Spirit of the Dead

ElveNDestiNy

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! though I do own the idea for this story, etc.

Important: I started this story a long time ago, before I knew that Yu-gi-oh! already has an ancient Egypt arc. After I found out, I discontinued it for obvious reasons. Since then, I've had some good ideas so this story has changed a lot. I've also been inspired by new information about King Tutanhkamun and the kinds of things done to his body after discovery. Carter's team needed to separate Tut from his adornments so they removed his head and severed almost every major joint, for example, and recently, 1,700 scans have been taken of his body. Anyway, this story is officially being updated again as I've plotted it out and about half of it written. No romance was planned when I started this three years ago but since then I've discovered some cool stuff so be warned: this might eventually be prideshipping, YYS.

Sources: June 2005 edition of the National Geographic magazine, "Modern Technology Reopens the Ancient Case of King Tut" by A.R. Williams. I highly recommend because it has some of the most spectacular pictures of the opening to Tut's inner sanctum as well as a CG-ed imaging of his face. I have several other sources I'll cite later.

Key (the front hyphen is sometimes missing because the site removes them. Sorry!):

-Yugi to Yami-

--Yami to Yugi--

Prologue:

The hot Egyptian sun burned down upon them, and even inside the tent the heat just didn't let up. Two archaeologists were sitting in the meager shade, gazing out on the team of robed and turbaned Egyptian natives slowly uncovering a series of steps. Despite the overwhelming heat, a sort of exultation was on their sweating faces, and both were smiling rapturously as they gazed at the scene. A common passerby might have wondered why they seemed so ecstatic, for the golden-brown Egyptians were busily uncovering simple stone steps in the gritty sand, in the middle of the desert. Three more steps had been uncovered in the two hours since they had found the first.

Soon, the archaeologists stood outside again in the sweltering heat. Their bodies had not adapted as entirely to this bleak environment as those that were born there had, and while both were almost as tanned as the natives, it was still obvious that they were foreigners, outlanders not from these parts.

"James, we've finally done it. We've discovered something big. I just know we have!" one said.

"Don't get your hopes too high up, Jonathan," the other warned cautiously. "You know the chances of discovering an untouched tomb are virtually nil, unless it's someone of little importance. It seems like we're the only archaeologists in the world who still believe this land," he gestured to their barren desert surroundings, "hides untouched treasures. They say, 'this is the twentieth century. Anything worth discovering would have already been discovered.'"

"Look at all the trouble they took into carving these steps. It's a pharaoh, James, I'm certain of it." Jonathan replied. "This is almost the exact same way Tutankhamen's tomb was found. Imagine, we are in the exact same position as Howard Carter was over 50 years ago…"

Chapter 1: Discovery

Yugi, Yami, Grandpa, and the others were back at home again, and Yugi was elated. School had started, but aside from some surprises, life was quite calm, and even facing the prospect of hours of homework didn't daunt the high spirits of Yugi and his friends. It was Saturday, almost six, and dark outside. Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Ryou were over in the Turtle Game Shop, where they usually hung out. Joey was busily devouring a slice of strawberry cheesecake, Tristan and Tea were engaged in a friendly game of Duel Monsters, and Ryou was halfheartedly watching TV. Yami and Yugi were watching their friends and talking to each other.

Not that anyone else could see Yami, but they knew that when Yugi got that vacant look in his mind, it was best not to disturb him. He got irritable when people barged in during his conversations with Yami, and for someone so short and usually sweet-tempered, Yugi could be quite astonishing in his wrath. Especially when their conversation happened to be on the subject of Yami's mysterious past.

"So have you heard from Serenity, Joey?" Tea asked. She wasn't concentrating on the game but their life points were tied, most likely due to the fact Tristan wasn't paying much attention either. They barely played, after all.

"Yeah, I just talked to her on the phone yesterday! She's doing fine, and plus, she told me that she might be coming here to visit. She's gonna be living with me!" Joey said excitedly.

"I'm so glad for you, Joey!" Yugi exclaimed. "That's great news!"

Tea nodded. "It'll be nice to have another girl around so we can go shopping together." At Tristan and Joey's look of disgust, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Boys." An idea occurred to her and she smiled, knowing the perfect way to get even with Joey. She tapped Ryou's shoulder and when he turned around, she motioned him closer and whispered something in his ear. Ryou answered back in a soft voice so that the others couldn't hear.

"Hey, no fair, don't help her, Ryou!" Tristan protested when Tea played her Magician of Faith with a trap card, wiping out Tristan's monster and drastically reducing his life points. He dragged Yugi over. "Or else I get Yugi to help me!"

"Aww, fine, be that way." Tea muttered. She sighed, and drew another card from her deck, staring dreamily off into space. Tristan took one look at her and knew she was imagining some sort of ballet dance. He grinned; he was going to press the advantage.

