Yoo, quicker update, amirite? This chapter will clear up a hell of a lotta confusion, and it's pretty long so be happy :C

Thanks to all my reviewers

Btw, about the whole greek mythology thing- I know it's strange to put that with yugioh, but I don't know jack about Egyptian mythology, so yah.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own yugioh.

To be honest, Ryou was absolutely in shock.

The woman in front of him seemed to be a mirror of his late sister. Well, she was obviously older, but by looks she was nearly identical. Her smooth, pale skin and dark blue eyes were so familiar. Long, wispy white strands of hair fell out from the cloak of her hood. He was so sure that this was his sister, that this woman was Amane.

But yet, he knew it wasn't.

Her visage was cold and emotionless, and her eyes were dull. When his gaze met hers', a chill ran down his spine. The creatures outside the pen were glancing uneasily at the woman, gathering up their own pets or other belongings and moving to somewhere else. Mana, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She ran right up to the fence, bouncing about in joy.

"Kisara! Kisara!" She squealed, a huge grin about her face.

The other woman, assumedly called Kisara, gave Ryou another glance before turning her cold gaze onto Mana, and to Ryou's surprise, a small smile appeared on her lips. With a wave of her hand, the gate of the pen opened by magic, and Mana rushed out to meet Kisara in a hug, which the woman lightly returned. At first, Ryou was confused and then realization hit him.

Oh.

Ohhh.

Ryou's face flushed and he looked away. It hadn't occurred to him… he just assumed.

So Kisara was Mana's… lover?

It didn't bother nor disgust Ryou, simply surprised him. He didn't have a problem with… homosexuality. For some reason it just felt… confusing. He didn't know why.

"You're waiting for Jounochi?" Kisara suddenly said, her voice just as cold as her appearance. It took Ryou a minute for him to realize that she was talking to him.

"Uhh… Yeah," He murmured, uncomfortable under her gaze.

"He'll be here soon," She muttered, wrapping an arm around Mana's waist and turning away.

Mana giggled and waved back at the white-haired boy. "Byeee Ryou, I hope I see you again!"

And with that, the two began to walk off. But after a few steps, Kisara turned to him and mouthed, "Thank you,"

Ryou couldn't help but stare dumbfounded after them. At least Jounochi would be here soon and take him to Mar-

Suddenly, everything he had been through and everything that had happened over the past few hours hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was flooded by the lack of logic of this situation, and his mind was racing with a billion questions and he struggled to calm himself. This couldn't be real! This was a dream… he would just pinch himself and then he would wake up…

Pinch.

…

…

Fuck. This wasn't a dream.

Taking a deep breath, he remembered a strategy that one of his many therapists had given him about calming himself down. Just list the five things that were troubling him and try to sort through them. In this situation, he would list questions though, and try to answer them.

One- Why did this happen?

Ryou could answer that. It was because of that blasted Ring. And then there was Marik… which was his next question.

Two- Who is Marik?

Ryou did not know. So far, it seemed like he was known, for Kaiba and Jounochi has mentioned him. Does that mean that he's a … god? Marik also had that… item. It was obviously very powerful, and similar to his Ring. But other than that, he didn't know much.

Three- Where is Bakura?

The spirit was absent from his Ring, Ryou could sense it. Perhaps he was gone now, or perhaps he was just… somewhere else. Wherever he was, Ryou sure as hell didn't miss him.

Four- Why does Kisara look so much like Amane?

Ryou couldn't answer this. It could merely be a coincidence- but the way she looked at him, with those haunting blue eyes. It was just too strange.

Five- What does Marik want with him?

There was something- Ryou knew this. The strange man had had a very greedy look to him, like he wanted something of him. But what…? Another question he couldn't answer.

This didn't make any sense.

Ryou sighed and sat back down on the dirt floor. He was beginning to regret all of this- he had only been a child when he agreed to it! Ryou wondered if his old "friends" would even notice he was gone. Probably not.

