Heya! :D I've got through my crazy week, and I've actually managed to find some time to write this! (Okay, so I gave up sleep. Who needs that anyway? xD)
The pairing for round 6 of the YGO contest is Xenoshipping- Rishid x Ishizu Ishtar- we're treading dangerously close to the incest barrier here! This story is born out of too many late nights and reading too much Angela Carter and Alice Sebold. They've messed with my mind… As you will probably be able to tell after reading this fic! ;D
Pairing(s): Xenoshipping, implied Ripshipping (TKBakura x Ishizu) and very slight Ruseshipping (Rishid x Malik)
Warnings: AU, violence, a lot of crime scene facts taken from watching re-runs of 'Sherlock', and Ishizu being a bit of a 'femme fatale'.
Enjoy! :)
Newsflash! Newsflash!
Delinquents in Hoodies, or Criminal Masterminds?
'The Ghouls', as they have been dubbed, have struck again! After months of mysterious and remarkable thefts that have left the police mystified, this gang of thieves have succeeded in stealing an extremely valuable piece of artwork from the mansion of American billionaire, Pegasus J. Crawford. Mr Crawford was unavailable for comment, but a source close to the man reveals that he is 'highly unsettled' by the incident. Reportedly, the artwork that was stolen was actually a miniature drawing- supposedly a highly rare image of a certain pagan god (specifics are not yet known). But the real question is how are the Ghouls, and their mysterious leader, stealing such heavily guarded items? How is it possible that they leave no traces behind them? And, most importantly, what are the police doing to protect us from this terrifying and sinister gang?
Has Domino been abandoned by its supposedly trustworthy police department? We can only wait and see if they have any success in finding the anonymous leader.
(More on page 3)
"Did you see this?" Honda threw the paper down on the desk in disgust. "They're making us out to be completely incompetent!"
A junior lieutenant- the youngest on their team, who had been promoted fast because of his impressive credentials- shrugged and slumped in an exhausted heap over his coffee cup. "They're tabloids, Honda," he murmured, sleepily. "Don't take any of that trash to heart."
Honda snorted. "It still makes me angry though."
"Mhhhmpf," was all he received in reply.
Honda looked at the younger boy in amusement. "Lieutenant Yuugi? Am I disturbing you?"
Yuugi looked up at him blearily, his brightly coloured hair sticking up in all directions. "What? Oh, sorry. I was just up all night-" here he yawned widely- "at the scene of that damn robbery. Those stupid Ghouls will be the death of me." His voice was slightly muffled as he buried his head in his arms again.
Honda glanced at him in sympathy as he started to sift through the piles of paperwork that had accumulated on his desk. "So you didn't find anything?"
Yuugi groaned into his coffee. "Not one measly fingerprint. Nothing at all."
"It just doesn't make sense!" Honda said, glaring at the discarded magazine. "How are they doing it?"
"If I knew that then I wouldn't be sat here falling asleep at my desk now, would I?" Yuugi replied, testily.
Honda fell silent; if the situation was enough to make Yuugi snap at him in anger, then it must be bad. They had been chasing this gang of thieves for two months now and every week without fail there would be a new robbery for the media to pounce on- gleeful at the continued humiliation of Domino's police department. They'd broken into Domino Museum, jewellery stores, the bank and (most astonishingly) KaibaCorp itself, stealing the plans for the new gaming system that Kaiba had reportedly been planning on releasing the following year. And the most incredible thing was that there was never a trace of them left behind. No footage on the dozens of high tech security cameras, no triggered alarms, no sirens as they broke through the electronic lock systems.
The police were stumped. For, as the tabloids were so quick to point out, how were they supposed to find a gang (they only knew it was a gang because they sometimes struck two places at the same time) when they had absolutely nothing to go on?
It was infuriating. Honda gazed around the office; he could see people moving around the building through the window in his door, and he felt his ears burn as he caught a glimpse of a couple of temps chatting over the coffee machine, who kept on glancing at his office and giggling amongst themselves. He couldn't walk through the building without a load of lower police officers whispering to each other about The Case, and how badly he was failing at solving it; Yuugi was getting the same treatment.
The other man who was heading up the investigative team was the only one who still had the respect of his colleagues. Detective Inspector Rishid. People were probably too afraid to gossip behind his back; you never knew how he might react, Honda had heard all sorts of sinister rumours about the man. Of course, they were probably completely unfounded, but he was definitely an imposing figure.