"Say, I'm glad we're back here and it's just like the old times, y' know? No more weird monsters running around, the world isn't in need of rescuing, and no maniacs tryin' ta kill people. No more arrogant CEOs thinking that they rule the world, either," Joey remarked as Tristan played two cards facedown. He smirked, obviously the most satisfied with his last observation.

It was dark outside, and Grandpa had just come out of the back room to close the shop when the little electronic doorbell rang shrilly, signally someone's entrance. Yugi was the only one who looked up as soft footsteps approached their little group. He found himself smiling uncertainly at none other than Seto Kaiba.

"Well, speak of the devil," Joey muttered as he finished the last crumb of his cake and looked up. "Lucky us." There was no way Kaiba could have missed the remark, or the sarcasm.

"Puppy dog, you should consider it an honor that you can be seen with me at all," Kaiba said with a smirk, unfazed by the reception he was getting.

"Why you arrogant—"

"Errr…hi Kaiba." Yugi said, elbowing Joey into silence. The others echoed him more slowly. "What are you doing here?"

Kaiba opened his mouth to answer, but Ryou interrupted from where he was on the couch.

"Great Scott! Quiet, everyone! Something really big is on the news!" Ryou said, voice unusually loud and commanding. He turned up the volume. They turned to watch the T.V. and sure enough, a special report was interrupting all the regular channels.

"No one ever expected such an unearthing over eighty years after the famous discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamen by Howard Carter on February 17, 1923. Tut, of course, became well known throughout the world, as much for the mystery surrounding his life in ancient Egypt as for that of his discoverers' deaths. Archaeologists say that they are amazed to find a completely undisturbed tomb that has been hidden until now. Now we'll join Terry at the evacuation site in El Minya, Egypt. Terry?"

The screen showed a reporter amid dozens of others, all pushing and shoving each other. It was live news, but because of the time differences the screen showed people in bright daylight. The cameras weren't showing much except for a bunch of yellow police tape and a lot of security personnel trying to put order to the teeming masses of reporters speaking in every possible language and from what seemed like every country in the world. The reporter had caught the interest of Yugi, Kaiba, and the others when she mentioned the mummified Egyptian boy-king, and Ryou was especially rapt since his father was an archaeologist.

"Thank you, Alice. Well, right now we are at the excavation site of the discovery. The main doors are still sealed, as the excavations have only begun, but close inspection has showed us that this tomb has indeed been undisturbed all this time. The discovery was made earlier today by Jonathan Stevens and his partner, James Bakura." The camera zoomed in to show a blonde haired man besides a dark haired man in a hat, both grinning happily.

"That's Dad!" Ryou yelled out in excitement. "Bloody hell, THAT'S MY DAD!" It seemed to break the spell of silence, because then everyone started talking at once, even the normally silent Kaiba. Nothing could be heard until Ryou yelled again for everyone to be quiet.

"Breaking news…yes, I repeat, an ancient Egyptian tomb has been found in the most extraordinary manner."

"They were digging for it. They found it. What's so extraordinary about that?" Joey said, evidently feeling that he was making a smart comment until several pairs of eyes glared him into silence.

"…and right here you can see the marvelously preserved doors, still sealed, that most likely will lead to the tomb or the treasure room." The screen was filled with the image of two massive twin doors illuminated by many flashlights. There were a lot of pictures, but the main ones seemed to focus on the Egyptian hieroglyphs were carved all over the doors, and the hieroglyphs near the center of the doors, with blank space around them emphasizing their importance. It was Yugi who first noticed the faint outline of a shape behind all the black hieroglyphs and recognized it for the Dark Magician even as the reporter remarked on the uncanny similarity the shape had to some Duel Monsters card.

The others were just as surprised at the outline, but then the screen showed the hieroglyphs on the doors on a blue computerized background, with the translation in English beneath the symbols. A feminine electronic voice read the translation out loud.

"Death shall slay on wings of light those who dare disturb the peace of the pharaoh." The words sent shivers up the spines of the avid listeners.

"A very similar inscription was found at the discovery of King Tut's tomb, but no pictures of the tablet bearing the words were ever taken and the tablet itself was lost, though the curse was common knowledge. Whether there is a curse or not, no one can say, but to date at least three dozen people related to the discovery of the young pharaoh's tomb have died in unexpected ways. Even so, Stevens and Bakura say they will certainly not stop the excavations and that they are confident they have little to fear from the famous 'curse of the pharaohs'."

