I was surprised to find so many readers left after such an extended break before the last chapter. I'm incredibly grateful to every reviewer, and this chapter will answer most of your questions. Forgive me if any details regarding the Millennium Items and their power are off; it's been a while since I've watched the ancient Egypt arc, and I didn't do much research in my haste to get this chapter out before I start my new job. Also, I've had to bump up the story's rating due to the slightly graphic content. Sorry if anyone is put off by it. Otherwise, enjoy and please review.

Chapter 10

As soon as the hall and the wizards faded from view, Zorc allowed himself to slump against the back wall with a low laugh that ended in a hiss. That had been fun. Watching everyone tiptoe around him, so fearful and unsure and yet still so open. In just one short day he had learned so much about this wizarding world. Magic had evolved and grown since his time, but it was still far too weak to defeat him. The old wizards had been able to seal his body away, but even that technique was lost in the subsequent erasing of all knowledge of shadow magic. Now the living world had no hope.

But there was still his host to consider. A flash of pain lanced through his head, a reminder that Ryou's prison was no longer the least bit stable. Every second he was in control, Zorc had to struggle to hold the tomb robber back. No longer could he put Ryou to sleep, and any attempt at another memory prison would be pure folly. It was the first thing he had tried down in the pharaoh's tomb, after he had found the broken tablet. The tomb robber had been wild with mirth at Zorc's misfortune, and never had the demon wanted to make anyone suffer more than at that moment. Yet when he closed Ryou's mind within the worst memories he had, the boy had fought back with such fury that the battle had left them both unconscious. It was luck alone that Zorc had awakened first when the Ishtars and the wizards found him.

He didn't remember Malik being quite so wary of him. At one point he treid to look into Ryou's mind to find the memory of that conversation the Egyptian had mentioned, but Ryou woke up and fought back as soon as he started, and he gleaned little information. Still, it was enough that Malik let the little wizard boy be along with him. A foolish, foolish decision, especially here, where his power was the strongest it had been in years.

As soon as he had landed here, he had felt it. Somewhere below in this very building was a door to the underworld. An open door. These arrogant people were delving too deep into magics they could not comprehend.

They opened a door without the Items or the tablet, came the gleeful Ryou-whisper. Perhaps they comprehend more even than you.

Zorc snarled, but he could not block out Ryou's laughter. "You won't be laughing when I walk through that door and reclaim my body," he growled. "You will be left there, after all."

For some reason, this made Ryou laugh harder.

"Level Four," said the lift's voice. "Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Zorc cursed and moved to the grille, drawing invisibility around himself. Surprisingly, however, only the normal crowd of wizards waited on the other side, some of them moving onto the elevator as the doors opened while others talked amongst themselves. He slipped out anyway, wishing to confuse any possible pursuit. Apparently wizards didn't have the very effective communications systems that existed in the rest of the world—another prideful error that would lead to their downfall at his hands. Zorc grinned to himself and made his way to a lift two spaces down that had just opened. It was empty, so he stepped on and hit the lowest button on the panel. Just as the doors were closing, a squad of wizards with drawn wands rushed into the lift lobby. Zorc chuckled as his elevator began to descend.

"Such a weak society," he said. "They cannot even coordinate an effective defense against one boy in their government headquarters."

You are confusing them with shadows, Ryou replied.

That was true. Zorc was taking no chances on anything getting between him and his goal, and so he was using his magic to touch the minds of everyone he encountered ever so slightly. It was a trick that would go undetected, but it was just enough to keep the wizards from drawing the right conclusions. Changing elevators had probably been unnecessary, but he kept a healthy dose of caution anyway.

The lift stopped at the next level, and several people boarded it. Zorc pressed himself into the back corner, and if any of the nearby wizards brushed against him, they took no notice. Again at the next level came a grinding stop where several people exited and a few more got on. Now there were whispers among the group about a possible dark wizard running loose in the Ministry. Zorc had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

Halfway between levels six and seven, the lift shuddered to a halt. "Ministry lift occupants, you are in no danger," said the cool woman's voice, silencing the cries of alarm and confusion almost as soon as they began. "Due to heightened security, all means of transportation within the Ministry of Magic have been suspended at this time. A Ministry official will be along shortly to provide assistance. Thank you for your patience and cooperation at this time."

"Not soon enough for me to make my meeting, I'll wager," a short man near the door grumbled.