He was brilliant, there was no denying it. He was ruthless in his treatment of criminals but managed to be gentle when dealing with panicking witnesses or hysterical family members. Strangely enough, he would only speak when absolutely necessary- preferring to spend the rest of his life quiet and solid, a silent bodyguard with no one to protect. And he'd always managed to solve his cases within a week or two, even when dealing with the infamous Thief King (Rishid was still proud of catching that one. He never showed much emotion, but you could tell by the way the corners of his mouth twitched into a half smile whenever it was mentioned).
Apart from The Case.
Honda thought that it must be driving him crazy.
Speak of the devil, Honda thought to himself wryly, as the door to their office creaked open and Rishid strode in, studying a file that he held in his hand. He was tall, even taller than Honda, and he towered over the tiny Yuugi. He was bald, although Honda could remember when he first started that Rishid had worn his dark hair in a ponytail. He'd apparently gotten rid of it after it kept getting in his way. But the most striking feature was the tattoo that spread down one side of his face- strange symbols and shapes that had seemingly been carved into his tanned flesh.
Honda (and the rest of the team) could only speculate about this, as Rishid had never chosen to elaborate on it, other than a silent glare whenever it was timidly mentioned by a new officer.
"Anything?" Yuugi looked up, hopefully. Rishid shook his head and tossed the file down.
Honda was about to swear rather coarsely when a timid looking temp appeared at the doorway. "DI Rishid?" she faltered, peering round the slightly ajar door.
He turned to her and she seemed rather transfixed by his piercing eyes- Honda felt slightly sorry for the poor girl, who had obviously never met him and was probably reliving the worst of the rumours in her head right now.
"Th-there was a call for you, sir," she continued. "A woman."
Honda was about to tune out (turning reluctantly back to his paperwork) when she added, shyly, "It's about the Ghouls case."
Honda's head snapped up and he dimly heard Yuugi knock over his coffee cup behind him. Rishid gazed at the girl, his eyes burning even fiercer. The girl cowered beneath his stare, stammering out a: "Sir?"
Honda decided to intervene on her behalf, quickly interjecting with a charming smile and the words, "DI Rishid doesn't like speaking, Miss. He hardly ever talks to anyone- if I didn't know better I'd say he was mute."
Yuugi winced slightly at Honda's lack of tact but it clearly didn't bother Rishid at all and he merely glared impatiently at Honda, who winked at him and asked the girl. "He wants to know if you managed to trace this call and what she said."
The girl shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, but they weren't able to trace the call- it was over too quickly, and the caller withheld their number. But," she said, her face brightening at the prospect of giving the three some good news at last. "She did leave a message for you, Detective. She said to meet her at the docks tomorrow night at eleven. She'll be watching, and if you're not alone then she won't meet with you. Apparently she has valuable information."
Honda met Rishid's gaze with a concerned expression; this didn't sound right. Yuugi, after ushering the temp out of their office, turned to the other pair and sighed. "This isn't good, guys. I don't like the sound of this mystery meeting."
Honda chewed on his lip. "Especially the way she wants you to go alone, Rishid. This has got to be a trap."
Rishid frowned and shrugged. "Not much choice."
Honda slammed his hand down on the desk in frustration, causing Yuugi to jump in alarm. "Damnit, Rishid! You can't actually be thinking of going- it's far too dangerous!"
Rishid's mouth had set into a stubborn line. "I'll be armed."
"But you're the best DI we've got!" Yuugi pleaded, twisting his hands together nervously- too worried to be surprised at the phenomenon that was the Detective actually using his voice. "The Ghouls know that when they've got you we don't stand a chance at catching them!"
Rishid shook his head again, and turned back to his desk. Honda and Yuugi looked at each other despairingly, and as a last hope Yuugi murmured, "At least let us come with you. We'll stay away from the meeting, in the car. If we hear gunshots we'll come running."
There was a long pause before Rishid nodded curtly. As Honda watched him leave the office his heart sank, and he turned to Yuugi (now eying the puddle of cold coffee spreading across his desk with growing despair) and muttered, "There's something really wrong about this. And if it's the woman from last time then we may as well just give ourselves up now."
