"Bye, Yugi! Bye, Mommy!" Akia exclaimed to her family.
"Take care of yourself, sis!" Yugi replied.
Yugi gave his twin sister, Akia, a friendly hug. Akia was as short as her twin brother. She had long black hair with purple reflects. The one thing that was the most striking about her, however, were her unusual red eyes. All of her family had purple or brown eyes, but she was the only one who had a blood red gaze.
Akia was going to an expedition with their grandfather to explore some Ancient Egyptian ruins that had been found recently. Granted, she was only ten and it might not be the best place for a ten year old to be in, but Akia had always been fascinated by Ancient Egyptian culture. She would always ask her grandfather, Mutou Sugoroku, to tell her all about his expeditions and she made him promise that he'd take her with him someday. Since Yugi had received the Millennium Puzzle and she hadn't received anything like it, her grandfather decided that he would take her on this expedition. Why this one? Because they were able to locate something related to the Millennium Items there. Her grandpa thought that it would be a great idea if Akia could find a souvenir of her own.
"I'll miss you," the girl told her twin.
"I'll miss you too," he reciprocated affectionately.
"Well then, it's time to go Akia," Sugoroku told his granddaughter, "I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun there."
"Coming, grandpa!" Akia retorted.
After travelling for several hours by plane, Sugoroku and Akia boarded on a car that was waiting for them at the airport to take them to the archeological site.
"Here we are, Akia," Sugoroku informed his granddaughter.
He said to his granddaughter as they got out of the car.
"Whoa!" Akia blurted out.
In front of Akia was a giant pyramid standing majestically in the middle of the desert. A lot of people were busy setting up camps and examining the pyramid for any entrances.
"Looks like it's going to take a while for us to find a way to get in there," Sugoroku explained to his granddaughter.
"Can I go look around?" She asked.
"Of course," her grandfather replied with a smile, "just don't get too far."
"I won't!" She quickly replied as she ran off.
Everyone was busy so she soon found herself wandering off alone a little further away. She knew that her grandfather told her not to get too far, but she wanted to get away from all these buzzing people. Besides, he was too busy to notice anyway.
"You shouldn't wander so far, little one," a calm voice resounded as a person stopped in front of her.
Akia looked up and found a man with sapphire blue eyes. He was wearing what looked like a turban on his head and a long robe. He was wearing a golden Ankh around his neck. Akia recognized it from one of the many Ancient Egyptian history books that she liked to read. He was wearing two dangling circular earrings.
"Who... are you?" she asked tentatively.
"I am Shadi," he answered her.
The mysterious man named Shadi stood in front of Akia and examined her. He wondered why his Millennium Ankh led him to that girl. What was so special about her? The Millennium Scale seemed to be reacting to her as well. He then wondered what her soul chamber contained. What kind of monster did she hold inside? Her striking red eyes were certainly unusual. Every human being had a certain monster. That monster could only be seen with the Millennium Items. In Ancient Egypt, dangerous criminals had their monsters extracted and sealed by the Pharaoh's advisors, who each had their own Millennium Item.
"Shadi, sir... Is something wrong?" She questioned, since he had been staring at her for a while now.
"What is your name, little one?" Shadi asked.
"I'm Akia, sir," she replied.
Shadi, wanting to find out more about her, placed his Millennium Ankh on Akia's forehead and turned it, as if unlocking something. Strangely enough, Akia didn't feel any fear towards this stranger. Her mother always told her not to talk to anyone she didn't know and she always followed that advice. This time, however, it felt different. It was as if she knew that she needed to talk to this man.
As Shadi made his way through her soul chamber, he observed that it looked pretty normal for a child. There was one open door with some toys inside. It was interesting, though, that there were more books about Ancient Egyptian history than there were toys in there. It seemed like she had quite a high interest in Ancient Egypt. Something in this room didn't feel right, though. There was some strange and powerful aura coming from one of the walls.
"Where are we, sir?" a little voice sounded from behind him.
The little girl had come into the room and was looking at Shadi with her ruby red eyes. It was her first time seeing her own soul room.
"We are inside your soul, little one," Shadi explained with a smile.
"Well, it does feel like a place I'd decorate," the little girl pointed out," but... There's something odd coming from that wall over there."
Shadi was surprised by her comment. She could sense the same thing he was sensing. Before he could say anything, she headed towards the wall and pulled out one of the history books sitting on a shelf fixed on the wall. When she did, the wall behind it opened up. Stairs were revealed before them, leading underground.
"How did you know about this place, little one," Shadi asked, surprised by her actions.
"I didn't know, but... Something was calling me," she replied, her gaze fixed forward.
Shadi wondered if it could be her monster calling her. She then started heading down the stairs on her own.
"Don't be hasty," Shadi called out to her.
Akia didn't stop and kept going. Whatever it was that was calling her wanted the little girl to get there quickly. Shadi followed her quickly down the stairs.
Akia could hear it. She could feel something reaching out to her. Something important... She continued walking in the darkness until she saw a pair of red eyes. Strangely enough, she didn't feel afraid. She approached these red eyes with confident steps.
"Don't go too far, little one," Shadi kept calling out after her, starting to feel a bit worried about the girl.
She heard his words, but couldn't stop herself. As she got closer to the pair of red eyes, she realized just how big they actually were. Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and she saw a giant black dragon with blood red eyes looking at her. Its head was lowered, as if it tried to be at the same eye level as its host. Shadi just froze there, behind Akia, contemplating the majestic dragon.
"The Red Eyes Black Dragon..." He muttered under his breath, amazed by the great power that that little girl held within her. There was no doubt to who she was now. Shadi knew what had to be done.
Shadi came out of Akia's soul and retracted his Ankh from her forehead. She looked at him with two innocent red eyes.
"The Red Eyes Black Dragon?" She asked.
"Indeed, little one. Now, listen to me carefully," Shadi started explaining,"in your past life, you were someone very important. I can't tell you all the details yet. You will know once you are ready. For now, take this Millennium Scale. It seems to have taken a liking to you."
Shadi handed Akia a golden scale with the eye of Anubis carved into it. There was a feather on one of the golden plates. Akia had read about how Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, used a scale and an ostrich feather to weigh a person's soul. If the human being judged was sinful, the empty plate would weigh more than the feather. When that happened, the soul would be eaten by the demon Ammit. Akia took the Scale while examining it with astonishment clear in her eyes. Never had she dreamed of holding such a beautiful object.
"It's so beautiful! But... why are you giving me this?" Akia asked Shadi.
"You will know in due time," Shadi responded, "be careful with it, though. This item is very dangerous if in the wrong hands."
"What does it do?" The little girl asked as she cocked her head in question.
"The Millennium Scale can tell if a person is lying or not. If the wielder wishes it, it can banish the souls of those who do lie or whose hearts are pure evil," Shadi explained.
"That's dangerous... I'll make sure I never hurt anyone with it," Akia said with resolve.
"You sure are a kind one," Shadi smiled at her.
Shadi then suddenly jerked his head in some unknown direction, sensing something there. Without saying a word, he started walking in the direction of the city, that wasn't located that far.
"W... wait!" Akia yelled out to the Egyptian man.
He did not stop, however. She then decided to go against all that her mother and grandfather had told her not to do and followed the blue-eyed stranger.