"Oi, get over yourself, McGibbons," said a witch. "I'd rather be stuck in here than in the path of some lunatic dark wizard."

This was just too sweet an opportunity for Zorc to pass by. "I don't suppose you'll settle for both?" he asked, dropping his invisibility guise. "I agree with Shorty though; this is too much of an inconvenience." He took a moment to savor the sudden shock, fear, and anger these five wizards directed at him—but most of all he enjoyed the horror that rolled off his landlord.

"To think, there was a time when you liked this just as much," he said, lifting his hand as the wizards raised their wands.

Ryou's shriek became background music to the sound of five voices yelling five different curses, most of which hit the walls as Zorc dropped to a crouch. There was too little room to maneuver, and two of the wizards went down in the first volley, struck by their companions' spells. The demon slashed his hand against the legs of the wizard closest to him, and the man crumpled in a screaming heap, blood staining his yellow robes. Zorc slashed across his throat and then grabbed the dying man's robes and hauled him up in time to catch the next two spells aimed at him. Then he dropped the body and lunged at the man called McGibbons, slashing at his face. McGibbons screamed and dropped his wand as his cheeks and forehead erupted in a shower of blood, and Zorc turned to the witch, who was the only one left standing. Her next spell came too fast to dodge; he had barely looked at her when he caught a red beam of light full in the chest. It smashed him back against the grille, and Ryou took advantage of the sudden weak moment to attack.

"No!" Zorc yelled, grabbing at his head.

I WON'T LET YOU KILL ANYMORE, Ryou screamed back. He clawed at Zorc's mind, desperate for a better grip, for just a minute's control even if it cost him his life. Anything to set Zorc back and drive the demon away from its goal.

But this time was not like the moment in the Ishtars' mansion. This time Zorc was not caught with his guard down. This time he was too close to the source of his power. With one final shove, he sent Ryou tumbling to the back of his mind, where the tomb robber could do nothing but watch and rage. Then he reached up and grabbed the witch, who had stepped over to him, believing that her spell had worked. He slashed at her wrist with a razor-thin blade of shadow magic, and her hand fell to the floor along with the wand it held.

Zorc pushed the shrieking woman away and climbed to his feet to survey his handiwork. Two men—those hit with the first spells—lay unconscious on the floor, with blood from the man with the slit throat creeping and puddling around them. More blood spattered himself and the lift's walls, and it covered McGibbons with his slashed face. He only whimpered as he sat against the wall. The woman had retreated into the far corner and huddled there, watching him with terrified eyes.

"Nice magic trick, isn't it?" he said to her, holding out his hand. "I can't say I much like it, though. Too unpredictable. Hard to control. You end up cutting too deep and killing too quick. No, I prefer the non-magic way. It's so much more fun." As he spoke, he drew his long knife out from under his shirt. The witch tried to press herself further into the corner, and Zorc laughed at her. "Don't worry. You're conscious. That means you die last. Now you watch, Bakura," he continued, turning to the spell-stunned wizards. "For years, you did this for me in Egypt. Now I give to you this last memory, to keep while you rot in the deepest depths of the underworld for daring to betray me."

I will watch, came the reply. I will use this to fuel my hatred of you until it grants me the power to destroy you.

Zorc laughed as he knelt in the dark pool beside the closest wizard. "For all that I have show you, still you remain a naïve child, Ryou," he said. "Hatred can never defeat me. It is my greatest nourishment." With that, he raised his knife and began to play.

The first man did not wake up. He died quickly.

The second wizard awoke almost immediately, and Zorc took some time to enjoy his and the witch's screams.

The dead man he passed over, for dead men were no fun. McGibbons barely seemed to know anyone else was there, and he could only cry feebly as the knife bit into his flesh. Zorc stayed with him a little longer anyway, just to enjoy the mounting panic of the witch. The lift's voice startled him, however, with an announcement that a Ministry official was on the way.

"Che," he scoffed, cutting the man's throat. He scooted over to crouch in front of the witch and stroked her face with his hand, leaving a red trail down her cheek. "You get off lucky," he said, and he stabbed her in the heart.

Rising, he stepped to the middle of the lift and breathed deep, inhaling the thick metallic scent of the blood that now covered every surface. He brought the knife to his lips and ran his tongue down the side of the blade. "So many different bloods, but always they taste the same," he murmured. "Don't you agree, thief? I'm surprised you watched the whole show."

I said I would.

