Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Daughter of the Nile ❯ Hidden Name ( Chapter 1 )

(Meira: Lol… this story is written in a character's POV… but I'm not going to give you guys her name. She's going to be given a nickname, so her name is lost in this story… until the right moment. Hehe… *evil grin*

Don't worry about these retarded names… they all have an Arabian origin, since I couldn't find any Egyptian names…

And this is my first FanFic on the life in ancient Egypt… so please don't kill me if I get any facts wrong…

Some Téa bashing in here. Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.)

"Princess Shadow!" a voice called. I turned at the sound of my temporary name. My friend, Lila was running up to me, waving her hand.

"Hey!" I called, waving.

"What's up?" she asked, noticing that I was `dressed up.'

"In case you're forgetting," I said. "Tomorrow's my fourteenth birthday."

"Oh, right," she smirked. "The Princess is finally one step closer to her eighteenth birthday…"

"Shut up," I snapped. She merely laughed.

You must be wondering why she's calling me `Princess.' Well, I'm the village leader's daughter. His only daughter. I had three brothers, all of them older than me. My eldest brother, Imad, was his successor…

But I'd never thought of Imad as a good brother, let alone a village leader. He'd always been self centered, not caring much for anyone but himself. How could he ever make a good village leader?

As for being Princess `Shadow,' I had a reason for this too. I can thank the predecessors of my village for that.

According to the laws written by the former leaders of my village, the Village Leader's daughter had a certain duty. This duty would be one of the toughest quests of my life. It was the same for all of the Village Leaders' daughters. Being an only daughter… it was harder for me than it was for most people.

This `obligation' is actually quite strange… quite difficult compared to the other things that I had to do as the village leader's daughter. Stuff like… learning how to cook efficiently, reading, learning manners, sewing…

But for some strange reason… I'd always had an interest in using swords and daggers. It was quite nice, actually, being able to do something better than my brothers. Well… something that wasn't girly. Oh… and magic too. I loved to use magic to `conquer' the evil demons and stuff. Of course… that stuff was all imaginary… but it was fun just to pretend anyway.

Being almost fourteen and already having a huge sense of responsibility upon me, I was more `mature' than most of my friends. But… my father would say that I was still immature and still acting like I was twelve. But seriously… who wants to grow up that fast?

Oh yeah… the… erm… `obligation' or `duty' or `path of the Princess' as my father would call it, was fairly difficult.

At birth, every `Princess' in our village would be given a name… chosen by the `gods.' But, the `Princess's' name would be hidden… and nobody would know her true name. Apparently, the `Princess' would have to seek out her true name, and then she would qualify to leave the village and travel as she pleased. It was a freedom that any `Princess' in our village longed for all her life. But, she was given a nickname at birth, and that would be used until she found her real name. And she only had until her eighteenth birthday… talk about a short amount of time to search. And not being able to leave the village… Well… let's just say it's impossible.

My `name's' Shadow. I think I have the blander name… my aunt's `names' were Majida, Nabila, and Raja. And to think… if those were they're `temporary' names, what would be their chosen names?

But it had been centuries since the last `Princess' found her true name. I'd always thought that it was stupid. I mean, how would the `Princess' know that it was her `true' name? I mean, it was stupid. Any person could pick out a random name and use it for herself, and pretend it was her name. what was the point of all this? But according to legend… the `Princess' would know when this was her true name.

Most of my ancestors (the `Princesses') had not uncovered their names. They had been stuck in this village for their entire lives, bound by tradition.

But hey… I'm a modern… erm… `Princess,' so do I really have to abide by customs and laws? Well… according to the ancient scriptures… I do. Man… what was the point of all this?

"Hello?" Lila asked, waving her hand in front of my face. "Is Shadow in there?" I snapped to attention.

"Sorry," I answered sheepishly. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"It's okay," she said, smiling. "It's only… oh… four years until the initiation ceremony?"

Oh yeah… the initiation ceremony is on the `Princess's' eighteenth birthday. She needs to have her chosen name on that day… and supposedly the gods will shine light upon her, and she is free to leave the village. Well… if she finds her name earlier… she can have the initiation ceremony earlier. But they're only allowed one initiation ceremony, as to not anger the gods. Talk about shortening your chances…

"Don't remind me," I replied, grimacing. Lila laughed.

