Waiting in Sands

One-shot

Warnings: Some spoilers. Random sarcasm. Slight religious references not meant to offend, forgive me if they do. Maybe some cursing- it's early, I'm tired, and I finished this a week ago. Lemme alone.

Disclaimer: I do not own, you do not sue. Or the whole thing starting with "Kay-fuzz not own" and ending with "Kay-fuzz not a company. Kay-fuzz sad." And any other little quotes that end up in here are also not my doing. If they are quotes, they will be in quotes, high-lighted, and some kind of disclaimer here or at the end. M'kay? M'kay.

Re-cap: Atemu had to move onto the afterlife- finally- and Yugi volunteered to put him there. Not as harsh as that sounds- but that's basically what happened. So yell at Takahashi if you don't like it.

Pre-chapter Notes: To avoid confusion, Bakura refers to Ryou's father, m'kay? As we all know, Ryou refers to the hikari, Bakura to the yami (usually). However, as only Ryou ends up being mentioned, not the yami, Bakura shall strictly refer to Ryou's father, who's first name I'm not too sure about... never really bothered to look it up, either... eh heh heh...?

Oh, and forgive me for any religious references. I mean absolutely NO insult, harm, injury, predjudice, or... what-not, to anyone anywhere. Any and all religious references are done as part of examples, or the theories or meanings behind them are used somewhere else in whatever I am currently writing.

...or I decided to be sarcastic...

Song: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Especially the AMV… think I've already done this, I don't bloody well care. Meh.

Link: Re, was looking through my old links from my website to my friend's- and I can't believe she made this.
(http: www. geocities. com/ noordinarysocks/ index. html)
Especially the random run-on sentence… oi. Tiz funny, though. She was a 'bit' of a LofR freak, though- still is, actually….

"In a world where what you want is only what you want until it's what you've got."

-Not sure if this is the exact line, but something like this from... er... I completely forget the song. If anyone knows, could you tell me, please and thank you. Just something I heard on the radio not too long ago.

Waves crashed upon the sandy shore, effecitvely blocking out the sound of sea-birds and sea gulls and their racous noise.

However, where this starts off is nowhere near the ocean or sea- in fact, the only substantial source of the life-giving water is a widely famous river some distance away, the name of said river having been mentioned in many places, from the Bible to movies.

And no, it's not the Jordan River. Since when was the Jordan River featured continuously in movies that don't suround Jesus Christ's life?

But we're not going to talk about the Nile River, either. A valley, a maze of cliffs, rising up from the sandy ground, blessed with the golden color of Re who so imperiously still shines down upon the land, even though many had forsaken his name and forgotten the old ways. Within, there lay a hidden temple, glorious and beautiful in it's time, now nothing more than ruin. Admittedly, it was not in ruin until a day or so ago, having been well preserved for it's five thousand years of existance, hidden in the cliff-face. But back to the point, said temple was now in total ruin, with nothing to mark it as the temple that it had been. Yup, lots and lots of ruin.

Complete with a giantic hole in the floor.

The Hidden Temple of Kuru Eruna had been, thousands of years previous to the most recent intrusion, built as a final resting, and yet sacrifical place, into which was placed the legends and stories of the Era that had swept Egypt by storm so long ago- and nearly destoryed it. Built to be the House of Shadows, doomed to exist eternally until the Shadows were locked away- permenantly.

However, the obstacle of this locking was that the Shadow's Masters must be locked away, and were for a few thousand years- but not in the way needed, and thus their souls continued to roam the earth- well, 'roam' wasn't the best way to put it, as said souls were stuck inside golden items of power.

BUT, everyone who has read up to this point without clicking the 'back' button knows what I'm talking about, and if you don't, why are you reading this? Regardless, I'll just skip ahead to the important parts.

Said souls were now where they belonged- in the Afterlife. And the way the world is progressing, with the exception of the soul's hikaris, they might very well be the last ones to ever enter the eternal, peaceful rest, punctuated by parties where drunken netters acted decidedly not like how they should.

So if the Temple has served it's purpose, why am I talking about it?

Although the seven golden items of power that were not, in actual fact, exactly 'golden', were said to be destroyed, they had merely fallen down a hole. Actually, they had fallen down the gigantic hole in the floor I mentioned about 6 paragraphs up. Some twist of the Fates and Gods, upon deciding that they had not yet finished playing with the lives of those chosen to be the eternal representations of darkness and light, caused the Sennen Items to merely fall, not become destroyed, nor incased within the foreboding Realm of Shadows forever.

And it was this that served to start the newest chapter of the story.

The destruction of the Temple had drawn the attention of all nearby- the animals and creatures that existed in harmony with the land instinctively knew what the rumbling and giant dust-cloud meant, and celebrated the best way they knew how- roaring, shrieking, cawing, gibbering, hissing, and whatever other sounds desert animals make.

Those creatures, however, that do not live in harmony with the land, aka humans, upon feeling the rumble, seeing the dust, and consequentially hearing and seeing the animal's reactions, were scared out of their wits- and, humans being human, archaeologists being archaeologists, they decided to let their curiosity get the better of them and investigate.

Thus these humans found themselves standing at the bottom edge of a cliff, that... wasn't really much of a cliff. Having been in semi-good condition when the protagonists of our story left, headed back for Japan, a few hours easily changed the fundamental structure of the cliff as more and more debris fell (was, in actuality, sucked down) into the hole that the Items had fallen into, easily weakening it to it's breaking... er, collapsing point.

"Wha... what happened here?" One of the eldest archaeologists eyed the rubble, mouth wide enough to catch a crocodile, let alone a fly. Junior archaeologists gathered around, surprised beyond imagining. One of them, who was actually not much younger than the Senior archaeologist, bent down and picked up a small piece of stone, with some hieroglyphics carved into it, the paint having long dried and mostly worn away.

"Bakura? What do you have there?" Senior asked as he peered over the other's shoulder.

Takano Bakura stared at the inscriptions on the piece of rubble, barely big enough to fit in his hands. Many of the hieroglyphs were ones that Senior had never seen before, but the definitely frightened look on the other's face was enough to inform Senior that Bakura knew something about this.

