**** Warning, this chapter is very graphically violent. If you don't like reading about such things, you might want to take extra caution when reading this chapter.

Also... this makes the second update today... happy birthday?

Chapter 21

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Kaiba's head spun. The whole world seemed to bear pressure down on him at all angles. He was laying down somewhere hard, but his eyes didn't seem to want to work. He reached up to rub his injured head, but became confused when nothing seemed to hurt. His eyes fogged into awareness, but everything was still blurry. His confusion doubled when the whites and red tints of the hotel were absent, but golds and blues and oranges were present instead. Wherever he was was not the hotel room, and that sent adrenaline through him like a shot to the heart.

His body sprung up. His eyes were still a bit blurry, but he could make out the layout of the room. It seemed he was laying against a wall on his side and not too far behind him was another. On the wall along his side barely three feet from him was a doorway. Next to him on the other side was an elegant dresser. On the wall across from the doorway there was a large circular bed with drapery hanging down around it. Finally, on the last wall, the one across from the dresser, there were large windows facing out into the night and... Someone was standing before them, looking out.

"Where the hell am I?" Kaiba demanded trying to stand but finding it difficult.

"We are lost." The man said, before looking back at Kaiba. Kaiba froze. His eyesight had returned to it's normal ability, but he doubted it immediately. The man before him was in fact himself- only dressed in a blue gold and white robe. There was a headpiece hanging off the banister lining the windows. The man looked him up and down, then returned his gaze to the window. Kaiba didn't know what to think, but he refused to remain silent.

"What do you mean, lost?" he demanded, approaching the window himself. But something caught his eye. He looked on through the large open spaces to where the night sky met... a city? But the city was blurred, twisted, and dark. The building's edges were unclear, even their sizes seemed a little out of place.

"This is supposed to be Thebes. The grandest city in all the Egypts. But look at it. Marred, completely indistinguishable from the common slums of Giza. And all I have is this room. Alone. For millennia." His tone held the same venom as Kaiba's. It was unreal how similar they were.

"What am I doing here?" The other man scowled at Kaiba.

"The Gods are cruel to make my reincarnation so incompetent. You are in my mind using the power of my millennium rod, you fool." Kaiba was taken aback. He was not one to be talked to in such a manner, but he was also not entirely learned in this specific subject. He breathed deeply, to calm himself so he did not start a fist fight with... himself?

"So what now?" It took everything in him to refrain from using insults or sarcasm. His mind was crumbling. Thoughts of Yugi being right this whole time and him being... wrong... It was only adding to his stress and anger.

"Now, you give me your body, and I can end that damned Pharaoh." Kaiba almost laughed. He was done being pushed around.

"Listen you antique, you had your chance to get at him, and you failed." Kaiba started, The mans eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yugi is mine. . I'm not about to let you steal my body because you couldn't take him in the life you once had. This time around is mine, and you're going to have to deal with that, but don't worry, when I beat him, you can live vicariously through me." Kaiba sneered. The man smirked.

"It's good to see my goals have been reincarnated in you as well. I am Set." He bowed his head just enough to make his greeting apparent, but no more than necessary. The man paused for a moment, looking as if he was considering something important.

"... What?" Kaiba said, impatiently. Set ignored him.

"...No... it's impossible... slaves are not reincarnated..." He mumbled to himself pondering the teachings of his people. Kaiba then remembered Serenity and Sarah. She had called for Set, and he was guessing this was the same one. The twinge in his stomach disappeared as he realized she had told the truth. Serenity wasn't calling for another man. No, it was a different girl entirely. And he had treated her as if she were insane...

"You mean Sarah, don't you?" Kaiba said to him. Set's head snapped up, a look of shock plastered on his face.

"Where do you know this name?" He demanded. Anxiety and excitement were apparent in his voice. Kaiba smirked.

"Well, if you'd just let me get my girlfriend, you can find out for yourself." Kaiba said. He really needed to talk to Serenity anyways, to make it up to her for how he acted.

"What are you waiting for?" He could barely control the volume of his voice. Kaiba started to smirk but his head flipped again.

Kaiba lifted himself from the cheaply carpeted floor. Yugi and Ishizu were looming over him, looking worried and excited at the same time. Tea sat on the bed closest to him, smirking.

"Is... Is there a spirit in the rod?" Yugi asked. Kaiba could tell he was hoping very much that there was, but ignored him nonetheless.

"I need to see Serenity." He said, pushing his way up and out from between everyone. They let him make his way to the door, curiosity absolutely killing them, but they remained in the room and watched him travel out into the hall. The three searched for words, trying to start some chit chat, but were interrupted by the door swinging open again.

"Where... Is she?" It was Kaiba, and he was directing the question to Ishizu. Ishizu looked confused for a moment.

"She should be right at the end of the hall, at the balcony." She said, walking out to the hall to look towards the right one, thinking Kaiba must have gone to the wrong balcony. There was one at either end. Yugi and Tea followed behind. As Kaiba had said, the balcony was empty. "Perhaps... she went down to get something to eat?" It was very unlike her not to wait, but the morning and night prior had been exceedingly stressful. On their way back towards the lobby, they saw a room-service man approach their door. Ishizu greeted him, accepted a letter, then dismissed him. The group stood around her waiting for her to read it.

Ishizu's hands began to tremble, and her eyes widened.

