A/N: Yatta! New chapter's finished. Man, I'm not used to writing single chapters this long in fanfictions. It's hard work. Hey, thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers. I'm glad that you like it so far. Anyway, I still don't own Yugioh. Wish I did, but I don't. Sadness. On a last note, I've fixed a couple of language markers that the site wouldn't accept earlier and reposted the first chapter along with this one. There's a key in chapter one as well, but just so you don't all have to go and recheck it, I'll put one under the notes here as well. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.

"…" Japanese

"-…-" Ancient Egyptian

"…" Modern Arabic

"Return of the King"

Chapter Two

Calling of Allies

It didn't look like it was going to take long to convince Sugoroku to let them travel to Egypt. At least, it would be all right for Yuugi to go, as Atem and Ryou weren't technically in Sugoroku's jurisdiction. That is, until they told him that one Seto Kaiba would be not only accompanying them, but that he would be paying for the trip.

"Absolutely not," the old man said, standing firm despite the combined pleading eyes of Atemu, Yugi, and Ryou, who'd shown up at their doorstep when they'd gotten back from talking to Kaiba.

"But it's really important, Jii-san," Yugi insisted, turning up the cuteness to maximum, a level only used in the direst of situations, for his own sake as well as the sake of whomever it was turned against.

"Yugi, the last time I let you go gallivanting around in Egypt because you said it was important, you had to mail home for more money to buy an extra plane ticket." The elder Mouto looked pointedly at Atemu, who had the decency to look sheepish. Ryou snickered. "And don't think that I don't know that your other half stowed away and left with several extra 'shiny things' as well, Bakura-san."

The albino 'eeped' and ducked behind Atemu, whose slightly taller stature had a better chance at hiding him than Yugi's.

"I'm fairly certain that none of us are harboring ancient spirits this time, Jii-san," the Egyptian said, crossing his arms over his chest as the two engaged in a staring contest. The pair typically got along fairly well, but sometimes Atemu tired of being treated as a teenager.

Finally, it was Sugoroku who broke the silence. "Fine, but I'm coming with you." He held up a hand before his grandson could so much as open his mouth. "No arguments. Either I go along or you stay in Japan."

Atemu mentally chuckled. /He reminds me of Simon more and more every day./

/Could be a reincarnation,/ Yugi put in, leaping forward to hug the man, babbling 'thank you's before running upstairs to pack. "Ryou, Atemu, come on!"

"So how many are going?" Kaiba asked the next day as he and Yugi sat in his home office.

The hikari thought for a bit. "Well, there's you and Mokuba, Ryou, Jii-san, Atemu and me. Bakura's already there so we don't have to worry about him. Anzu and Ryuji just got back from camp, so they'll be going. Honda and Jou wouldn't stay behind if we tied them to an anchor and threw it into Domino Bay. That's ten so far. Who am I forgetting?" He tossed the question to Atemu, who was at Ryou's house helping him pack for Egyptian weather.

/Mai and Shizuka./

/Thanks./ "Atemu added Mai and Shizuka," Yugi finished, adding them to his hastily written list.

"Twelve people, plus the mutt and helmet-headed shadow will want to bring their motorcycles," the CEO muttered, typing up their reservations. No need to use a private plane and attract attention when the commercial ones would work just as well. "We can leave tomorrow on a noon flight."

-

Bakura walked around in a half-circle, watching the points on his ring carefully for any changes. There were none. The cliff wall in front of him definitely hid the door to the Mejia's keep. But how to get inside…?

'Open sesame,' he said grandly in English. Nothing happened. "Hm, always works in the movies. Let's see. Open." Nadda. "-Open.-" The wall stubbornly remained solid and Bakura was starting to lose his patience. Gathering shadows around his fist, he swung at the wall, yelling, "-Ra damned door, open up or I'll send you and your entire fortress to the shadows!-" His fist met air as a wide archway appeared in the stone, nearly causing the thief to overbalance and fall flat on his face. He stared at it for a few moments. "Well, and Ryou says that threatening inanimate objects never makes them listen to you."

Smirking, Bakura pulled out the heavy cloak he'd packed in his bag in preparation for the chilly underground. Tomb keepers and Mejia alike were insane, living in places where the sun couldn't reach without the help of mirrored vents all over the place. The cloak also served the purpose of keeping ring and hair hidden, both of which would stand out a mile if he ever was spotted by one of the mortal magic users.

"Didn't have permission to break into the Mejia fortress last time," he mused softly, pulling the hood up and stepping through the arch. It sealed itself behind him, leaving a solid stone wall framed by carvings of shadow creatures and topped with an all-too-familiar eye. "So, door, was it the shadows or the threat that opened you?"

When it offered no answer, Bakura shrugged and shouldered his bag before starting down the empty hall. The air there was stale, as was the magic save for his own, signifying that no one had been to that part of the fortress in some time: decades if not centuries.