"Bakura? What is it?"

The other finally came out of his daze, and motioned to a central symbol, from which beams seemed to be protruding. Senior frowned. "That's not Re."

"No, it wouldn't be." Was the strangled reply, as Bakura reached out and grabbed another piece that had more of the same on it. Upon finding that they didn't fit together, he set out to grab any piece that writing, symbols, hieroglyphs, anything on it. The other juniors- and Senior as well- began to sift through the rubble, which, they found, quickly turned out to be mainly the carved stone. Thus, their pile soon turned into a number of piles, while Senior and Bakura grabbed one or two of the other Juniors (who were all actually all in-training archaeologists, out for field study) and organized them into sorting if not fitting together the pieces.

A few pieces of the rubble, some huge, some no bigger than a pebble, caught Bakura's eye, and he grabbed them, placing them gently into a separate little pile, off to the side.

When the group was sure that they had found something important, everyone took a break and quickly set up camp, Senior calling into the University to say that their students would not be returning at the scheduled time, and that they would be staying out to do more 'field work'. The University was annoyed, but did not complain, merely stated that they would be sending someone from the office of Antiquities over to help sort everything out.

Senior did not like that- nearly everyone he had ever met at the Board of Antiquities had always treated him poorly, looked down on him.

Bakura felt like the person coming, whoever it was, would be a God-send. Or, at least a Re-send.

The group continued to work, only one taking any time to prepare a meal- which, mind you, ended up being a pretty big meal, enough to feed everyone there. The tents were pitched, fires were lighted, and lamps were brought out, everything set up to Senior's exact instructions. A space near the site was saved for another tent- whoever would be coming to them would certainly want to have a place to sleep, right?

Just before midnight, most called it a night- it was cold, they were tired, and something about the ruins and rubble practically screamed, "SLEEP!"

Accordingly, most did.

Bakura, however, remained awake. Many pieces of the stone quickly came together in his hands, the ones he had so instinctively chosen falling into place with little work. He eyed the first piece he had found, refusing to touch it- not until he knew where it went. Not until he was sure, one hundred percent, where it was to fit in the puzzle he now held in his hands.

Piece after piece, stone after stone, hieroglyph and symbol, color and shades, each meeting easily, expertly under his quick care and guidance. All too quickly it seemed most of the pieces had found a home, laid out on a tarp he had spread out in his tent over his sleeping bag. He planned to do no such petty thing as sleep this night. As though a demon possessed him, he placed, continuously, the outer pieces together, forming the border, which quickly revealed that what he now had in front of him was separated, a diagram onto itself.

And he hated what it showed.

He hated the images carved, the few hieroglyphs that rimmed the edges, the even fewer cracks- this tablet had come together almost like a modern-day jigsaw puzzle would- and it scared, frightened, and angered him.

His eyes found the first piece again, and lifted it carefully, eyeing where it fit. Slowly placing it down into it's place, he gasped as the stone almost seemed to meld together- although what he had placed inside moments before- the First piece- was certainly not the center piece, it acted very much like a keystone, though he suspected that any piece that was inserted as the final one would be the key piece.

He glared at the tablet, then quickly grabbed his small satchel that he always kept with him and opened it roughly, thrusting his hand in to grab something that looked strangely like a pretty, actual gold box that everyone's favorite puzzle came in- only this box wasn't gold. He unlocked it, opened it as the hinges squeaked and groaned in protest, rummaging through it to find his son's not-quite latest letter to him, a photograph, and a news paper clipping.

Hello, Otou-san

How are you? How are your digs going? And, once again, not that I wasn't grateful for That Present, but it would- again- be very kind of you to not send me anymore strange, golden items you picked up in an Egyptian Bazaar, especially if they end up being possible collector's Items. Besides the usual, though, I'm doing fine. I'm still third in the class, and before you ask, no, the school has still not sent out Report Cards yet. I'll be sure to send mine to you whenever it arrives.

You may not have heard, but a while ago I met up with some friends. I hadn't seen them for a while, for one reason or another, and we had a lot to catch up on. I might be travelling to Egypt in the near future with them, but don't take my word on it- I'm not too sure about it myself. I've included a picture of them, of us, together, and I hope that you'll get to meet them one day!

I've also included a clipping of the Battle City tournament that Kaiba held not too long ago. Can you believe that Yugi came in first! Another new friend, Malik Ishtar, came in second, though I didn't have a lot of time to talk to him, and I wasn't able to get a picture of him. Kaiba came in third, and Jou came in fourth. I can't believe how well everyone did!

And going back to hoping that you get to meet them, everyone in some way, shape or form are all really interested in Egypt, too! Especially Ancient Egypt, and Malik's sister, Isis Ishtar, is not only the Head of the Egyptian Board of Antiquities, but she's also the curator of the Cairo Museum, and of the Egyptian Exhibit currently in Domino. She and Malik are of Egyptian decent, and grew up with the old traditions. I'm sure that you would find conversation with Isis at least to be nothing short of interesting.

I hope you have an excellent time in Egypt, and I hope you come home really, really soon!

Ja matta, Otou-san!

Your son,

Ryou

Of course, Bakura looked over the letter a number of times before doing anything. He again took in what appeared to a small splotch of blood on the sheet of paper he had written on, the constant change from elegant, timely script to something of a more rushed penmanship, and the state of the paper, slightly ripped on the left, a few wrinkles, and what looked suspiciously like blood and a drink.

Taking out the newspaper clipping, he stared at the face the small picture showed, and the little bit about the young Yuugi-ou, with the amazingly strange hair. He scanned the information, taking in the mini-biography, information about the Game Master, and the list of tournaments and other accomplishments in his life. Although he couldn't help but be impressed (he helped the army! How!), he also worried, and it was the last bit of info- specifically, image- that made him so worried.