Yuugi looked up in surprise. "What woman?"
Honda hesitated. "Nothing," he said, slowly. "It won't be her. She's history."
Yuugi's expression remained confused but he decided not to press the subject, and left the room to find a towel.
As Honda went back to his paperwork he couldn't get rid of the nagging voice in the back of his mind that insisted repeating that one word, that name he couldn't forget:
Ishizu.
x-x-x-x-x-x
"Will you help him? He feels so alone, Rishid. I- I can't say or do anything…" The dark haired girl breaks into tears, and the boy (he can't be much older than her) puts a comforting arm around her and whispers one word into her hair; "Yes."
And she presses her lips to his with her burning blue eyes still open, and kisses him as tears run down her cheeks and the sun sets in the desert.
x-x-x-x-x-x
Rishid stood at the quayside staring out at the black waters. The waves played out a comforting lullaby, their steady rhythm relaxing him and calming his mind. It was a clear night and Rishid would be able to see the tiny blinking stars if he so chose to look. But as it was he didn't move, wouldn't move, from his solitary post- the silent bodyguard on the fringes of this foreign town so far from his home.
And suddenly it wasn't a matter of didn't or wouldn't. He couldn't move.
Because he could feel the cold steel of the muzzle of a gun being pressed into the skin below his ear.
Despite himself and despite his police instincts desperate to kick into self defence overdrive, he couldn't quell the stirrings of excitement that he felt in his chest.
Outplayed. And there was only one person who could out play Rishid.
"Rishid, darling, it's been too long."
The woman. "Ishizu."
"Brusque as ever, I see," she laughed, Rishid could well imagine the way her blue eyes would be dancing. "No hello? No welcoming smile? Not even-" here she leaned in tantalisingly close and breathed on his neck- "A kiss?"
Rishid shivered in spite of himself. "Ishizu," he tried again, and his voice cracked from lack of use.
He felt her move the gun around his neck as she walked round to face him, until the gun was resting against his throat and he could see her. She didn't look any different from the last time he'd seen her (it hadn't been that long ago, he told himself); her dark hair was still twisted up behind her head, and she still held the same pistol- the last time they'd met she'd held it to Rishid's head in much the same way. She dressed in black so as to blend into the darkness, and her uniform (if you could call it that) of a tight t shirt, combat trousers, boots certainly befitted what she did.
(Rishid had told her once that she looked good in white. She hadn't replied, but he would swear that it was the only time he had ever seen her blush.)
And her eyes. Her eyes were the same. A deep cerulean blue- dancing and vivacious, they captured anyone foolhardy enough to gaze into their depths and refused to let them go. Ageless, timeless. Beautiful.
People could fall in love with her eyes alone.
"Rishid," she teased again. (That seductive purr of a voice. That was the same too.) "All jokes aside. It's good to see you."
Rishid heard the slight inflection in her voice, something that no one else in the world would have picked up on, and his heart swelled to know that for once she was telling the truth.
"I suppose you want to know why I am here?" Ishizu continued, voice low, eyes dancing.
Rishid nodded his head slightly, ignoring the cocked gun from years of practice.
"My brother," she said, suddenly businesslike. (That Rishid had not missed. Though the 'mood swings gene' so typical to her family had passed her by, she could turn the charm on and off like a light bulb). "He's in trouble."
Rishid wanted to say, "He's always in trouble," but he had an inkling that would not go down well. Now was not a good time to display his rare sense of humour.
"The Ghouls," she said, her eyes now burning as well as dancing. "You know they are his work."
Rishid nodded. Of course he had. He'd known from the beginning. The Case virtually had 'Malik Ishtar' written all over it.
"He doesn't realise what he is dealing with," her voice had dropped to an urgent whisper, and for the first time Rishid detected a flicker of fear in her voice. "He is meddling with powers beyond his control."
"The powers that you were so tempted by?" Rishid held her fiery gaze, coolly.
"I think that's the longest sentence I've ever heard you speak," she hissed back immediately. "And it could be the one that causes your death."
She squeezed the trigger and pressed it so hard into Rishid's throat that he was forced to take a step back. "I was tempted, yes," she said, her voice trembling oh-so-slightly. "But this is completely different."
Rishid couldn't help but notice that she did not explain how.
"And?"