Darker-than-usual corners hid the thief when he did start to see the local residents going about their business: a handful of relaxed guards chatted about a pretty girl; a group of young children ran past him after a ball, paying no attention despite the fact that they'd caught him uncloaked by shadows; and a young woman walked by alone, nose in a book. How she managed to avoid hitting any of the pillars scattered around everywhere was beyond him.

Their security is pathetic, he thought, resisting the urge to laugh since people would be sure to hear it if he did. He'd sat just outside the main council room for nearly an hour, twisting the shadows left in the forenamed room into playful activity. It wasn't enough for any of them to actually hurt any of the old Mejia inside, but it was definitely enough for them to notice and make them twitchy. This was all done from atop a pillar. Sheesh, does no one ever look up these days? I'm not even hiding myself!

Getting bored, Bakura stood and took off his cloak, giving in to his urge to laugh as he threw it down onto the heads of the two guards stationed in front of the door. The ring was safely hidden before they managed to fight their way out from under the heavy cloth and stare up at him in shock and anger.

"-Hello, stupid people,-" he greeted, grinning from his high-up position. There was no change in their expression. So they didn't understand ancient Egyptian, eh? "Man, you people have been lax in your education, haven't you? I doubt you can even read the glyphs carved into your own walls. Since you obviously didn't understand me earlier, we'll start over. Stupid people, and don't even think of denying the title because you're guards and all guards are stupid, go tell the old folks inside that someone a heck of a lot older than them, not to mention more powerful, wants to have a chat with them." He easily dodged the pair of spears thrown at him, sighing. "Look, I'm trying to be polite here in not just barging in."

The two clearly weren't listening as they began to gather destructive magic between their now empty hands. Bakura rolled his eyes and summoned two spheres of shadows, sending them to envelope the guards' hands and magic, making them yelp in alarm. One of them spoke. "You have shadow magic!"

"So you recognize what it is; I'm surprised," the thief said, stepping off of the pillar to land easily on his feet. "Good. Now, go and announce me before I get angry."

He freed their hands and they fled into the chamber as though the hounds of the underworld were snapping at their heels. Bakura was close enough. Returning shortly after, they bowed, more out of fear than respect. "They are waiting for you, sir."

How tightly they gripped their new spears as he followed them in didn't escape Bakura's notice, not that spears had done the guards any good before.

Inside, eleven men in varying ages of thirty to eighty sat in a partial circle upon large cushions, all staring suspiciously at him as he entered. Bowing politely in the Japanese fashion, he sat cross legged in the center of the space left empty of the circle and waited for them to speak.

"-Greetings, shadow mage,-" the eldest said. He sat directly across from Bakura. "-We have not seen your kind since the nameless pharaoh sealed the realm of shadows, and did not expect to ever see one again.-"

"-We've pretty much been keeping to ourselves,-" Bakura replied.

Another, third to his left, raised an eyebrow. "-So the guards' report was correct. You do speak the old tongue, and well enough to insult them.-"

"-Your old tongue is my first tongue,-" the tomb robber said, smirking. "-It's good to know that knowledge of it is not limited to shadow mages and tomb keepers, though your guards appear to be tragically ignorant of it.-"

"-More to the point, shadow mage, how did you gain your powers? The ability was lost with the sealing,-" the man to his right said, brow furrowed. He was easily the youngest there and barely looked thirty.

Scanning around the circle, Bakura smiled and revealed the ring, the expression turning into a grin as they recoiled back, eyes wide. Panic ensued.

"-The Millennium Ring!-"

"-The items were sealed!-"

"-How did he- ?-"

"-Silence!-"

All eyes turned to the oldest geezer, who didn't exactly look happy. He in turn was staring at Bakura as though attempting to read all of his secrets. "-Where did you get that item, shadow mage? And do not attempt to lie to us.-"

"-Originally?-" Bakura asked, tipping his head to the side. "-I stole it.-" He waited for geezer #1 to shut the others' cries of outrage again before continuing. "-Took it from the Priest Mahado when he got himself killed fighting me. Long time ago, that; messy too. Then I got sealed in the thing for three thousand years or so until I was freed just a couple of years ago. Became embodied again after that and now here I am, back in the land of my birth.-"

They were too shocked to voice their surprise this time and only sat in frozen silence, dark eyes impossibly wide as they watched the white-haired 'youth.' Shadows reached out to form familiar clothes and a deep red cloak around the thief's body.

"-Mejia, where do your loyalties lie after these thousands of years?-" he asked, breaking the silence as he stood, meeting each of their eyes.