Last was the photograph of a number of people standing around a game shop (he noticed with some surprise that it was called the 'Kame' Game Shop), a row in front, a row in back, and each was holding something. The tall brown-haired in the back who looked like he would rather be anywhere than where he was, a glare on his face (aimed at the camera), held up a card-shaped locket, the blonde teen beside him what looked like four Duel Monsters game cards- specifically the Insect Queen, Ginzo, Flame Swordsman, and Blue Flame Swordsman, the dark brown, pointy-haired teen beside him was holding what might very well have been a gun or a wrench, but as he had decided it seemed to do bunny ears on the blonde, it was hard to see what he was holding.

The third teen's other hand was hidden behind another blonde's back, but this certain blonde was a female, her hair long and wavy, eyes sharp, bright, and defined. In her hand was a Duel Monsters card as well, this one of a Cyber Harpy Lady. This blonde's other hand rested on the shoulder of another female, a long, brown-haired girl that looked younger than most in the picture. One hand was behind her back, obviously nervous, while the other held what looked like bandages and- again- a DM card: Saint Joan. There was some similar between her and the male blonde- probably siblings.

Slightly crouched down below her (though he still stood taller than the brown-haired female) was a black-haired teen with a black triangle tattoo raking down from one eye, a dice earring in one of his ears. One hand appeared to be around the brown-haired girl's shoulder, and his other hand was raised, making a victory sign- and a dice was wedged between the tips of his two fingers.

Back on the left side of the photo, a younger, black-haired teen, messy hair included, looked probably one of the youngest of them all. He held up a small, circular object with a star and number on it that was faintly recognizable as a Capsule Monsters Chess playing piece. To his left (further to the right in the photo) was another teen, who's brown hair fell in gentle lines to her shoulders, bangs slightly cascading over her eyes. Two cards were held in her hands: the Magician of Faith and Fire Sorcerer. To her left stood another teen who looked quite young, slightly slouched over. Hair arched up in spikes, and it was a good thing he was as short as he was, otherwise those behind him would have been lost in the mass of black and violet waves, while goldenrod spikes framed his cherubic face, amethyst eyes glimmering in happiness. In his hands rested a golden, upside-down pyramid, as well as seven Duel Monsters cards between his left and right hands- studying the photo a bit closer, the names were revealed as Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Retrained (1) Celtic Guardian, Kuriboh, Obelisk the Tormentor, Winged Dragon of Re, and Slifer the Sky Dragon. Beside the spiked-haired teen was his own son, Ryou, a faint line around his neck showing where something hung underneath his shirt by a brown, woven cord.

Recognizing spiky as the same teen in the newspaper clipping, Bakura looked it over again. "Yugi Mouto, hm?" He then turned back to the new diorama he had somehow managed to put together- and counted to nearly one thousand trying to calm his nerves.

Within those one thousand seconds, though, many realizations passed through his mind, each followed by a slightly-muffled expletive emerging from his mouth to resound within the tent, echoing Bakura's breathing.

Gods knew he was an idiot, and this just proved it.

Taking out another object from his satchel- a notebook, not half-way filled, he flipped it open while dragging out all the letters from his son and that which came with those letters- photos, messages, cards, report cards, small gifts and tokens... everything that his son had ever sent him, given him, since Bakura's wife and daughter- Ryou's mother and younger sister- died was spread unceremoniously upon the tarp, stone diagram, sleeping bag, and everywhere else he could place the objects.

Grabbing a pen from his satchel, he read over the words written on the very first page.

"To get closer to your son, and understand what might be going on with him, I give you this notebook. Anything that might strike you as strange about his behavior is to be written down between these pages to go over when we next meet. Dates and what happened during that time are to be recorded as well.

Dr. Anne McKilnuk"

After the first three incidents with people turning up in comas around his son, Bakura had taken Ryou to a shrink. A day after the first appointment (which didn't go so well) the doctor- Anne McKilnuk- had sent his this notebook.

He wrote in it once, and gave up.

They never went back after that first meeting.

But now Bakura put the book to good use! Good, yes, good! Good, I say, because by the time he was finished all his notes (well, actually by the time he collapsed around 4 in the morning from exhaustion all over his work) it was over half-way full.

Senior looked in on the sleeping archeaologist about an hour later, just before he was going to get the juniors up to start the dig again. He saw the pieces of stone underneath all the objects (and Bakura) and frowned at that, but let the man be. The stone wasn't coming to any harm, and based on the way the man had just started to encounter one of the deepest level of sleep, he had not been unconcious all that long.

Senior left, moving onto the other tents and kicking the occupants into action. Although Bakura had not been an entirely big help yesterday, he had certainly helped sort out the pieces- with one less worker, there was more for the others to do- and was the one who started this whole dig. He deserved some rest, while the Juniors had to work for it.

Besides, the other archeaologist would probably be out for another few hours or so.

And, with his luck, if he was awoken any earlier, some BIG damage might be done to the artifacts they might uncover.

Bakura, actually, woke up not too long after sunrise, as the 'strangely' open tent door happened to let in both sun and sound. Grabbing his notebook, pen, and the picture his son had sent him (that the stupid authoress went into so much detail describing), he headed out the door... flap and started roaming around the Juniors, asking questions about what they knew about the different people in the photograph.

Many exclaimed that he had a real picture of Yuugi-ou, Seto Kaiba and Otogi Ryuuji! And all in one picture! Some were actually able to recognize Jounouchi and Mai, and a few even went on to point out Ryou- "Didn't he place Eight in Battle City?"

This little tidbit of info was surprising to Bakura, and he quickly wrote it down. When questioned about it, he quickly responded with his explanation- "It relates to something," and his own questions about Yuugi-ou, and, strangely enough his own son. No one, of course, thought anything of it (well, not too much) until Senior came down and asked Bakura why he was asking people about his own son.

This tidbit caught the whole camp's attention, and, to get them back to work, Bakura told them all that if they would start again, he would work as well and talk to them as they moved the useless cliff rubble away from the important- although still mostly unknown- temple rubble.

Senior saw a massive improvement in production.

Senior also saw that Bakura was fighting desperately not to collapse on the spot.

Senior decided that it would be a good idea to tell Bakura to take a break, as the eldest archaeologist took over for the not-so-old.

