazed and confused. She had a terrible headache and nothing seemed to make any sense to her. She didn't know where she was or what she was doing there. The last thing she could remember was being at home at her mother's castle back on Nemesis. But this place did not look like Nemesis. It didn't look like the home of her fiancée either, Earth. And it was definitely not the Shadow Realm. She was really getting to miss her mother now. She was also beginning to miss her fiancée and friends, Yami, Anzu and Rini. Why was this happening to her?
It all started when her mother first went away to Earth to find the former prince and princess. That was when her father took control of the kingdom and said that her mother, Relyna, was dead. Lynette remembered being so sad, but her father and brother did not appear quite as sympathetic. The only thing they could think about was invading and capturing the planet that was supposed to be responsible. For two months, she watched as her father and brother prepared to wage war on the planet Earth. When they finally did, it turned into a large and arduous affair. All she could think about was this war ending so that she could properly remember her mother. She never had to. Once the war neared an end, her mother returned. Lynette had been so happy. But the news that her father had been responsible for all of it was harsh. She never would have thought he was capable of something like that.
It was after her mother reclaimed the throne and her father was banished from the kingdom that she first traveled to Earth. That was when she first met Yamiyugi and his sister Jun. They were nice for grownups, but not terribly interesting. Only a couple years later, was when she finally met Yami. He was very kind to her despite being only a few years old. She also met Anzu and her twin sister Rini at the same time. The four of them had a lot of fun together, both on Nemesis and Earth, and on many occasions, in the Shadow Realm. It all ended abruptly one day. It would always stick with her in her mind. She had gone home early that day. Her mother stayed behind to talk to Yamiyugi, his wife, Jun, and her husband. A couple hours later, Yamiyugi came to tell her that her mother was dead. She was speechless. She was ready to accuse him of lying, but she could see sorrow and anger pasted in his face. He then handed to her the crown that her mother wore. Lynette had always looked forward to the day when her mother would give it to her to wear at her wedding one day. Marrying her prince from Earth was the least of her concerns. When Yamiyugi said that he might also soon die when he and his sister were to confront the murderer, she was beside herself. His last words to her were "Be strong, for your kingdom, your friends, and mostly, yourself,"
That was one of the last things that she could remember. It was strange. It was as though very little time had passed, but she felt different. One thing that she knew for sure was that her powers were a lot greater than they were before. She could feel an immense power surging through her body. Then she remembered something else. Someone came to her and wanted her crown. She had hid it from him and put all thoughts about it deep, deep into her mind to keep it away from anyone trying to find her most precious possession. She looked around now, suspecting that he was right behind her waiting to kidnap her and take her crown. There was no one following her. She still felt uncomfortable about this place. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she must eventually make it somewhere that someone could tell her how to get back home.
Her thoughts then returned to her brother, Genosa III. She had not seen him in a long time, several weeks to be more precise. He wanted to be by himself to "think" for a little while. He had promised to be back as soon as possible. Was he looking for her now? Had he heard about what happened to their mother? He would call home once in a while, but he had not since before their mother's death. There was little chance he knew anything about it yet. Where was he now? "Just how long was I asleep?" she continued to think.
As she passed by a storefront window, she saw her reflection. She looked a lot older than she had before. It was hard to believe that it was a reflection. She tentatively touched her own face to be sure that it was her own image she was looking on and not that of someone else. She didn't look the way an old Human would, which was the only reference she had; there was no Hawk of her and her family's level that had ever lived into old age, at least not any that she had ever seen. The best she could equate her age to was somewhere in the vicinity of that which her mother was at before her passing. Even that was not a lot of help. Hawks stopped aging in appearance after a time. Her mother had been 138 years old but looked no different than a twenty some odd year old Hawk. Lucifer Hawks could live to nearly 500 years old. The more that she thought about it, the more Lynette became depressed. She decided that she would stop thinking about all of those things and focus on finding out where she was and how she was going to get home.
Although they looked like humans, Lynette was fairly certain that she wasn't on Earth. They weren't Hawks because their energy was too low. They did seem far too preoccupied with their own lives. She tried to stop a couple people to ask a simple question, but they just kept on walking by. It was very rude, but she didn't bother about it. What made things more difficult was not knowing where she was going. If she could stop someone, what would she ask? Something told her that asking to be pointed in the direction of Nemesis was not an ideal question. If these were in fact Humans, they would not have the slightest idea as to where Nemesis was. Saying that she wanted to see the Pharaoh did not seem prudent either. The basic, "where am I" would have to do. Just when she turned a street, she was finally able to stop someone for a question.
"Excuse me sir, can you tell me where I am?"
"You lost or something?"
