Moonlight Warrior of Egypt: Chapter 1

Grand adventures usually begin on quite ordinary days. At least, that's always been the case for the Sailor Scouts, teenage champions of love and justice.

At the shrine, the six Scouts sat around the low table, talking, studying, and all that other regular teenager stuff. Serena, a blonde with her hair rolled in buns with flowing ponytails, snatched another brownie from the center of the table before the tall brunette Lita could stop her. Lita simply shook her head and rolled her chocolate eyes at Serena's behavior. Raye was about to snap at Serena, but the other blonde Mina gave the raven-haired priestess a warning glare. Amy had her blue eyes absorbed in reading a textbook, and Amber began asking Lita about the recipe for the brownies she'd made for that day.

Amber was the odd one out of the group, but not simply because she was American while the others were Japanese. Her long, curly red-brown hair fell halfway down her back, and her caramel brown eyes seemed to hold both keen intelligence and completely insane ideas. Not only that, but unlike the others, she had not faced Queen Beryl or the Negamoon family. She did not even join the Scouts until little pink-haired Rini became her friend and discovered that Amber and the mysterious Sailor Universe were the same person. Before then, she kept to herself, but now Amber and the rest of the Scouts were close friends.

Serena finished munching the brownie and looked over at Amy. "Amy, why are you still studying?" she asked.

Lita leaned over the book Amy was taking notes from. "Yea, we're not even studying ancient Egypt in class for several weeks."

"I know, but I want to be at least six chapters ahead, which I am," Amy replied matter-of-factly.

Serena sighed. "Typical Amy, always ahead of the game."

"There are some good things about being ahead and taking notes. For one thing, you always know what's going on," Mina replied.

"Not to mention Ancient Egypt is such a fascinating subject," Amber replied.

Everyone turned and looked at her, except Amy. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, I've always been into ancient Egypt stuff, with its ancient hieroglyphics, towering pyramids, beautifully fashioned amulets, well-preserved mummies…" Amber sighed and stared off into space, chin in her hands. "It's all so amazing."

"I read in my history book at school that the ancient Egyptians had priests and priestesses, just like the Shinto," Raye remembered.

"And they believed in a life after death, just like my religion," Amber replied.

"Speaking of Egypt, we've got trouble there," Artemis said, shocked. Everyone stopped talking, and Amy and Amber checked their computers.

"Do you have an exact location of where it's coming from?" Raye asked.

"Let me look." Amy gasped. "It's coming from the Valley of the Kings!"

"Do you think it's coming from one of the unfound tombs?" Amber asked.

"We're not sure, but we have to find out," Luna replied.

"Alright then, let's go!" Serena said excitedly.

"But using our teleport power could be risky," Lita said.

"Then... how can we get there?" Mina wondered, tapping her chin.

"Actually, my father, who's an artist, is going to Egypt soon, and in his last letter to me he asked if I'd like to go with him, and he said I could bring as many friends as I want to," Amy replied.

"Then let's go!" A voice called out from behind Serena. Everyone jumped in surprise, and Serena turned around to see Rini standing behind her.

"Rini! When did you get here?" Serena asked the girl with bunny-shaped hair buns angrily.

"Several minutes ago. I was here long enough to hear your whole conversation about Egypt. So, are we going?" Rini asked.

"Could you call your dad and tell him that we'd like to go with him?" Lita asked.

"Sure! But, you guys have to get permission too," Amy commented.

"You do have a point," Amber replied.

"Alright! Let's get permission and get ready to go!" Mina exclaimed.

"YEA!!!" Everyone joined in.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to ask right now," Serena said.

"Me, too," Mina said in response.

"I don't have to get permission like the rest of you, but I'm leaving to go get ready," Lita replied.

"See you later!" Raye said. "I'm going to ask my grandpa."

With that, everyone grabbed their backpacks and left.

*~*~Meanwhile, at Yugi's house in a separate part of Tokyo~*~*

"What? Oh, well, at least I tried," Serenity moaned. The caramel-haired girl had just finished a table-top duel with Tea and had lost. "After all, I'm not that good at dueling yet."