No emotion this time. Even the constant struggling had ceased. Zorc frowned. Did this mean he had finally broken through to the thief who had gladly murdered for him three thousand years ago? Or had the episode been so horrible that the naïve boy was simply numb with shock?

You have yet to do anything worse than Kul Elna. Now there was a hint of laughter.

Zorc growled. "Stay out of my thoughts, thief." He looked at the ground. Normally to use shadow magic greater than his shadow blades or invisibility, he would need a playing card, but now he was close enough to the underworld door that he could forego such a medium. "Trap Hole," he said, pushing his magic downward.

The lift's floor cracked and fell away, sending Zorc plummeting down the elevator shaft. He landed easily on his feet at the bottom, and five thunks resounded as the bodies hit the ground around him. It was pitch dark, but some light filtered through a grille that sat on a chest-high ledge above him. Zorc grinned and sent out a silent summons; in seconds the Millennium Ring materialized around his neck. All its points were straining up in the direction of the grille.

"Of course, I feel it too," he said softly, jumping up to the ledge and pulling aside the gate. This was the lowest level of the Ministry. Somewhere just ahead laid the door to the underworld.

What had at first been a new, incredible, exciting world was fast becoming old and even dreary for Yugi. Kaoru Kishimura stayed close by him every step of the way and would not let him stop to look at anything interesting. He had hoped that this would change once they reached London, but she was still there, hovering over his shoulder. Not that there was much to see here; Kingsley had led them down a hall to a row of lifts, which in turn took them down to the lowest level and opened onto yet another hall. This one was a great deal creepier, with its black walls, heavy black doors, and lack of people but for themselves as one man who stood at the very end of the corridor. Kingsley led them straight to him and stopped. "Anderson," he greeted.

"Minister," the man replied. "You have the artifacts?"

"Our tight-fisted Egyptian friend does," Kingsley said.

"Excuse you," Malik snapped.

Anderson did not even crack a smile. "Minister, I must protest. The Department of Mysteries holds our most sensitive research. Most of our own officials are not allowed here, and to bring in outsiders—especially a witch from a foreign Ministry—is unthinkable."

"And unavoidable," Kingsley told him. "I trust you have a secure room set up for use, and everyone will stay without our sight the entire time. The risk is minimized, but if anything happens I will take full responsibility."

Yugi swallowed a disappointed sigh. It seemed the only magic he would ever see was the Millennium Puzzle. So much for the stories he had promised to bring back to the others.

The man called Anderson argued with Kingsley for a few more minutes, but Yugi couldn't follow them; they spoke too fast in that unfamiliar accent. Instead he stepped closer to Malik and asked, "Hey, can these people really use a lot of magic? I haven't seen very much."

"You've probably still seen more than me," Malik whispered back. "The Portkey trick was impressive at least. Who knows, maybe we'll see something else cool before we leave."

"The secrets of the wizarding world are not for Muggles such as you to know," Kaoru cut in.

Yugi made a face at her. She had been keeping him away from everything while at the same time questioning him constantly about the Millennium Items and the events surrounding them. It hardly seemed fair, and somehow he did not like the idea of telling her about shadow magic, so he dodged the questions as much as possible.

"Killjoy," Malik muttered. "Not that she has any say over me, and I'm the one who has the Items."

Kaoru turned a cold glare on him but could do nothing more as Anderson finally relented and let them through the door behind him. He led the group into a large circular room, black like the hall with doors set at regular intervals along the wall and blue-flamed candles in sconces between them. Yugi shivered. If these modern-day wizards were trying to emulate the creepy atmosphere of the pharaoh's tomb, they were doing very well.

Kingsley stayed back to hold open the door while Anderson walked to another one slightly left of the one straight across the way. Opening it, he ushered them through into a room that looked much more normal. One side had a desk cluttered with various parchments (which Anderson cleared with a wave of his wand), shelves on the other side held a variety of books and strange instruments, and before them was a long, bare table. "The Items here, if you please," Anderson said, tapping the tabletop.

Malik looked at Yugi, shrugged, and opened his briefcase. The Puzzle was the first Item he pulled out, and Yugi couldn't help but pick it up. The familiar weight was comforting, its golden surface unsullied from the time it had spent underground. He remembered how effortlessly Atem had used its power—and how the pharaoh had shielded so much of its magic from him. All he had ever felt from the Puzzle was Atem's presence, and that was gone anyway, so the fact that he could feel nothing now did not mean a thing. If he had shown me just a little more, he wondered, would I be able to sense now if any magic was left? Would I be able to help Bakura-kun? I know you just wanted to protect me, mou hitori no boku, but—

A soft gasp from Malik caught his attention. "What?" he asked, setting the Puzzle down.