"-With the pharaoh, Thief Bakura, as they always have,-" the eldest said, eyes narrowing. "-But there are no longer any pharaohs to be loyal to, which is why we remain hidden.-"

"-That is where you would be wrong,-" Bakura said. "-Of the spirits sealed with the shadows, I was not the only freed and embodied.-"

The elder struggled to his feet, refusing the help of the guard behind him to step forward and grab hold of Bakura's shoulders. "-Do you say what I think you do, old one?-"

Bakura nodded. "-I come to call the mejia to arms in the name of the nameless pharaoh, in the name of Pharaoh Atemu, arisen from the dead and returning to Egypt in less than ten days' time.-"

-

Word of Seth's vision spread through the camp like wildfire and his people's spirits rose in hope. Messengers carried it to the front, which he was told raised the feeling in the form of their battle cries. The gods were sending aid to their people in Egypt and with their help they would surely be victorious.

"-They call praises to you in their prayers, Seth,-" Isis said as she brought his meal. "-Surely you no longer doubt our chances?-"

"-Would but sealing the shadows had not stopped your visions of the future, I would relax a little,-" Seth said, staring into his cup of wine for traces of poison. With the war taking so many, they could not spare a taster. "-Did I tell you whose eyes I saw at the end of my dream?-"

"-You did not give any of us many details,-" she reminded him, pouring herself a glass of the wine once he had taken a sip himself. "-Only that you saw an old enemy turned ally and a stranger loyal before the eyes appeared.-"

A slow smile crept onto the pharaoh's face and he waited for her to take another sip. "-The enemy was thief king Bakura.-"

Her reaction was exactly as he'd planned: Isis choked and sputtered, roughly pounding her chest. When she could speak again, she glared at Seth. "-You did that on purpose!-"

Seth drew himself up in a mockery of the position he held when addressing the people. "-Priestess, you dare to accuse Pharaoh of indulging in such childish antics as that?-" He raised an eyebrow for good measure.

"Ra, you look just like when Atemu used to when we were children and I'd catch him hiding from Mahado in those giant vases all around the palace,-" she said, laughing hopelessly. "-But really, childish pranks aside, who was the turned enemy?-"

"-Isis, the prank was the timing, not the name,-" Seth said, growing serious once again. "-I did see Bakura in the service of my cousin. You know that there never could be any mistaking him, even if he did wear strange clothes in my dream. The other man, the stranger, was dressed as the head of a desert clan and had an appearance that was nearly as strange. Hair between the color of the sun and that of the tomb robber's, and eyes as violet as my cloak, Isis.-"

"-And this was the man who carried Shada's scales?-" Isis asked for confirmation. Seth nodded. "-But what of his eyes, since you've been so focused on them of late?-"

"-Who did we know, my old friend, who bore eyes the color of pooled blood?-" he asked, meeting her startled gaze. "-In my dream, Atemu was watching me from the far reaches of the afterlife itself and said 'we are coming.'-"

"-We?-" the priestess repeated weakly, eyes wide. "-But it is impossible for one of the dead to return to the world of the living.-"

Seth sighed. "-I know, which is what had me so puzzled. It is possible that, after passing from this world and joining the gods, Atemu was referring to 'we' in the sense of the gods' aid and not himself in particular. However, I would hope to see him again and have his guidance in these times.-"

"-It is something that we should all hope for,-" Isis said, briefly resting a hand on the royal shoulder. A playful light entered her eyes. "-Who knows, perhaps if you have another nap, you will have another vision.-"

"-First you bring me my food, and then you tell me that I must sleep,-" he snorted, pointedly not rolling his eyes. "-If I did not know better, Isis, I would think that you were attempting to baby me. But I will overlook your offense, this time. Walk with me. I would see my people.-"

Isis had to move quickly in order to keep up with Seth's stride as the two of them left his tent and stepped into the afternoon sun. Those that they passed stopped and bowed low to the living god and high priestess, who paid them little notice as they discussed (no one in the pharaoh's court ever 'chatted') the armies' movements as well as Shu, the new high priest to fill Seth's position, and Geb, the new magician to fill Mahado's.

"-They show such arrogance, strutting with every step as though the very sand beneath their sandals worshipped them,-" Isis said once she was sure neither priest was within hearing range. "-Not even you ever got that bad when you were high priest, and you are still not as arrogant now as pharaoh.-"

"-Well what can you expect from a pair of priests who were named after gods?-" Seth asked, smirking. The pair shared a glance before laughing openly and drawing no small number of looks from the surrounding people.

"-It is good to see the both of you smiling and laughing again,-" Shada said as the two approached him. "-I had feared that you would forever be full of gloom, not to mention cranky.-"

"-You know, if I was any other pharaoh, I would have had you banished for such a remark,-" the pharaoh said wryly.

"-Ah, but fortunately you are not any other pharaoh,-" Shada said. "-You are Pharaoh Seth, third in a run of pharaohs possessing a good-natured sense of humor, even with your namesake. Come, and see if you can make sense of the latest report I received. For all honestly, generals should be required to pass tests in their writing skills.-"

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1. Shu and Geb respectively were the Egyptian gods of air and earth.