Ishizu glared at him, her eyes suddenly of both fire and ice. "Keep the police from finding him. I'll give you leads to the rest of the gang, I'll help you succeed. But don't let them find my brother. Otherwise you're on your own, and, well-" she smirked, "You're not doing a brilliant job of that now, are you?"
Rishid just stared at her. There was no point in speaking. She knew that she could throw the pistol down and leave herself bare, and he would still bow to her will like a tree in the wind. He knew that; she knew that. It was how they had always been.
Ishizu traced a nail gently across the scars in his face. "I remember how you were scarred," she whispered, her voice suddenly soft. "It may not seem like it, but I remember. And I was grateful. You scarred yourself for my brother- so he wouldn't feel quite so alone."
Her hand travelled down the side of his face and she curled her fingers tightly around a fistful of Rishid's shirt. "You were willing to help him then. Would you do the same now, I wonder?"
"I never did any of it for him, Ishizu. You know that." Rishid said deliberately, still captivated by her blue burning eyes.
She smiled. "I know. You did it because I asked." Her voice had dropped to a whisper and Rishid wondered if that was because if she spoke any louder her voice would break into weeping. "And now I ask you once more. Will you help him? Will you stop them from taking my brother?"
Rishid could only answer the same way he had all those years ago: "Yes."
Ishizu said nothing, only leaned up and kissed him to the sound of the black waves crashing against the shore.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The next time Ishizu sees him he won't allow her to touch him. Because his face is bloody and torn and scarred, and he hates that he has sacrificed himself for her and the fact that he loves her so much.
She doesn't protest when he pushes her away. Just turns quietly, and walks out of the door to his tiny, ramshackle house in that tiny, isolated village and doesn't look back.
Rishid never really forgives her for that.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It was all over the front page, the journalists having grabbed at the news greedily almost as soon as it had happened. Honda, exhausted, dirty and furious, could have sworn they had reached the scene before the police had.
(He'd been really tempted to take one of those goddamned flashing cameras and show them where they could shove their stupid tabloids, but Yuugi had pointed out that that would not have been the most tactful thing to do.)
Wearily, he ran a hand through his matted hair. The scene was the kind of organised chaos that you so often came across in this sort of situation; people running here and there with hidden desperation to find a job so that they could distract themselves from the feeling of death that still lingered in the place. The entire area had been cordoned off with vivid yellow and black plastic rope, police cars were dotted around with sirens still flashing wildly, and everywhere there were people talking and hurrying and trying not to panic.
The fire department had just finished, as the burning building had taken a good three hours to extinguish, and the smoke still clung to everyone's clothes; it seemed to hang in the air around the massive black shell that had once been someone's home.
The crime scene team had arrived about an hour ago- their leader, despite being a good friend of Honda's, had not been too happy that Honda's team had been first on the scene. Honda could tell that Jou (along with every other officer in Domino) was getting pretty annoyed at their continued failure.
"Cigarette?" Jou had just appeared at his side, clutching a box with grimy fingers and grinning wryly with a soot stained face.
Honda chuckled. "You've got some nerve lighting up at the scene of an arson crime," he commented. "You look a mess."
Jou snorted and flicked his lighter into life. "So do you. And why shouldn't I have a smoke if it calms my nerves? God, did you see the body?" he fingered the cigarette uneasily. "I've seen some bad stuff, but that one will haunt my nightmares for weeks."
Honda flinched at the memory, and glanced furtively back to where the paramedics were covering up a mutilated body in a white sheet. The victim had been a foreign man in (according to speculation) his early forties. What was so terrible was that the murderer hadn't just left him alone in a burning building tied to the banister so that he couldn't escape- no, the worst part was what had happened before the man had died.
"Did you see his chest?" Jou whispered, shuddering. "Those words engraved into it? Poor bastard. Whatever psychopath did this, he must have literally carved it into his skin with a blunt butcher's knife!"
Honda nodded. "It's sick," he said, frankly. "We're dealing with a complete maniac, Jou. And the worst part is that we're no closer to finding him!"
Jou shot him a sympathetic look. "Nothing yet?"
Honda kicked at a charred piece of wood. "Nothing. We only know that this was the Ghouls at all because they did us the courtesy of actually signing the gatepost!" He gestured bitterly to said post, which had several investigators crowded round it, on which was carved simply the word: 'Ghoul'.