"Yes I am. I'm trying to find my way back to where I belong,"
"Seems weird that you would be lost here, but I guess it happens. We're in the third business district,"
"What planet are we on?"
"Are you serious? You all right lady?"
"I'm not sure. Can you please tell me what planet we're on?"
"It's the ninth planet of the Nemesis Galactic Federation. How can you not know that?"
"Nemesis Galactic Federation? What do you mean?"
"You really should think about seeing a doctor lady. You must have been under a rock for your entire life or something. I got to get going,"
"No please, wait. I'm very confused, please, just tell me who the ruler is,"
"The ruler? The Pharaoh Yami of course,"
"Yami? He is really the Pharaoh?"
"No doubt, a real piece of work that Yami is. Took the throne after his dad died. With Earth under his control, he went and conquered Nemesis and hasn't stopped since. There is no telling how many places he finally got a hold of. There's no stopping him. There is a shuttle that takes free tours to the capital planet of Nemesis. You should take one there, maybe get to a doctor while your there,"
The gentleman laughed and walked away. Lynette felt a little better. At least she knew that Yami was in charge. The man said that he was ruling over a vast number of planets, that he conquered them all. That couldn't have been a literal statement. Yami would never have done something like that. She was now more uncertain than she was before. What could have happened to Yami to make him do something like this? Either way, her answers would have to be found on her own home planet.
She walked around a little more, following the signs to the station where the shuttle departed. She boarded and took a seat, still thinking about what was going on. It was too much to handle. Nothing was making any sense and the more that she found out, the less sense it made. As she sat in the ship, she suddenly had a reoccurring thought. It was a fuzzy picture in her mind. She had been near Yami and her brother Genosa III. Anzu and Rini were there too. They were older than she remembered them, but she knew it was them. There were other people around Yami, but she didn't recognize any of them. The memory was more like a dream. She didn't seem to have any real presence there although Yami and the others around him were looking at her. She then felt her head turn and watched as another person she did not know cut her brother's head off. Lynette was mortified by this memory. She could not explain why she would have something so horrible in her head as though it were a memory. She tried to hold back her tears while she told herself that it wasn't real. There was no way that it could have been real.
As soon as she thought everything was okay, another of those strange memories came to her. This one was just as horrible. It was Earth, and her father. He had summoned two giant, blue creatures that she soon recognized as Obelisk the Tormentor. The very next thing that she saw were rays of red light exploding from the ground and a red dragon rise up from the Earth and tear through her father. It felt atrocious. Lynette felt as though her heart had stopped beating for a moment. She was beginning to cry.
"Is everything all right miss?" a person in the seat in front of her asked.
"No, everything is all wrong. It doesn't make any sense,"
"I'm sure things will make sense if you get the answers to the right questions. Why don't I try to help you?"
"No, thank you. I just need to see Yami. He can explain everything to me,"
"You want to see Yami? I'm afraid that will be quite difficult. He is the ruler of the universe. You won't be able to see him just by asking, you know,"
"Do you know of ones named Anzu and Rini?"
"Yami's cousins, the twin sisters? Why is it you are so intent on meeting the royal family?"
"Please, if you know where they are, I must speak to them as soon as possible,"
"It's useless dear, but I guess there is no harm or foul in sharing public knowledge. Anzu and Rini are the rulers of several of the districts that Pharaoh Yami has created. They're all on vacation on Nemesis at the old castle. Who are you anyway?"
"My name is Lynette DeVice,"
"Hah, hah. That's funny. If you don't want to say, that's okay,"
"No, I'm not joking. My father was Genosa DeVice II, and my mother was Jasmine Relyna DeVice,"
"I don't know what is happening, but I think that you have to get some help. Lynette DeVice has been dead for a very, very long time. You're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble if you keep making a crazy claim like that,"
Lynette had a look of misery on her face. She lowered her head and stared into her lap. She was twisting her dress in her hands. Large drops of warm tears fell down onto her hands. Inside she wanted to scream, let the world know her grief and sorrow, but she couldn't make a sound. She had lost all her courage to speak. There was a horrid feeling in her heart that told her things were not right. The only thing she could think of was the images she saw in her mind and getting to Yami to find out what was going on.
When the shuttle finally landed, she was somewhat relieved that it at least looked like Nemesis. She was glad to actually know where she was. It was the starport on the outskirts of Nemesis' capital city, the city where the main government office was. But if Yami, Rini, and Anzu were at the castle, then she would have to go to the countryside. That was where the last great castle stood, the former palace of Alexander and Anastacia, stood as an eternal symbol. She thought about how to get there as soon as possible and remembered the teleportation spell. She didn't have any discretion in using it and used the spell right there as soon as she was off the ship. Upon arriving in front of the grand castle, she was happy to see that it was still there. But her bit of happiness faded when she was unable to sense Yami's energy. There were four guards holding lances at the front gate. They took immediate notice of Lynette and quickly surrounded her, pointing their weapons at her.