"Thank Ra I don't have to go through this," she said.

"Lucky you," I mumbled.

"Yup," she answered. I looked out toward the direction of the palace, where Pharaoh Akunumkanon ruled with his six faithful priests and with the power of the legendary Millennium Items.

Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to live in that palace. Not as royalty, but just as a simple peasant. How would it be to not be treated like royalty, for once in my life? How would it be to be live away from laws, to be free?

"Oh yeah," I said, turning to her. "What'd you come here for?"

"There's a notice in Al WÄsiÅ£ah," she said. "The Pharaoh is coming to town."

"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. "You mean Pharaoh Akunumkanon?"

"Yeah," she replied. "And Prince Atem. I heard that he's pretty cute…"

"Of course," I said sarcastically. "That's also why he's engaged to Princess Téa…"

"Isn't she… like…" Lila began.

"Snotty, snobbish, selfish, and totally bitchy?" I asked. "From what I've heard, yeah."

"Apparently, she's coming too," Lila said, smiling slightly. I groaned.

"Great… the future queen of Egypt is coming. And this person just happens to be one of the worst people that I've ever heard of," I said, bowing my head down. "How am I going to survive through this?"

"You could hide," she said, smirking now.

"Great…" I said. "Father will surely notice that I'm not there…"

"Another reason that I don't want to be a Princess," she said, nearly laughing.

"When are they coming?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Tomorrow," she replied, bemused.

(Meira: Short, crappy chapter. Boring too. I mean, really boring and really crappy. This is just an intro chapter… but this is going to be revolving around life in ancient Egypt. Hopefully you guys aren't bored out of your mind by now… I know I probably would be… but that's because I don't have much patience.

Yami: *rereads chapter* This is boring… I am the Prince in this chapter, right?

Meira: Duh. That's why I put down `Prince Atem.'

Yami: Oh…

Meira: Oh yeah… does anyone have the deck list for the Soul of the Pharaoh?

Yami: YOU WANT MY SOUL??? YOU'RE ACTING JUST LIKE PEGASUS!

Meira: Calm down… no, I don't-

Yami: AND JUST LIKE DARTZ, VARON, AMELDA, AND RAPHAEL!

Meira: C'mon… I do not-

Yami: WHAT EXACTLY IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?

Meira: *towering over Yami* IT'S A BOOSTER PACK!

Yami: Oh… -.-`

Meira: Please ignore Yami… so… Please read and review! Should I write more? If not… I'll take off this… history story. I think this story is going to be ShadowXAtem and ShadowXSeto. Oh yeah… should I call the priestess Isis or Aishisu? And the High Priest Seto or Set/Seth? And should I call the princess Téa or Anzu? It's kind of strange to be calling the High Priest and Priestess by their Japanese names… but which person names their children after the gods? As for Téa… I don't remember her Egyptian name… but I remember that Anzu and Jonouchi were both in Egypt. Jonouchi was a stable boy and Anzu was Atem's sister and arranged bride. *shudders* Scary thought… isn't it? So… I'd like to know what would be more appropriate. Following the real names, or going by the Japanese forms. Review with your answers please!

No DBQs for this chapter. But I guess that the name question would count as a question… just not as a DBQ. [That's what my Social Studies teacher calls Daily Board Questions…]

Maybe… okay. To answer this question, you might have to do some research, considering you don't read the info I give you after the chapter. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to… this is just for some of those people who want to. [Remembering a certain person here…] Oh yeah… and from now on… all DBQs will be related to Egypt somehow. Just to put a little bit more information into your brains! ^-^

In ancient Egypt… it was near impossible to fight an emesh and survive. Since an emesh is weak compared to today's weapons, it was near impossible back then. If you were in ancient Egypt, and you found yourself facing an emesh, what would you do? Would you fight? Or would you run for it as fast as you could? [No, I don't know what the average speed on land or in water is.] Some people today choose to devote their lives to studying emeshes. Would you, in spite of all the dangers that come with it, study them too?

For those of you who don't know what an emesh is, it's an Egyptian term. It means crocodile. Hehe… I hope you learned another word of another language today!

Mua ha ha! I'm so evil to you guys… ^-^)