"You'll get them, mate. And I hope you get them soon," Jou said, seriously, before stubbing out his cigarette and striding back to his team.
"So do I," whispered Honda to himself. Turning resignedly to return to Yuugi and the investigative team, he didn't notice Rishid pause next to the stretcher on which the corpse had been placed and cover his face in what was either grief or disgust.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The next he hears is that Malik has disobeyed the village elders and his tyrannical father and run away, speeding across the desert in the stolen jeep that had been abandoned by tourists on the outskirts of their village.
He knows that Ishizu waits outside his house every night for him to offer his help. He can feel her burning eyes.
He never goes to her.
Rishid never really forgives himself for that.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rishid watched her across the empty office; Honda and Yuugi were still at the crime scene, and he was relieved. He didn't want anyone else seeing her like this.
With her skin unusually pale and dark glasses hiding her eyes, Ishizu seemed much more vulnerable than she normally did. It didn't mean that she wasn't prepared to strike- Rishid had learned from experience that even at her weakest moments Ishizu Ishtar was a damn sight stronger than everyone else around her.
"I didn't know," she said, her voice shaking. "I didn't know he would do anything like that…"
Rishid stayed quiet and she pressed her hand to her mouth before continuing. "Malik wouldn't kill. Not my brother. He's not a murderer, Rishid!"
Rishid turned away for a second so that he couldn't see her face. "It wasn't just murder. He tortured the man, Ishizu."
There was a long pause. "And he had no right to?"
Swallowing, Rishid turned back to the woman behind him. She had removed her dark glasses, and although there were tear tracks visible on her face her eyes still burned with cold fury.
"My brother had every right to gain revenge on him," she spat, her voice gaining in pitch. "What Malik did to that man was only paying him back in kind! How dare you say something like that Rishid- you know better than anyone what Malik was forced to endure by the elders-"
"This is murder, Ishizu! I can't put the police off someone who killed another human being!" Rishid couldn't remember the last time he interrupted someone. He knew that he had never raised his voice to her, either.
She glared at him and Rishid felt a chill of fear that he knew her enemies must feel so often.
"My father was no human being. He was a demon, Rishid. He tortured Malik- tortured him, because those psychopaths, the village elders, wanted him to be some kind of child sacrifice to the pagan gods! He fully deserved what he got." She clenched her fist around the hilt of the dagger that she always kept tucked into her belt. "If Malik hadn't done it, I would've," she finished, quietly.
Rishid shook his head. "No. No, you wouldn't have."
Ishizu glared at him and spat at his feet before leaving the office, tearing down an 'Information Wanted' poster about the Ghouls on her way out. Rishid listened to the click of her heels fade away and wished that he could, just for once, lie to her.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rishid doesn't see Ishizu for a long time after he leaves Egypt, although he comes across her (of course). She's one of the most infamous art and museum artefact thieves on the international crime scene after all, and, he often hears her name mentioned. Rishid remembers well his greatest success- catching Bakura, the 'Thief King' as he called himself- who, when he was being escorted to the cell, grinned slowly at Rishid and said: "You caught me- but I wasn't really the one you wanted to catch, was I?"
And Rishid knows that Ishizu was involved (of course, he should have seen it before) and can tell by the triumphant smirk on Bakura's face and his snide "She's so beautiful, isn't she?" that this Thief too has shared her love and her bed.
That is the only time in his entire career that Rishid punches anyone (criminal or colleague) full in the face.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rishid hadn't seen Malik Ishtar in years, not since they had both escaped their home village, and so he didn't immediately recognise the young man sitting on the other side of the interrogation desk. The Malik he had known had been a wide eyed child, fascinated by the world, vivacious and lively. The boy before him now had sunken, empty eyes. He wore a pair of ragged jeans and a tank top that had been stained with smoke and what looked like blood, and the cheekbones in his once chubby face had become much more prominent, giving him a gaunt expression.
Rishid couldn't help his surprise. "Malik?"
The boy looked up. "Rishid?" he croaked, the wildness in his eyes dissipating for a single second. "Is it really you?"
Rishid nodded; he could only nod in the face of this mad, terrible transformation. "What…?"