"It's okay, sis," Joey said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "With practice, you'll get better."

"Thanks Joey. Maybe I'll be as good as you someday!" Serenity said.

"Yea, then nobody will mess with the Wheeler duo!" Joey and Serenity hi-fived.

"Even though you didn't win, you played really well," Yugi replied, leaning back against the couch where he sat on the floor. "Both of you used really good strategies."

"At least Serenity's loss wasn't anything like when I dueled Joey," Tea replied, smirking and flipping back her short brown hair.

"Hey, that was before I knew I needed magic and trap cards as well as monsters!" Joey exclaimed.

"I remember that day," Tristan responded, relaxing on the couch. "She totally wasted you with a really good magic card."

Serenity stared wide-eyed at Tea. "You beat my big brother?"

"Yep," Tea replied.

"Well, at least I know my brother was like me once," Serenity said, smiling.

"Um, yea… he he…" The usually fiery blonde Joey put his hand behind his head in embarrassment, and a big sweat-drop appeared on his head.

Everyone else laughed nervously as Yugi's grandpa entered the room. "Hi Grandpa!" Yugi called out.

"Hello Mr. Moto," Tristan said, sitting up.

"Hello, everyone," Yugi's grandpa replied with a smile. "I have some exciting news that you all might be interested in."

"What is it?" Yugi asked.

"Rebecca Hawkin's grandpa just phoned, and he asked if I would like to go with him to an archeological dig in Egypt. He's leaving next week, and he said you could all come with, if you would like to."

"I'm all for it! How about you guys?" Yugi asked his friends.

"Yea, let's go!" Joey exclaimed. Everyone else answered in a similar fashion.

"Alright, I'll call him back and tell him it's an affirmative," Yugi's grandpa replied, leaving the room.

"Wait, Grandpa! Is Rebecca coming, too?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know, but I'll ask," Yugi's grandpa shouted down the hall. With that, the conversation turned from Serenity's and Tea's duel to Egypt, what it would be like there, and how exciting it would be.

"Hey Yug! Maybe we'll find more stuff about the Pharaoh and things linked to the Puzzle while we're there," Joey suggested.

"I'm hoping personally to find the Pharaoh's tomb while we're in Egypt," Yugi replied, fingering the Puzzle and looking it over.

"His tomb? How come?" Tea asked curiously.

"I have my reasons," Yugi replied with a smile, and no one bothered to ask further.

*~*~Next week at the airport ~*~*

Amy, Serena, and the others waited for Amy's dad to arrive. Even though he lived far away, he said he was driving to the airport and would meet them there.

Serena yawned and looked at her watch. "It's 6 o'clock in the morning. I never wake up this early on a weekend." She yawned again. "I'm so tired." She sat on the bench next to their luggage.

"Just be patient, Serena. You can always sleep on the plane," Amber replied. "Be grateful you got permission – that was hard to get out of my parents."

"I don't know how much more of Serena's whining I can handle," Raye replied, annoyed.

"Me neither," Rini retorted. A big sweat drop appeared on both of their heads.  "By the way, Amber, where are Amberlee and Cloe?" Rini asked.

"Huh?" Amber perked up at the mention of her doll guardians. "Oh, they agreed to letting me put them in my suitcase."

Amy was looking up and down the street in front of the airport, the most anxious of all of them for him to show up. Will he be the same? Will he still care for me as his daughter? Other such questions filled her head. Memories of her childhood came to her mind of her playful father tossing her in the air and playing pretend doctor with her. She paced back and forth over and over, then suddenly stopped. "There he is!" she exclaimed, pointing at a taxi approaching. The others ran to join her.

The taxi pulled up to the front of the airport where Amy and her friends were at, and a tall man with black hair got out. Amy, unable to contain her excitement, ran to him and gave him a great big hug. At first the others just stood there gaping, since hugging was something normally Amy didn't do and wasn't comfortable with, but then, starting with Amber, they joined Amy and her dad.

"Oh, Dad, it's so good to see you!" Amy exclaimed joyfully, still embracing her dad around his thick chest. Her dad stood there in shock at first, but eventually returned the hug.