The camera again zoomed to the doors, to the inscriptions that seemed to be repeated over and over. "Professor Donald Actwin, renowned professor of Egyptology, believes that these inscriptions actually spell out the name of the pharaoh who lies within. However, the name has not been deciphered yet, so the pharaoh remains nameless. We will keep you updated on any developments in that area." The screen showed a white haired man in his sixties, evidently Professor Actwin.

"Whoever he is, the pharaoh seems to have been highly respected during his reign, although some evidence may show that he did not rule for very long. In fact, from the pictures and hieroglyphs on the walls of this corridor, scholars have deduced that he may not have been much older that Tutankhamen himself, placing the unknown pharaoh's age at around sixteen to twenty four. However, further information is not known yet; we must wait for the doors to be opened first."

"And one last bit of information for now: whoever the pharaoh is, he is somehow connected to seven items, as showed here on this wall. These symbols appear repeatedly on the walls of the tomb and seem to be of a special significance. One is very similar to the Egyptian Eye of Horus and another is clearly a scale, perhaps symbolizing the scale that determines the fate of the soul. The Egyptians believed strongly in the Afterlife and that each man's heart would be weighed against the Feather of Truth. The other items, however, are still a mystery as to what they perhaps symbolize, and their significance."

For a few minutes the screen simply showed shots of the ongoing excavation from different angles and they watched, rapt, unable to quite believe that something like this would be on the news.

"For those of you unfamiliar with the knowledge, it has been suspected that King Tut had been murdered through a blow to his head that showed up on a CT scan. The young estimated age of this pharaoh may also lend support to the belief that he met an untimely death, perhaps fighting to retain control of his crown. We will return at 6:30 pm for an update on this marvelous find." The special news report ended, and Ryou pushed the mute button as the commercials came on.

"Wow, I can't believe someone has found a pharaoh's tomb!" Yugi exclaimed. "It must be at least forty years since the last pharaoh was discovered. So many people have been digging in Egypt since the fifteenth century and after King Tut, everyone had a sudden interest in discoveries."

"Egypt…" Kaiba mused, still standing by Yugi.

"How'd you know all this, Yugi?" asked Tristan, puzzled. "You're like an expert at this!"

"Everyone studies ancient Egypt for at least a year in world history. Besides, I've always been fascinated with Egypt." Yugi smiled to himself, sending his amusement to his yami through their link, but the room suddenly fell silent. Yugi looked up to see what he never thought he would see: his friends staring at Yami. Granted, they were looking at a somewhat transparent Yami, but one still clearly visible to them. Kaiba let out a surprised muttered curse and stepped away, amazed at the appearance of two Yugis when he had so vehemently denied the existence of Yami.

But all eyes returned to Yami when they heart a soft, choked sound seeming to have come from his direction.

-Yami?- Yugi asked, concerned. -Is something wrong?-

Yami didn't answer. He was very pale, and his face seemed wan and drawn in the light from the television screen. He slowly turned so that he was facing them and his back was to the T.V. His crimson eyes now seemed even more angular and exotic than ever, emphasized by his golden, tanned skin, and there was an unreadable expression on his shadowed face. His slenderness usually accented his strength, but now he only seemed fragile…almost vulnerable.

Yugi had never seen him like this. It was such an unusual expression that it heightened his alarm considerably and he tried to grab Yami's arm, forgetting that they could not touch.

Yami's eyes didn't meet any of their questioning ones, and he turned away so that his profile was thrown into shadow. There was such defeat and loneliness in his posture that Yugi almost cried out for his darker half and, in fact, did. But what had caused everyone to become silent and to turn to Yami was that in his usually defiant eyes, there was a naked look of helpless shock, fury, and panic.

-Yami! What's wrong? Please, Yami, tell me what's wrong!-

Again, Yami did not answer. Yugi tried to enter his yami's soul room, but only found the way blocked off and barricaded.

-Yami…please!- Yugi was near tears as the spirit of his puzzle continued to ignore him, shutting out everything and everyone. Yami was never so cold towards him, as if the walls of his soul room had truly sprung up between them. The others were staring at Yugi and Yami, since they couldn't hear the conversation that they knew must be taking place. But finally, Yami relented, or rather, his defenses seemed to crumble away.

Physically, Yugi ran to Yami as he felt his dark's confusion and pain suddenly flood across their link. Yami hugged Yugi even as he felt Yugi's shock when he guessed and half-discovered the truth.

"It's—it's your t-tomb…that's your b-body in there…" Yugi stammered, so surprised that his arms drew away from his yami. Moments later, however, he pulled Yami back into a tight embrace, feeling hot tears drop on his neck. He's crying, Yugi realized, but it didn't surprise him.

The implications ran quickly through his wondering and shocked mind, but his concern for Yami pushed them all to the back of his mind. -Oh, Yami.- he breathed. And his soft voice contained a world of sorrow.

o -

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