Fandom 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 || (𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒆𝒚𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆)

[Lilure]

𝙊𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨: 𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨
𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚: 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙮𝙯𝙮𝙜𝙮
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Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, Egyptian kings played a game of great and terrible power. They did battle with magic and monsters for riches and glory, for county and kingdom. From these Shadow Games erupted a war that threatened to destroy the world, until a brave and powerful Pharaoh locked the dark magic away, imprisoning it for all eternity within the mystical Millennium Items. But even eternity doesn't last forever...

Lightning flashed, followed by the growling of thunder. It was loud enough this time that Karina looked up from the yellow light spilling warmly across her desk and over to the raindrop-spattered window pane. Droplets of water rushed down in tiny waterfalls on the other side of the glass, edges of the flows highlighted just so by pale light from the streetlamps glowing below. Another white flash from the storm, but the resulting crashing in the clouds was quieter this time. Karina returned her attention to her desk, reaching over to adjust the illuminating lamp, and then tucking one leg up under her; finding a new comfy position was necessary after her focus breaking enough to realize she'd gotten tired of the old one. For a moment, one hand found the string of citrine encircling her ankle, fingers fiddling away at it. The other pressed against her lips and the lamplight illuminated her considering eyes. Across the surface of her desk, gold gleamed and glittered in the desk lamp's glow, lightning sparking off the metal edges with each roll of the storm.

It was never to happen. And for 5000 years, it never did. The secrets of the Millennium Puzzle remained safely beyond reach, within the imponderable conundrum of its intricate design. Though thousands of hands had sought the puzzle's completion, it never came to pass.

The girl's desk belied her interests. The far edge was lined with binders, handwritten letters stickered carefully to their spines--an assortment of colored statements, some in curling script, others in block, but all with what was coded language to the owner. "Warriors," "Spellcasters," and "Continuous Traps" were among some of the titles denoted to these numerous collections. Aside the binders there were books, the professionally-designed spines a contrast to the lovingly homemade ones. Here were volumes such as The Paper Labyrinth, How to Beat Anyone at Chess, Traps, Puzzles, and Dungeons, and The Everything Tabletop Games Book. Notebooks with pages sticking out, covered in rapid scribbles of excited notes capped the end of the media section. A small, fishbowl-shaped vase with a curling lace rim housed an assortment of pens, most of them colored or adorned with dangling charms. One set of pink, green, and yellow held images of the character Moomin. A table-sized easel had a sketchbook propped against it, open to pages of furry, rotund creatures scribbled in various colors of Copic markers. Two sets of glasses were folded underneath the wooden frame, one crystal clear and the other pink-tinted tortoiseshell. Half a deck of cards sat patiently on one side of the desk; the other half was strewn about, some of the cards placed in sequence with others, remnants of the owner's deck building session from earlier in the evening.

But the items that held Karina's attention on that stormy night were the pieces of the old puzzle Grandpa had given to her eight years ago. They'd come in a gold inlaid box, covered with symbols--hieroglyphics--that she couldn't read. Grandpa told her once what the box said, a sort of poem about the puzzle inside, and an invitation by it to try and solve this 'unsolvable puzzle'. Perhaps unsolvable wasn't too far of a stretch. Karina had been working on this puzzle since she'd gotten it, and had made very little progress at all. Not even Grandpa had been able to put the whole thing together before he passed it on to her. And yet, even with those very real hurdles, Karina still worked on it in the evenings at least three times a week. Behind her, in the dresser that didn't store clothes, there was one drawer dedicated to similar puzzles as this one. Boxes, pagodas, rings; the assortment was vast, and Karina had solved them all. That was the only difference between the ones behind her and the shimmering pieces currently in her hand. There was no reason to think she wouldn't solve this one too. It was just taking a tiny bit longer. Karina smiled to herself, testing out two pieces against each other. They clinked slightly as they always did when she went about see if there was a fit, but then something unusual happened, eliciting a gasp aloud from the girl. The two shards in her hand had just clicked together.

It was never to happen. And for 5000 years, it never did. But though the desert does its best to conceal that which should remain buried, it eventually yields its most ancient and terrible secrets.

She'd actually scored a link? How? When? This had never happened before and Karina could only stare dumbfounded at the newly connected pieces. Suddenly her heart was hammering in her chest, the urge to shout rising in her throat. It was a wonder she didn't launch herself out of her chair right then and there to run down the hall and show Grandpa what she'd just done, but the second she considered it, her eyes darting from piece to piece as she inhaled a thrilled gasp, a new realization was forming in her mind. Somehow, out of nowhere, she could see it. Her hand darted out for another piece, knocking others aside in her haste and almost sending her target skittering away across the desk. The leg that had been tucked under her found its way back to the floor, the balls of her feet pressing into the wood as she leaned forward. With the new piece in her hand, she gave it a test and sure enough, it fit. Another click. Then the process began to fly by. After all this time, her mind presented her with a blueprint, each subsequent addition to the growing structure in her hands causing the next piece in question to present itself in the forefront of her head. Piece by piece, click by click. Each time she guessed that one piece might fit with the ones she had, and each time, she was still delighted when her prediction actually came to pass. After eight years, she was finally getting a glimpse of what the final form of this thing looked like. It was a pyramid, and Karina suppressed a laugh. How appropriate.

And then, she had what was actually an upside-down pyramid, with one gaping hole in the center. On her desk remained one final piece. Karina sucked air in through her teeth. Her heart was beating so fast it even caused her hand to shake. She steadied her fingers and picked up the last piece and slid it into place. It clicked against the others. The moment it did, Karina swore she saw a vibration of light shine through the lines where the pieces joined. With a blink, it was over, and Karina laughed out loud again, tilting the completed puzzle in her hand. Actually, now that she was looking at it, it was kind of... dull? There weren't any patterns, besides a stylized Eye of Horus. What had made this thing so hard in the first place? The shape of it maybe? But... now it was done. It was actually done! After eight years... then without a second thought, she did shoot out of her chair. "Grandpa!" she yelled, realizing she might be startling him, screeching about like this, but not even caring. He wouldn't care either once he saw what was up. "Grandpa!" Karina clutched the puzzle in one hand, tearing the door open and throwing herself into the hall, feet thumping in thrilled footfalls against the floor. "You're never going to believe it!"

In her empty room, the shadows between the eaves in the walls and the corners of her bed shuttered with life. Flickering, they snaked forward, seeking the light of the desk lamp like moths to flames. As they slithered by, light in their wake disappeared into the inky black tendrils, consumed by the darkness there. But as the reaching fingers clawed their way up the desk, swirling ever closer to the lamp and the deck of cards that occupied the space, a figure appeared, and snuffed out the shadows with one wave of a hand. As they and the ethereal form dissipated, a breath of a whisper, a woman's voice, could be heard under the thunder. "Begone from this place."

It was never to happen. But after 5000 years, it did. And with it, the Shadow Games begin again....