"Hey, kid!" A familiar, cheerful voice called. Ryou turned to see Jounochi running towards him, waving with a big goofy grin on his face. Then Ryou gasped in awe.

Jounochi looked… different. He seemed a tad bit taller, his skin a little tanner, muscles more defined. His blonde mop of hair was now light golden-brown, but just as messy. His hazel eyes were now a deep amber. He was dressed in strange, Grecian clothing. It was like a toga, but a large golden belt secured it just above his waist. His feet were adorn with sandals, and a orange scarf-like thing was draped over his shoulder. A quiver with golden arrows was latched across his back, and a whole gold aura surrounded him. He sure was attracting a lot of attention…

"You look… interesting," Ryou said, blinking in confusion.

Jounochi chuckled and looked back down at his clothes. "Yah, sorry, just came from a meeting. This is my… god form, I guess," A smirk.

God form…?

Ryou supposed that the meeting was probably at that place that Mana had mentioned. Olympus, was it called?

"I suppose we should get going then…"

With that, the two left. Jounochi held onto Ryou's wrist as he pulled him through the crowd. It was quite a strange experience- he walked right past creatures he didn't even know existed! Ryou swore that he even walked through a ghost. Soon, he noticed they were approaching what seemed to be a line of… humans? Squinting a bit, he could see that there was actually two lines. They were both packed with people, but the one of the left seemed to be shorter and moving quite faster than the other.

"What's that?" Ryou asked, blinking curiously as the neared closer to the lines.

"It's how humans get to hell. The line on the left goes to the Fields of Asphodel for those too lazy to get their souls judged, and the other line is for soul judging, so they could perhaps end up in the good place or the bad place,"

"Oh," Ryou murmured, his eyes not leaving the people as they passed.

Suddenly, a load roar shook the lines, but the people didn't seem to notice. Ryou winced at the noise, and turned back to Jounochi to ask what the sound was, and he was met with quite a shock.

Standing nearly directly in front of him, was a dragon. A fucking-dragon. It towered above him, it's body shiny and blue-ish white, almost like metal. Interestingly enough, the dragon had three heads, all glaring down at them, their blue eyes piercing and cold. Ryou tried to say something, but all the came out was a little squeal as he dashed behind Jou.

Jounochi, surprising, merely waved at the dragon and dragged Ryou past them. The dragon's three head's stared after them as they departed.

"What the fuck was that?" Ryou hissed once they were past.

Jounochi's eyes looked dull, and almost sad as he looked down at Ryou with a small smile. "We call him Blue Eyes. He guards the Underworld,"

No other words were said until they reached their destination. When they did, Jounochi announced it. "Okay! Here we are, Marik's palace!"

The palace was undeniably marvelous, gleaming black despite the dull lighting. Several large, magnificent towers stretch up to near the ceiling, its tips meeting in a rounded spike. Pale, nearly transparent ghosts circled the towers, as if they were guarding its very being. There was a garden out front, decorated with dead looking flowers and gleaming jewels of many different colors. A few small trees were also present, it's fruits, which were pomegranate, looked absolutely delicious. Ryou was appalled- he had not been expecting such a grand palace. Glancing over his shoulder to eye his blonde companion, Ryou could see that the expression on Jounochi's face could only be described as indifferent.

"Okay kid," He grumbled, reaching over and placing a hold on Ryou's upper arm. "Let's get this over with,"

Jounochi practically dragged Ryou forward, glaring almost grumpily at the skeleton soldiers that lined the path to the castle's door. This confused Ryou greatly- wasn't Jou always smiling and happy-go-lucky?

When they reached the large wooden door, Jounochi scowled and knocked on it three times. His hold on Ryou's arm only tightened as it was slowly opened.

…And there was Marik, standing in the doorway with a broad smile on his face. Ryou swore that he could feel Jounochi trembling beside him.

"Welcome to my home," Marik purred.

CLIFFHANGERRR. LOL. I was gonna put another part with Bakura and Malik but I'm lazy so wait like a week and I'll have the next chapter up.

CONFUSING, ISNT IT?