Malik had pulled out the rest and spread them on the table—all but the Rod. This he held in both hands, a strange expression on his face as he stared at it. "I…there's no need for any tests," he said.

"What do you mean?" Kingsley asked with a frown.

"I mean the Millennium Items definitely still have their power," the Egyptian answered sharply. "But I don't understand. I haven't felt any magic coming from the Rod since the day we dug them up. The underworld tablet was supposed to be the source of their power, and with it smashed…"

"Underworld tablet?" Anderson said. He had taken several instruments off his shelved and now dumped them on the table.

Malik clutched the Millennium Rod closer. "That's none of your business."

"It is my business. I was given orders to analyze these artifacts and determine the scope and ability of any magic they may contain, and therefore—"

"Huh?" Malik said.

Off to the side, Kingsley began to chuckle.

Yugi picked up the Puzzle again, but if Malik spoke the truth about its magic, he still could not feel it. "The underworld tablet was the key to opening the door to the dead," he said in Japanese. "But was it really the source of the Items' power?"

Malik shrugged at him. "That's the belief that was passed down among the Tomb Keepers. But then it makes no sense that they still have any power at all, must less that it's suddenly become stronger."

"Maybe these wizards have some kind of underworld tablet, too."

"I doubt that, and these Items wouldn't be connected to a different one anyway. Unless—" Malik stopped, he face turning pale.

"It would help me to know what you are discussing," Anderson said crossly.

"Unless the underworld tablet wasn't the true source of the Millennium Item's power, but a channel," Malik continued in English. He stepped over to Anderson and grabbed the man's robes. "What sort of 'mysteries' do you study in this place, wizard? Would one of them happen to be death?"

"I-I-I am not authorized—"

Malik shook him into silence. "Do you have an open door to the underworld here?" he yelled.

"U-underworld?"

"Death, you fool. Death. A door to death!"

"W-w-well, there's the veil, but…"

"But what?"

Yugi winced and looked away, his gaze landing on the table. His heart stopped in his chest. "Ah…guys?"

"What?" Malik dropped Anderson and rounded on Yugi.

The smaller boy pointed at the table. "What happened to the Millennium Ring?"

Malik stared at the table, then slammed the Rod down with a curse. "Zorc. He's still here. He knows."

"And our Japanese Ministry friend is gone," Kingsley chimed in.

Yugi glanced around, and sure enough, Kaoru had snuck out sometime earlier.

"Forget her," Malik said. "Zorc is our problem. We have to keep him away from that door." He grabbed Anderson again. "Show us the way to that veil."

Kaoru had stepped quietly back toward the office door as soon as Malik had started pulling out the Millennium Items. It had been easy to slip out with everyone's attention on them, whatever Kingsley had said earlier about keeping an eye on her. Of course, she was under orders to find out about them as well, but she knew she could interrogate Yugi later, with Legilimency if she had to. Right now, she was in the British Ministry's Department of Mysteries. Her superiors would surely forgive her for abandoning her post if she brought back information on some of Britain's deepest secrets.

She opened the door and stepped back into the circular room, intent on the next door over. However, as soon as the one to the office clicked closed, the wall began to spin.

"Shimatta," she whispered. So the place had a defense after all, likely activated as soon as all doors were closed. The British wizards had kept even this from her by holding a door open the whole time. Well, no matter now. She didn't care what she found out, so any door would do. The most this would do was lower her chance of returning to the group undiscovered. Even if she were caught, she had little fear of the British Obliviators.

The wall slowed to a stop, and Kaoru immediately tried the door beside her. Locked. She drew her waned and tried a variety of spells, but none of them had any effect except for the one that rebounded in her face. Cursing again, Kaoru rubbed her stinging cheek and moved on to the next door.

The wall began turning again.

Kaoru froze in place and crossed her arms, fingers tapping against her left bicep. When the rotating stopped, she stepped over to the next door, but she had hardly put her hand on the handle when another door opened across the way. Kaoru flinched and began sifting through her best excuses. "Ah, forgive me," she began, turning around. "But may I ask—"

But it wasn't Kingsley Shacklebolt or any other Ministry wizard. It was that strange boy that everyone was so worried about, Ryou Bakura. The one who had been demon-possessed. Kaoru felt her chest constrict.