Senior decided it was not good for his back after a few minutes and kicked Bakura in the rear to get him back working.

The Juniors began to work- again- quite willingly, and soon they had nearly everything they could get their hands on without any heavy equipment in piles, much of it already organized- though, much, in this case at least, meant less than half. So talk stopped as they began studying the pieces of 'rubble' carefully, placing them in the correct piles. Bakura happened to see a couple pieces more that he was sure he would like to put together, and began grabbing them from the seemingly 'organized' piles- that weren't all that organized at all.

Taking another tarp (as he was afraid to move his own for fear the mosaic he already put together), he laid it out under a small work-station that had been set up, three others working on their own jigsaw puzzles along with him. Senior, wondering what they were doing, already trying to put things together, wandered over- and stopped when he saw the pieces in Bakura hands. He easily recognized them as similar to the ones that the only other senior archaeologist in the group had grabbed yesterday, and set about checking up on his companion teacher as he worked- every five minutes, actually.

"This goes here... and this here... this piece should go here, but there's a piece missing... ah! There it is... and, er... oh, Brian! Can you please pass me that piece on the edge of your pile!"

Brian, a Junior from America that was completing his course in the Cairo University, stood up with the piece in hand and passed it over to Bakura, careful to not step on his own partially completed image, nor the elder's. He blinked, seeing the precision with which the elder placed pieces into place, and shook his head, wondering if he would ever be that quick or good at puzzles like this.

The other two joined him, admiring the skilled hands that seemed to know where a piece was to go before said piece was even touched, or it's space discovered, before sitting down and working diligently, others coming over to dump pieces into the three's piles.

No one placed any new pieces in Bakura's- the man was on a roll, and no one wanted to bother him with accidently putting something into his pile that would mess up his flow.

Finally, the mosiac the elder was working on was almost complete, the pieces- again- seeming to seal themselves into place. He leaned back on his haunches, grabbed his water canteen, and took a long swig, wipping sweat from his brow. He glanced down again at the semi-finished carving, and barely suppressed a groan. Very similar to the first- almost annoyingly so.

Brian, however, noticed his movements and face; Senior did as well. Both proceeded over to him (though Brian got there substantially quicker) and looked down on his work.

"You're almost finished? Wow... do you think some of your pieces are in my pile?"

Senior laughed. "He would have already taken them, my boy. They might still be in those piles over there."

Bakura looked down on the semi-finished piece again. With a few changes, the two images he had in his temporary possession would be the same- add in a few people in this one, make certain areas stand out more... But what caught his attention on this mural (again, separated from the rest by the border that surrounded it, a section onto itself) was the way that the bottom part in one area was missing, the way the holes remained made it seem like a hole... like, actually, some stairs...

He stood up, startling the two standing by him. "I'm going to take a quick walk around the site." He explained, grabbing his hat and satchel and walking back over to the edge of the cliff. Senior and Brian looked at his retreating back, before shrugging and going back to their own tasks.

Bakura wound his way through the mounds of rubble, the Juniors having already been through the entire area and having already taken everything that might possibly be important, or even not-so-important. He continued through the mess until he came to where the edge of the cliff face would be, based on the line created on either side by the amount of cliff still remaining. He traced fingers through the rubble, until he saw something that caught his eye. A dark area, a pit he decided, poked out from under the end of some of the rubble.

Bakura frowned- surely the Juniors would have already searched down in that pit?- and began to shift the pieces of rubble with his weight. It wasn't that hard- they seemed relatively light- and they began moving slowly, but surely. He continued working, grunting and puffing, until he had cleared away enough rubble to be able to fit into the pit. He didn't know how far down it dropped, nor how we would light his path (if there was one). However, taking his cue from the tablet he had recently pieced together, he sat down on the edge, legs hanging into the pit, and slowly slid himself in, turning around as he lowered himself so that he was eventually being held up by only his fingers.

Scrunching his eyes shut and wishing and praying for the best, he let go- and fell a good two inches onto an even surface. Bakura blinked, looking around in surprise- the hole was barely above his head, not even a foot, and easy enough to get out of with all the rubble around his feet that he could use to pile up and build some steps.

Staring down at the darkest side of the hole he was, and deciding he wanted to check it out, Bakura pulled a flashlight out from his satchel, turning it on and aiming the beam at the wall. The wall, however, turned out to be the beginning on a downward-sloping tunnel, steep enough to have stairs carved into it. Taking one last breath of the fresh air, Bakura proceeded further into the tunnel, expecting to find stale air that hadn't been moved in centuries.

In fact, the air felt fresher than any he had ever felt, and, although almost oppressively still, cool enough to provide something like a wind against his face. Walls carved into a slightly arched ceiling, faint outlines of bricks through the dust catching the light, Bakura realized that this tunnel was built with more care, more time and expertise than most ruins in the area. The walls and rooms had not been hollowed out from stone and smoothed down to a proper flatness, as per they usually were in tombs and buildings, but stone had been cut, carefully and distinctly, and laid one on the other, forming solid, strong walls.

Stopping, he pressed his hand against the wall, picking at the edge of one of the bricks. Flaky plaster and chunks of an older version of cement fell into his open palm, flashlight aimed at both wall and hand. This place, this tunnel had been built with extreme care, built to last for eternity if it had to.

So why did it collapse?

He sighed, shaking his head. He already had an idea about that... now, where did this tunnel lead? He continued following it, feeling time almost still as he walked on. The further he proceeded into the tunnel, away from the exit, the more time seemed to still, never continue, become... unimportant. Food and water were mere inconveniences- he put away thoughts of hunger and thirst for whenever he turned back and returned to the camp.

The amounts of rubble, dust, cobwebs and dirt that he found as he continued alternated between huge piles that nearly blocked his path and nearly non-existent: at one point, he found a stretch of tunnel that could easily be used as a hospital emergency room for how clean it was. As the path continued, there were a number of twists and turns that made it seem like he was walking backwards- but it still continued, always downwards, and, if there ever an end to the tunnel, he would find it- if only to say that he did.