"What happened to me?" Malik laughed bitterly. "I went mad, Rishid. The freedom that we dreamed of together all those years ago- it drove me mad."
Rishid glanced over his shoulder and shooed the other officer away to give them some privacy. "I don't understand, Malik. You always wanted to be free."
Malik twitched, and Rishid noticed with concern the way he was frantically tearing at the hem of his top- a nervous habit, he assumed. "I couldn't escape them, Rishid," he said, his voice breaking into a sob. "They haunted me- every time I looked in the mirror I saw them, I saw what they had done to me!" He gripped the table so hard that his fingers turned white, and Rishid slipped his hand to his gun holster out of instinct. "My back, Rishid. They carved their message into it- it will never be gone, I will never be able to live with it there!"
Rishid, fighting his instincts madly, slipped his hand across the table to cover Malik's clenched fist. "But how could you do it, Malik? How could you kill your own father?"
Malik raised a tear stained face to meet Rishid's gaze (this was horrific, he had only ever seen Malik cry once) and, trembling, whispered, "I couldn't fight it anymore. I heard he was in Domino and I lost control, I-I-"
Malik bowed his head and started to cry in earnest. Rishid couldn't help himself- he was still the child's friend, after all, even if everything else had changed- and moved around the desk to hold him in a half hug; Malik clung to him in desperation as if Rishid were his last hope.
"But you gave yourself in," Rishid said in a wondering tone.
Malik became still in his arms. "Yes. I'm losing myself, Rishid, and I don't know what to. But if I can't live in freedom then whatever monster is taking over my mind won't either. It was the only part of myself I haven't lost. My pride. Please, Rishid. Don't make me lose everything. Help me."
Rishid closed his eyes. He knew what was necessary.
What he should do was signal for the officer to return and they would take Malik Ishtar's statement. He would be imprisoned and The Case would be forgotten as the paparazzi moved onto the next big story.
And despite knowing that this would destroy his career, despite the fact that he was losing a friend forever, despite the fact that everything he had once lived for was crying, insane, in his arms- he couldn't help but wonder if Ishizu would ever forgive him for what he was about to do.
He squeezed Malik into one final embrace and pressed his lips to his sandy blond hair. Then he pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang through the cell; Malik Ishtar sighed, fell forward onto Rishid's shoulder, and a red flower blossomed at his heart. Rishid held him gently and his heart twisted as he glimpsed the peace in Malik's eyes, before they became glassy in death.
Malik was free.
And Rishid knew that he would never see Ishizu again.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rishid never tells Ishizu about the night Malik had come to him (just a child, only a child) with a serious expression and a packed bag. He is running away, he says, but he needs Rishid to promise him something.
Rishid thinks that it is help with starting the jeep or deciding where to go. No, Malik shakes his head, I just need you to swear on your life that if I ever begin to lose myself to the darkness in my mind- don't look at me like that Rishid, we can both see it waiting- then you will destroy me. I need you to promise me that, Rishid. When I ask you to help me- that will be the signal. Please, Rishid.
Rishid silently prays that it will never come to this, but he promises his best friend this one thing and knows in his heart that it one day will come to pass.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Newsflash! Newsflash!
Criminal mastermind behind the Ghouls dead!
Malik Ishtar, infamous for being the erstwhile anonymous leader of the Ghouls, has died. According to police sources he shot himself while being interrogated. The Detective in charge of the case refused to comment, only saying that, "He may not have deserved this, but it was what he wanted. Everyone who cared about him should know that."
A cryptic message indeed- perhaps directed at someone in particular? We'll have to wait and see as this incredible case unfolds! Remember, this is the one place to receive regular updates and all the latest news-
(On the plane taking her to Australia Ishizu tore the article out of the trashy paper, tucked it into her pocket, and smiled.)
Hmm. I hate that ending so much. Buuut the plain fact is that I just didn't have time to write anymore, and if I don't like what I've written then c'est la vie and I'll just have to get over my self confidence issues! On the plus side I did get to write Ishizu being an art thief! That was fun! ;D
If you have any questions (I left the backstory purposefully vague) then feel free to ask in a review! Bear in mind that this was an AU, so I did change quite a few things eg. The Ishtars were not raised underground, but in a secluded village where the elders were a sort of cult that worshipped the AE gods.
Well, thanks for reading! :D
Bookworm