No reason to worry prematurely, though. Perhaps he had passed whatever test they put him through and was sent down here to join the investigation into the Millennium Items. Then again, there had not been enough time for the wizards to conclude that the boy was free. Maybe he was lost? "Should you not be upstairs, where you can be tested?" she said coolly.

The boy stepped forward, and she saw the dull glint of the blue candlelight reflecting off an object against his chest. The Millennium Ring. But had that not been in the office with the others? Kaoru took a step back and raised her wand.

"I failed it," the boy said. Now she could see him clearly—and he was covered with some dark liquid. It was hard to make out in the dim blue light. The boy giggled and held out his hand, and Kaoru was startled to see that he held a knife. She tried to fire a curse at him, but for some reason no spell would come to her mind.

"Such a feeble little mind," he said, walking closer. Behind him, the door closed, and the walls began to rotate once more. He seemed not to notice, and he kept talking. "You know the truth, you knew it as soon as you saw me, yet all you can do is scrabble for some other explanation. You can't stand the thought that things exist that are beyond your comprehension, and that's why you're here now, isn't it? Something big happened in Japan, something involving magic, and not a one of you wizards could understand it! For all the investigating and searching and research, you people could find nothing, and so now you resort to trickery to get what you want. Yet you'll never know. It is all beyond your reach."

He was standing right in front of her now. He laid the knife's edge against her cheek. Kaoru hissed out a dozen words hoping to find a good curse, but the boy slammed his fist against her wand, sending it skittering across the floor. "By the way," he said, pointing at his face. "This is blood. And this is why."

Kaoru shrieked as he slashed her face. She pressed both hands to the hot, sticky gush of blood and tried to lunge away, but the boy grabbed her by the throat and shoved her back against the wall just as it stopped turning. "Don't feel too bad, though. You're not the only ones poking noses where they don't belong," the boy said. He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "You see, the British wizards can't accept anything being beyond their reach either. They have to know. Take death, for example. They wanted so badly to know the secrets of death that they opened a doorway to the very realm of the dead. I wonder if they thought at all about the consequences of such an act. Just think, by their simple ignorance and foolishness, they have doomed the entire world. Not that you'll live to see that."

Kaoru sucked in her breath to scream as the boy stepped back, but all she managed was a squeak as he stabbed her in the gut. He looked at her thoughtfully as she reached out feebly, trying to force some sound other than a croak or gasp past her lips. "I think you would be fun to play with," he said. "Too bad I'm on such a tight schedule." He jerked the knife out of her belly and, looking her in the eyes, drew the blade slowly through her throat. Smiling the whole time.

She fell to the floor, and the last thing she heard was the demon's laughter as her vision faded.

Zorc dropped the knife beside her; he no longer needed it. The Ring's five points were rattling as they strained toward a door to his right, but he did not need that, either. He could feel the power from the underworld rolling over him in waves and singing through his host body's blood. Such power. There were not words enough to describe it. He went over to that door and through it into a room that he paid no heed to at all. The only thing he could see was the door at the other end, and the clear path to it. He ran over to it, shivering in his excitement, and stepped through into the room beyond.

It was a large, darkened chamber with the floor tiered like an amphitheater. In the middle, at the lowest level, was a raised dais, and on that dais was the only thing the room held: a cracked, ancient-looking stone arch from which hung a fluttering black veil. An open door, indeed.

Zorc laughed as he descended the steps to the dais, where he had to stop to save the folly that would enable him to win. He expected some sly comment from his landlord, but his mind was silent. Zorc scowled. Ryou was awake and watching, he knew it. So why wasn't he getting a reaction? Denial, grief, terror, rage, hatred—all these he expected and welcomed. This moment just would not be complete without some outburst of large, helpless emotion from the tomb robber.

Jumping up onto the dais, he said aloud, "Look where we are, Bakura. Do you still think I won't win?"

I think what you seek will be forever beyond your grasp.

Zorc started a growl that gradually changed into a chuckle. "Ever the fool," he said, holding out a hand to let the ethereal veil slide over the skin of his wrist. It was colder than ice, a chill felt more in the soul than the flesh. A true wisp of the underworld. "Know defeat, traitor, and drown in death with the knowledge that you played a part in aiding my resurrection and ending the world."

He stepped through the veil.