Occasionally, an age-old engraving appeared on the walls, seemingly out of nowhere (though he decided it was just the angle that the light was hitting said wall at). The creatures reminded him of the game his son played- the one with the cards. And they seemed as life-like as the holograms, too. The eyes (or rather, what he thought were eyes) seemed to follow him as he passed, as though passing judgment on whether he should be allowed to continue.

And for all he knew, they very well might- especially if what he thought was true.

Eventually, the tunnel opened into a large chamber, mysteriously clean, all rubble, dust, spiders, cobwebs and everything that should be in a ruin so old that apparently had a few cracks in it missing. He frowned, feeling something pull on his conscious, on his body- on his soul. Glancing around, he noticed a hole above him, as well as one further below him. Even as he watched, some rubble (he assumed above on the surface, however far up that was) fell through the hole above, seemed to angle it's flight, and fell through the center of the hole at his feet.

The holes weren't lined up properly, but that piece of rock had fallen directly through the center of both.

And it was covered, front back and sides, in hieroglyphs.

Taking a few steps forward, Bakura frowned at the hole, aiming his flashlight into the lower dark pit. His frown only deepened as he noticed a fairly steep drop, but it wouldn't be too hard to reach the bottom, and he might need a rope to get back up. For it was at the bottom that something had caught his attention. What he had originally thought was once rubble was, in fact, large slaps of hieroglyphics and symbols, looking all too familiar for his taste. And, buried beneath the slaps and chunks of the past was what looked like a glimmer of gold.

Bakura made up his mind, turned on his heel and sprinted back up the tunnel, barely keeping himself from tripping. He had to get to the bottom first- he had to know what this had to do with his son.

"Senior Bakura? Are you in there?"

Brian stared tentatively at the man's tent. Since he had gone to take a walk around the site, no one had been able to find him. It was nearly dusk, and the officials from the government would undoubtedly be there soon. They had barely finished one piece in total- and even that wasn't completely finished. The other Juniors and Senior had sent someone off to go look for the illusive archaeologist- Brian, having been 'working with him' was elected.

And so Brian tramped across the dig site, looking everywhere he could. He had returned to camp, only to be sent back out again. Brian was- understandably- getting annoyed, hungry, thirsty, but mainly tired. He had snuck back into camp, and was currently standing around the back of the Senior archaeologist's tent, eyeing the window flap inquisitively.

"Bakura? If you don't answer me..."

"Why are you... looking for... me?"

Brian whipped around to see a tired, worn-out Bakura standing there, doubled over and propping his upper body up by his arms, hands on his knees. His face was red, as though he had just run a marathon, and his breathing strained and uneven. Brian stared open-mouthed at the other, never having seen one of the Senior archaeologists this worn out.

"Well?" Bakura seemed to regain some vigor, as though making a decision, and stood up straight. "Why are you looking for me?"

Brian gulped, coming out of his reverie. "Er, sir... we need your help-"

Bakura grabbed his upper arm and pushed him towards camp. "Good, I need yours. Go grab a rope- as long and as strong a rope as you can get- and meet me at the base of the cliffs."

And the elder disappeared off into the shadows, leaving Brian gaping at the spot he had just been standing in. Then his words clicked, and he walked around the tent, striding purposefully over to the supply 'shed', which was really a stack of supplies and tools underneath a tarp. No one questioned him- everyone was busy still working, and didn't quite realize that he was supposed to still be looking for the other.

He grabbed the longest rope he could find- it was heavy, good quality, and the length of three school buses. Now people looked at him, but he smiled and waved, what he usually did while working. After all, he was working now- just not on what everyone else wanted him to be working on.

Brian stalked out of the camp, a few eyes following him, before they realized they were wasting precious time and set back to work. As he rounded a bend, Brian cursed as he stared at the sight in front of him. "Meet him at the base of the cliffs, he says... what part of the base should have been my next question..."

"Indeed, it should have young man."

Brian whirled around for the second time in two minutes, staring at the woman behind him. Not many years his elder, most of her face and head in general was covered by a cream-colored linen veil, sky blue eyes shining through the small part in the head dress. Her body was covered in the same material, in the same color, with a few ornaments that seemed to fit in perfectly with the outfit.

Out of place she looked, or would have normally, but there was something about her that told Brian she most certainly belonged here.

"Er... my name's Brian. I'm one of the Junior archaeologists here." He offered both his name and his hand. She took both gratefully, her grip firm and words cool but calming, like a gentle breeze.

"My name is Isis of the Ishtar clan. Why do you travel away from your companions?"

Brian frowned. Did all native Egyptian women speak like that? "Well... one of the two Senior archaeologists said he needed my help, and to grab the longest and strongest piece of rope I could find. Oh, and to meet him at the base of the cliffs."

Isis pondered this for a moment. "What is this Senior's name?"

Brian blinked. "I don't know his first name, we all just call him Senior, or Bakura, or-"

"Bakura? Did you say Bakura? Does he have a son?" Isis' eyes narrowed slightly, and Brian took a step back, nearly tripping on some rubble.

"Wha? Er... yeah, his name's Bakura. And yeah, he has a son. He was asking us about information on his son earlier, actually... guess he doesn't get to see Ryou all that much, huh?" Brian finished off with a small smile, gathering his courage and composure- only to loose it again as Isis grabbed onto his wrist and began dragging him bodily towards the cliffs.

"Hey! Where are you-"

"Brian? You're here? Oh, good, now- excuse me, who are you?"

Bakura stopped as he saw Brian being so kindly 'brought' over to his position by a strange young woman, the Junior having a few cuts on his hands, ankles and thighs. She stopped abruptly in front of Bakura, eyeing him, before smiling slighting and offering a hand.

"I am Isis of the Ishtar clan."

Bakura paused as he registered hearing the name before, but passed it off as deja vu. "Just call me Bakura."

Isis nodded. "I heard from this young man- Brain, was it?- that you need help with something. My clan are the caretakers of this area- perhaps I could help you."

Both males were a little nervous about the idea, but Bakura, still reeling from the deja vu, nodded his head. "Another person wouldn't hurt. Now, come on- we have a lot of work to do before the Department shows up."