"Do not move, trespasser. These are private grounds, and you are in direct violation of code 1-958 forbidding any persons from stepping foot on the grounds of this castle,"
"Please, tell me where Yami is,"
"The Pharaoh does not have the time to waste with the likes of you. You must leave here at once,"
"You mean that he is in there?"
"If you do not leave this moment, miss, then we will be forced to place you under arrest for trespassing and disregarding a direct order from the royal police,"
"You don't have to do that. All I want is to speak with Yami. My name is Lynette DeVice,"
"Insolent child! How dare you make such an outlandish statement? Telling a tale such as that is punishable by death, in case you have forgotten yourself,"
"I have not forgotten myself, and I am not telling any tale," Lynette demanded, starting to lose her ability to contain her emotions. "Take me to Yami at once. My mother was the Queen of this planet and that would therefore make me the princess. You should not be treating a member of the royal family like this!"
"That's it. Apprehend this obviously delusional woman,"
"What is wrong with you people? What do I have to do to prove who I am?"
"There is nothing you can do to prove something outrageous like that. All you are going to do is get on our Pharaoh's bad side. Lynette is dead and you will be too if keep this up,"
"I am not dead! I am standing right here! What is going on?"
The guards closed in around Lynette. She flew into the air to avoid them. A hail of gunfire came from the wall of the castle. There were more guards that had opened fire on her. Lynette created a small swirl of energy and deflected the bullets to the ground. They fired at her again and she blocked with a shield. She saw the courtyard at the center of the castle and flew down towards that. She landed near the center of the area. There were no guards here, but she was sure that the guards from outside, and any others that were inside the castle, would be here momentarily to find her. There were several doors that led to the inner chambers of the castle, but there was no telling which to take. She didn't even know where Yami was, although the guards did say that he was in the castle. As she was trying to decide on a path to take, one of the doors opened. Lynette was prepared to flee in the opposite direction until she saw who it was. They looked older, but she was sure that it was them. They looked at her with surprise.
"Rini, Anzu, Yami!"
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"Anzu, it's me, Lynette,"
"I don't know anyone by that name,"
"I know it's been a long time, but you all have to remember me, you're my only hope of making any sense out of anything around here!"
"Look miss, I don't know how you got in here or what questions you are looking for answers to, but you are trespassing on royal property. You must leave at once,"
"But Yami, it's me, Lynette. We used to play together on Earth when we were little. Your dad and his sister were best friends with my mom. You all saved the Earth from being destroyed. It's me, Lynette DeVice,"
"How dare you pretend to be Lynette?"
"Rini…"
"I don't want to hear another word from you, you ill-mannered wretch! Don't you have any respect for the dead? You have some nerve trying to pass yourself off to us as our dearly departed Lynette,"
"Rini, what are you talking about? I'm not dead! I never was dead!"
"I had to watch as Lynette's casket was lowered into her grave. I was only a child then, yet the memory of that event is still scarred into my mind. You are going to pay dearly for trying to make a mockery of my family," Yami seethed.
"Yami… no… this must be some horrible dream. You can't mean that. Why won't you believe that it's me? I used to visit you all the time. We would run around and play games. I was with you in the Shadow Realm on your fourth birthday, we were planning on having a big party to celebrate Rini and Anzu's birthday in the Shadow Realm too,"
"Enough of this,"
A figure with silver hair appeared from a black flame. He had a sinister energy around him that Lynette did not like. She then remembered that it was the same man whom she had last remembered seeing when she was still a child.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"You tell your Great One, that I don't play by the rules of his stupid game. I am not going to wait for this foolish little girl to stumble her way through this pathetic game of yours until she gets the courage and brains to kill you so that we can move on to the rest of my plan. That is why I had to control her in the first place. Too bad her brother had so much free will otherwise I wouldn't need this runt,"
"Who are you?"
"You don't need to know that right now little girl. You can just say that I am one of the family…"
He manifested a long sword that he used to cut down Rini, Anzu, and Yami. The strange man walked toward her and she felt a presence in her mind. That was it. Lynette was under his spell once more and had no more an idea of what was going on around her than she did for the past thirteen thousand some odd years prior that she had been under his spell before. She was like a living puppet that didn't know it was alive or that a puppet master was controlling it. Perhaps even worse was that the only people she could put any trust in did not know the truth. There was little hope in her ever regaining her former life, or any resemblance of it whatsoever. What's worse, no one knew that she was in need of help. This test was over, and so was a lot of hope she had left.