"I'm glad to see you too, sweetie," he replied. He hugged her tighter, tears filling his eyes. After a while, Amy pulled away from her dad, smiling.

"Dad, these are my friends, Serena, Raye, Lita, Mina, Rini, and Amber," Amy said. Each girl bowed, in Japanese tradition, when their name was mentioned.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mina replied.

"Same here," Lita replied. The others replied in a similar manner.

"After hearing so much about you, I'm glad to finally meet you in person," Amber responded.

"The pleasure is all mine," Amy's dad replied. "Now who's ready for an adventure?"

"I am!" everyone chorused in unison, Amber and Rini the loudest.

"Great! Now let's get going and not make the plane wait for us." He picked up his bags and walked over to where everyone else's luggage was.

Amy giggled. "Oh, Daddy." He's still that same old tease, and for that I'm glad. At least he hasn't changed too much, Amy thought. Everyone got their luggage and headed for the plane. Serena got a bit too excited and tripped.

"Milady, are you alright?" Amber asked, catching Serena before she fell.

"I'm fine. Amber, you slipped," Serena reminded Amber.

"Oh yeah… he he." Amber put her hand behind her head and a big sweat-drop appeared. Yeah, calling Serena 'milady' is a bad habit, she thought. Amber, with slightly red cheeks, and Serena, straightening her skirt, joined the others.

*~*~In another part of the airport~*~*

"Where are Joey and Serenity? They're taking forever!" Tristan exclaimed in annoyance. He paced back and forth impatiently.

"Oh, be patient! Not everyone is punctual," Tea retorted, looking up from the book she was reading.

"After all, Joey does like his sleep," Yugi commented, batting his blonde bangs out of his eyes. Just then a sleepy-eyed Joey and a bright-eyed Serenity walked up to Yugi and the gang .

"Hey guys! Sorry it took us so long, but it took almost a full hour to wake this zombie up," Serenity said jokingly, jerking her thumb back at Joey. He was slowly dragging his luggage just behind Serenity and yawned loudly.

"I'm not used to waking up this early," Joey explained.

"I am. Sometimes I wake up early because I'm really excited and can't sleep, like for an upcoming duel or tournament," Yugi replied.

"Yes, and sometimes he gets me up too when he stays up organizing his deck and such," Yugi's grandpa responded, chuckling.

"Grandpa…" Yugi murmured as a sweat drop appeared.

"There they are!" Tea shouted. She happened to look up from her book and saw the limousine approaching that Rebecca's grandpa was in. The limo pulled up to the front of the airport, and two people stepped out.

"Hi everyone!" Rebecca called out, waving. She ran to Yugi and the gang carrying a small bag, her blonde ponytails flying to each side of her head. Her grandpa took the suitcases and another carry-on bag out of the limo, exchanged a few words with the driver, and walked up to where everyone else was as the limo drove away. "Oh, Yugi, I missed you so much!" she squealed, tackling Yugi to the ground. "I think about you every single day!"

"Uh, yeah, great... can you get off me now?" Yugi gasped. "Can't...breathe..."

"Oh no," Tea muttered, smacking her forehead.

"Rebecca, would you please get off of little Yugi?" her grandpa asked politely.

Rebecca perked her head up. "Yes, Grandpa!" she replied like an angel, bounding up off the panting Yugi.

"How are you all?" Rebecca's grandpa asked the teenagers.

"We're fine, thanks," Tristan replied. Yugi slowly stood and brushed himself off. "Well, maybe not Yugi, but-" Yugi cut him off by punching his arm lightly.

"It's good to see you again," Yugi's grandpa replied, putting his hand on Rebecca's grandpa's shoulder.

"The same here. Now who here is ready for an adventure?" Rebecca's grandpa asked the group.

"I am!" Rebecca and the others chorused in unison.

"Alright, then, let's get the luggage and head for the plane before it takes off without us," he replied, handing one of the suitcases to Rebecca.

"Oh, Grandpa, that's not going to happen," Rebecca replied, giggling.

"You can never be too sure about that, my little granddaughter," her grandpa chuckled. With that, everyone got their luggage and started off.