Isis blinked as she followed Bakura over to hole in the ground, Brian gaping at what he and the other Juniors had so completely missed. "What department? And why would you want to finish before they came?"

Brian made a face, answering for Bakura. "Egypt's Department of Antiquities. Every time we find something- even if it's just a piece of rubble no bigger than a thumb, and that's the only thing there, they always swoop down and steal it away, saying that it's Egypt's property and should not be handled by mere archaeologists. Just once, I'd like to make some... some discovery, even if it was one of the little pieces of rubble, and not have the Department slitting my throat to get it."

Isis seemed to ponder this as Bakura lowered himself into the hole, turning on his flashlight immediately. Brian followed moments later, and Isis slid down last, landing quite gracefully for wearing a dress.

They set off down the tunnel again, Bakura in the lead, Isis in the rear, Brian between them for some strange reason. They walked in total silence, all three taking time to gaze at the bricked walls, and the images that would appear, last a moment, and then fade into nothingness again. Brian felt a chill crawl down his spine- Bakura and Isis felt only curiosity at the images.

They reached the pit room again, Bakura needing to shine his flashlight for the other two to see the misaligned holes in the floor, the three pieces of rubble that fell down said holes, approximately every sixty seconds. There was no doubt- the chunks of stone would change their trajectory in midair to pass through the direct center of both holes.

Brian gaped- again. "Wha... what the...?"

Bakura motioned to the Junior. "Give me the rope- or, better yet, give me one end, go tie the rope to something that won't be sucked into these holes."

Isis stood by the edge of the hole, watching intently as Bakura and Brian made the preparations. A large piece of stone that seemed immovable was located, one end of the rope tied to it- the other end was secured around Bakura's waist, Brian taking his place by the edge of the hole to slowly lower the elder archaeologist in. Isis walked over slowly, lending her weight to the archaeologist's.

Bakura held the flashlight in his right hand, the rope in his left. He aimed the beam of light anywhere he could- up at the hole, the floor that wasn't all that far below him, and the walls. He gulped when realizing that the support for the floor above was virtually nothing except for a few carved pillars of stone that stretched up from the rubble pit. The walls themselves- he aimed the beam where the walls should have been, only to discover that there in fact were no walls- none as far as he could see.

He looked down again from the disturbing image all around him, the beam angling where it pointed it. It seemed to wavier for a moment, bending about halfway between him and the floor, before falling straight again.

Bakura blinked, unsure of what had just happened. He moved the flashlight away from where it was pointing, then back again- and again it angled away from where it was pointed, shining on a smaller pile of rubble off to the side.

"Brian! Swing me to the left!"

Brian looked startled. "Are you sure? I though you always said to be lowered straight!"

Bakura growled- then stopped himself. Where had that come from? "Just swing me over! I need to get over there and there's a huge pile of rubble in my way that I wouldn't be able to climb over!"

He looked up to see Brian's head peer over the edge, and Bakura now aimed his flashlight where the beam had bent towards- only for it to be deflected. "In that-" He had to motion with his hand instead, "-general direction!"

Brian didn't reply- merely nodded- and began shifting his body weight back and forth, slowly but surely pulling and pushing the rope to make it swing as it was constantly lowered by Isis.

Bakura looked down at what he could see. He was able to get the beam within a certain distance of the rubble pile before it was pulled away. He aimed it at the first bending-spot, eyes trained on the pile; it worked- he was able to catch a glimpse of the pile itself and it's basic height, width, and characteristics as he swung towards it, also using his body weight to lengthen the arc, but a shimmer of gold caught his eye, all in a moment's time.

"Alright! Let me drop!"

Brain nearly choked. "But you're still a good twenty feet in the air!"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Actually, my feet are about four feet from the pile that I'll probably be crashing into if you don't stop lowering me!"

Brian gulped at the tone in his Senior's voice and nodded, turning to Isis. She needed no second bidding- the moment they heard the shout, "NOW!" from the hole, both let go of the rope.

The was silence for one heart-pounding moment- and then a dull thud, a crash, and a groan.

"Senior, are you alright?" Brian called down, straining with his eyes to make out his superior.

Bakura coughed. "Oh yeah, just peachy. I don't suppose that you two could throw me down a band-aid? Oh, and maybe a torch, too!"

While Brian searched in his bag for a band-aid, Isis walked over to the ledge. "Do you wish to have an electronic or fire torch?"

Bakura paused for a moment. "Fire would be better. Have a battery one ready, though. I think I have some matches- yes, here they are. Wait- you have a fire torch?"

"There's some in wall brackets all along this chamber." Her voice was lulling, but in the abyss he was in, it echoed and ricocheted off everything and nothing, amplifying it to a point where it could wake the dead. He felt new vitality for some reason, and smiled.

"Just throw me down a torch! And wrap the band-aid around it!"

There was more silence, before a whoosh by his head and a thunk near his feet let Bakura know that the torch was now in the abyss with him.

And, to his surprise, so was the band-aid.

"Next time, try NOT to aim for my head!" He yelled up, laughter in his voice.

"But it's the only thing I can see, it being so big and all!" Brian quickly shut his mouth, unsure how this Senior would react to the joking around- the other most certainly did not appreciate a knack for jokes.

But, much to Brian's relief, Bakura started laughing. "Ah, that just means that I'm smart!"

"It means you've got a big ego!"

"It means that I know enough to get you in trouble for leaving camp without notification!"

There was silence after that, Brian unsure if he had over-stepped the line that time. That was most certainly a threat, and Brian knew good and well that any senior archeaologist would gladly make good on their threats.

"What? No witty comeback? And here I thought that we might me- ow…"

Brian rolled his eyes at Senior Bakura's voice. "Er… sir? Are you alright?"

Bakura shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, next time something falls, tell me about it, would you?" He ignored Brian's response ("If I can see it I might!") and continued over the last rubble pile to the smaller one he had spotted before.

He crouched down, grabbing his matches and praying that he didn't go and burn his hands off. Lighting one, he quickly set the torch alight before bringing the match to his lips- but paused, and instead threw it in front of him. It landed square on the top of the rubble mound, and lay there, burning casting minimal amounts of light. Then it went out, and Bakura brought his torch up higher, surveying the ground around him.

He moved to start walking towards the pile, and when a glimmer to his left caught his eye. He reached down, and sifted through the rubble, torch held high. He eventually uncovered a golden ankh- the hieroglyph for 'life'. This ankh, however, was different- two smaller projections near the bottom of the ankh turned it into an ankh-shaped key. Bakura stared at it.

"I found something!" He finally called up, shaking himself from his stupor.

Brian eyed the hole, wondering if something was going to come flying out of it and hit him in the head. "What?"

Bakura brought the ankh closer to the torch. "It's some kind of gold ankh-shaped key!"

Brian stopped what he was doing. "G… gol… did you say GOLD?"

In total, seven of the golden items were recovered. Bakura and Brian lay on the floor by the hole, resting after hauling all seven and Bakura up at once, the torch close at hand. The items lay near them, further away from the opening to the abyss. Isis kneeled by them, touching and examining each one separately, taking her time with the process.

Bakura and Brian watched her carefully, ready to catch her if she chose to make a sprint for the exit. But she did not, merely looking and admiring each. Finally, she picked up the last one, having spent nearly twenty minutes with the pyramid-shaped one.

This she twisted around in her hands, its golden cord becoming caught up in her fingers, but never pulling or tightening, slipping through the long, graceful appendages like liquid. She moved as if to put it around her neck, but paused seeing the two men half-up, ready to grab her. She raised an eyebrow.

"You would stop me from wearing what is rightfully mine?"

Brian snorted, standing fully now, and making his way over to scoop the other items away from her. "How can it be rightfully yours?" He asked with disdain, moving to grab the golden item from her grasp. "It's been down here for who knows how long."

A flash of light and a strong energy pulse pushed Brian's hand away from the item, and away from Isis, too. Actually, it pushed him to the edge of the hole, where he nearly lost his balance, but Isis and Bakura were swift enough to spring forward and grab him.

Isis calmly replied, after making sure that Brian would not fall over again, "It has been down here for barely two days. I myself saw it placed her, to be lost in the abyss- but why They still exist, I do not know."

Brian stared at her, jaw on the floor, as Bakura kicked a small piece of rubble by his foot, eyeing her from the corner of his eye. "Then I suppose that they're not artifacts at all."

"Oh, indeed they are- five thousand years old. My family has kept both the Tauk and the Rod for millennia. I'm surprised you did not realize this, as it was you, after all, that found the Ring and gave it to its rightful owner- your son."

Bakura glared at her. "Who are you to talk to me about what I give to my son or not?"

She pulled the Ring from the pile in Brian's arms and presented it to Bakura, the gold flickering in the torch light. "You sent this Ring to him during one of your digs, days before the rest of your family was killed in an accident. I met him not too long ago- a charming young man, indeed. A perfect hikari.

"I guess I should also inform you that Ryou-kun, as well as all his friends and the Pharaoh, were in the Upper levels of this Temple two days ago, when we placed the Sennen Items here for their final resting place. Apparently, fate was not kind enough to leave us out of its cruel twists for much longer than a few days."

Brian and Bakura both stared at Isis in mild shock, unsure of how to take it. Finally, Brian shook his head. "So you knew the whole time-"

"The Tauk's abilities were lost to me months ago, so no, I did not Know. I merely guessed. Why else why the father of a hikari be drawn to the place where his family originated from?"

Bakura froze, staring at her. "Ex… excuse me?"

"That is a story for another time. For now, however, let us gather the Items. They will be sent off to those who are their rightful owners, and those who no longer have owners- they will be sent to the Pharaoh's hikari, so that he may draw on them should he ever need to."

Brian glared at her. "Excuse me? We found them- if they don't go to the museums, they're supposed to go to the people who found them."

"In other words, Bakura, with you and myself acting as aids. It should be he who determines where they go, but, all things considered-"

Bakura sighed, standing up and stretching. "Send them where you wish. As far as I'm concerned, they're placed artifacts- no use for me, nor museums."

Brian looked shocked, but followed the two as they gathered everything together and headed into the tunnel again. "Okay, fine, we don't get to keep them. But what the hell do you mean by 'rightful owners'? Can I be one?"

Senior had just finished going through the camp. The longest length of rope had disappeared somewhere, Bakura and Brian were nowhere to be seen- and the two tablets Bakura had been working on were now completed, depicting two scenes that Senior felt emanated an eerie sense of betrayal- and déjà vu.

Add to that the rather sudden appearance of a large number of members of the Egyptian Board of Intiquities, and you get one rather pissed off archaeologist.

"Senior, if I may inquire-"

"No, you may not!" Senior snapped, uncaring if it was towards a government official or one of his students. "I'm looking for something- someone. Now, if you'll excuse ME." He stressed the last word to show his anger and annoyance, stocking out of camp towards the rest of the cliffs.

Finding a relatively flat piece of stone to sit down on, he tried to relax- perhaps these field digs weren't the greatest for his health, afterall.

"Won't you join us for supper?"

"I would hate to impose if there isn't enough food."

"Are you kidding me? We have a whole Board of the Egyptian Government coming to inspect any of our finds- gah, how are we going to get past them!"

Senior easily recognized both Bakura and Brian's voice- Bakura, ever the gentleman, and Brian, ever the over-enthusiastic (if quite sarcastic) barely-out-of-his-teens-ager. The middle voice, that had declined dinner- a gentle female voice with a definite Egyptian lilt, especially speaking English (or, Senior had a strange feeling, Japanese).

The three rounded a corner- missing rope wound around Brian's shoulder, a pack in the woman's arms, and Bakura's own pack on his own back. The two packs looked rather bulky, but appeared to be giving their owners little trouble, if any at all.

Brian would occasionally shoot strange glances at said packs- Senior assumed that there was some kind of traditional Egyptian game inside them.

"Isis, I don't suppose you would mind sending them out? Ryou specifically asked me not to send him any more 'presents' from Egypt, no matter what they were, until we had them checked out with some kind of specialist first." Bakura smiled at the woman- completely covered in cream linens, revealing only her eyes. Gold bangles and jewelry hung off every available surface, and Senior was surprised that she hadn't been mugged yet.

"Of course- but you must send a letter to Ryou-kun. He misses you, Bakura-san."

"As did everyone at camp." Senior spoke up gruffly, making his presence known.

The three stopped, Brian paling- but Bakura only smiled as he saw the other senior archaeologist. Pulling Isis forward, he introduced them. "Senior, this is Isis of the Ishtar clan. She knows my son, and has visited and talked with him numerous times. Isis, this is Professor McGalvin, the Head of our little class here- but everyone calls him Senior."

Isis bowed, her pack hanging from her wrists by a thickly wound cord. "It is an honor to meet you, Senior."

"And you, Ms. Isis. Now, you two- back to camp. And put that rope back where you got it, Brian! The Board's already arrived, and we've been looking for you two for the last hour. Dinner's probably finished by now- I hope you don't mind leftovers, Miss."

Isis shook her head. "It is quite alright."

Brian was still quiet as Senior led them all back, Bakura commenting, "You didn't hold up dinner for us, did you? The sun's nearly down!"

The red-streaked sands were an obvious indication of that.

Senior growled. "No. Just those idiots from the Board refused to eat because their beloved leader wasn't around."

"Leader? You mean the Head of the Board of Intiquities?" Brian asked, startled.

Bakura nodded, spotting the trucks. "Yup- I swear I've heard their name before somewhere."

"No doubt you have. We have to get her signature for everything we pull out of these sands." Senior completed, slowing his pace as they approached the edge.

Something click in Bakura's mind, his fingers instantly reaching to grab his son's letter from his satchel again. Instead, he was able to see Isis from the corner of his eye- and was surprised by how quiet, subdued she looked. She caught his eyes as well, touching her neck- where the Sennen Tauk now resided. She nodded slightly to him, and he turned around, suddenly feeling very guilty.

Arriving in camp, they were greeted by a large number of seemingly random people, all crowding around to try to see exactly what was going on. Brian separated to put the rope back in the supply 'shed', Bakura went to his tent to change, and Isis somehow was able to get out of the main camp without anyone noticing, taking her satchel with her.

Five minutes later found her far enough away that she deemed it safe, and she sat down on the sands as the last of the sun painted the landscape crimson. People were bustling around below her, and she was barely able to make out Bakura and Brian through the throng, some if not all of which were looking for her.

'Bakura figured it out, if only at the last minute. Sadly, I cannot change these laws- but I can bend them. Surely there must be some objects that archaeologist have found that are not infinitely important to recording the history of Egypt.'

Opening the satchel, she watched as the last rays of sun played upon golden items, causing them to glimmer and shine. She had missed the normal, comforting feel of the Tauk against her skin, the energies it contained flowing through her.

On the top of the pile in her bag were three Items she knew well- the Puzzle, the Ring and the Rod. She would have to test the Rod again, to see if it was compatible with Malik still, or if it should go to Kaiba- the Puzzle and the Ring went to their original holders. The Eye, Key and Scales would have to go to the Pharaoh, too- he alone would decide who would bear them- in time.

Standing up, Isis looked down on the scene below her, and felt somehow… relieved. As it was before, Fate was playing with them- but this time, she knew, the End would not be so bad- and it would not occur for a very, very long time.

It was 6:30 on a Saturday morning, and the mail was just arriving. One postman, however, glared at whoever in their right minds would send a package so big- and so heavy. Grunting, he dragged up to the door into the house, wanting instead to just throw it into the nearest River and watch it sink.

He rang the doorbell and waited, looking around the corner to the other side of the house, which was in fact a game shop. Making a mental note to stop by to get some Duel Monsters or Fullmetal Alchemist trading cards later, he waited semi-patiently for the door to open.

Much to his surprise, a young man, looking around the age of 12, answered the door. Looking, but he wasn't. Anyone who was even partially interested in Duel Monsters knew that Yugi Mouto was the King of Games- and that he looked a lot younger than he actually was.

He coughed, once, seeing the half-asleep gaze that the younger turned on him, pale amethyst seemingly have no life in them whatsoever. "Er… delivery from the Egyptian Board of Antiquities to a Mr. Yugi Mouto."

A large yawn. "I'm him. Where do I- YAWN- sign?"

Taking pity on the 17 year old, he quickly showed the teen where to sign, and smiled kindly down as the papers were handed back, the writing on them messy- but legible. Yugi smiled back, grabbed the package, and walked back inside, the postman already almost back at his truck.

It wasn't until three blocks later that a sudden realization made his skin crawl. The box that he had been carrying must have weighed a ton- no exaggeration. And Mouto had lifted it up as though it was a feather….

He gulped and continued driving, hoping it was just the cobwebs still in his head from having to do morning shift again.

O-kay... I was looking through screen caps of the final part of the AE Arc (all the while giggling insanely at what was probably the sadest, most depressing... and yet funniest thing I have ever seen), and I realized one little inconsistancy in my RttOW thingy... at the end of the AE Arc, all seven Sennen Items went 'boom' into a nice, big, dark, freaky-looking hole in the ground. Where RttOW starts off, it's been about a week or so since that happened... and, miracuously, somehow (hint-hint, wink-wink) Yugi and Ryou have the Puzzle and Ring back, respectively, while Malik 'somehow' got his hands on the Rod, Isis has the Tauk, and I haven't said where the Eye, Scale or Key are.

So, to rectify this problem, I have decided to do a wonderful little side-story thingy. Yes, I'm bored. Yes, I'm weird. I started this during summer vaca, and I'm sicker than I've been all year, my cousin's wedding is in a week, and I have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do. SO, let's do this.

Running…or something… will be updated within the month... as soon as I can find my plot bunnies in the midst of the mess that is my mind...

And bash my head into a wall, I can't believe I've actually finished this. Started at the beginning of July, ended at the end of October. Forgive me for being busy.

---------------M'KAY, GO AWAY NOW--------------