"It's from Merik... no, Malik. He has Serenity..." Kaiba could immediately feel his rage build. She was gone for barely any time at all. He must have been waiting. He could feel Set cursing. "He wants us to bring all the millennium items to him in trade for her tonight at midnight. He... He wants us to bring them to the obelisk." Ishizu finished reading the letter. Kaiba decided against waiting. He immediately snapped open his cell phone.

The rest of the day was spent searching for her. Kaiba would have preferred to call for help from his contacts in Egypt, but it was pointed out that the kidnappers were violent and armed, and generally it wasn't a good idea to scare them. So long as they thought they were in control, they didn't have to panic and go to drastic measures. Kaiba, out of fear for Serenity, resigned himself to a personal search, and when that failed, just waiting.

Kaiba laid on one of the beds in the room. Ishizu, Yugi, and Tea wend down to get supper, but Kaiba's appetite was lacking. Not sure what else to do, he decided small talk was the best option.

'… why does Sarah fear Yugi... or whoever.' Kaiba asked, not entirely sure of the entity's name. Kaiba could feel Set turn ice cold.

'Do you really want to know?' He asked darkly. Kaiba almost retracted his question, but did want to hear the reason. He nodded to the empty room. 'It's the same reason I hate him.' Set said. Kaiba waited for him to elaborate, but before anything else was said, Kaiba reeled. He knew he was laying down, but he felt like his whole body was falling.

Suddenly Kaiba's eyes opened. He was in a courtyard, and somehow he was flying. The courtyard was a large square. The building surrounding the courtyard was two stories tall, and the second story had some sort of viewing area for spectators. The base level was open archways with what appeared to be guards lining just the inside of the building. The courtyard had a raised center with a five foot border between the platform and the building around it.

There were many people crowded in the spectators area and in the boarder pathways around the platform in the courtyard. In one section of the viewing area on the second floor, Kaiba could see many guards and some very decorated people. In the center of them was a familiar face. Yugi, or whatever his past life was called, sat looking over the area below. He seemed distant, and his body language made it apparent that he preferred not to be there.

Suddenly there was a commotion as a struggling Set was brought roughly out into the pathways.

"This is wrong! This is sick and twisted and wrong!" He screamed. "I was the violator!" He turned his attention to the pharaoh. Fear, anger and panic riddled his every movement. "It should be me! Kill me!" An unnamed adorned man stepped forth, a smirk on his face.

"You, My lord, will be given to the desert. The Gods are the only ones who watch for you now, and they appreciate the tainting of a Royal line even less then the great pharaoh." He said before stepping back into the shade. At this point the pharaoh rose, and approached the stone banister.

"High Priest Set." He announced sadly. "It is the order of your king and his high court that your punishment for the crimes you committed against me, my rule, my territory, and our line, is banishment. But first, you must bare witness to the correction of your violations." The pharaoh paused as a slave was brought to the platform, followed by a large man with a sinister grin on his face, and two other slaves carrying a covered box. Sarah was dragged directly in front of Set, where she dropped to her knees. "Her method of execution is left to be determined by the executor." He finished, unable to make eye contact with Set, and turned back towards his seat.

The large man- the executor, uncovered the box. Kaiba could clearly see whips of different styles, a curved sword similar to the one Malik and Bakura had used, and a large spiked mace. He felt sick. Did he really have to watch as these sick people planned on torturing his past life by destroying Sarah in front of him? Kaiba could hear somewhere in the back of his mind a muttered 'you asked...' But his focus remained on the girl who looked stunningly like Serenity. He could see tears flowing down her face, and the same on Set.

"Set... I love y-" She started, but a sickening crack ended her sentence before it's time. The spiked mace came in full contact with her lower back, causing her to shriek horridly and fall to the ground. Set screamed and struggled, but the noise was drowned out by the spectator's cheers. The sick bastards were enjoying the show as the executor lifted the mace again and brought it down again. Even with the crowd cheering and screaming their approval, Kaiba could still hear her bones snap under the deadly object.

The executor was playing with her. He aimed for places that caused pain, but did not kill. He was enjoying his free reign, and it was not only destroying Sarah, but Set and Kaiba in the process. Her scream finally pierced the crowd as he grabbed her by the throat and forced her to stand on her now shattered leg. While holding her up with one hand, he grabbed a hooked whip in the other hand. It barely took any effort for him to swing the thing at her, removing flesh as the hooks embedded themselves in her skin. She could no longer scream, her throat finally giving out on her.

It seemed like eternity passed before the final blow swung. When it finally came down to it, the man lifted her again, by the hair this time. She was covered in blood and almost unconscious, but it didn't seem to remove any excitement from him. He raised the mace once more and brought it down on the back of her skull. The impact caused her to fly forward off the platform. The guards restraining Set allowed him to catch her. He cradled her in his arms, whispering something to her. She blinked once... twice... then never again. The adorned man who spoke from before approached them. Set pulled her under him, refusing to let the man touch her, but the guards forced him to release his grip.

"This," the man reached down to the girl, ripping the millennium necklace from under her ragged clothing. "Does not belong in the hands of a slave." He said, sneering down at Set then walking back to his place on the second floor."

Kaiba looked at the girls crumpled form and couldn't breath.

Suddenly he was up, and making his way to the bathroom. He had barely gotten over the toilet before his stomach emptied itself into the bowl.

'Sick, isn't it?' Set mused from the back of his mind. Kaiba couldn't find any words, he was too busy with the image of her burned into his psyche. 'My own blood... condemning me to a fate worse than death.' He said. Kaiba would have looked up at him confusedly, if he was actually there. 'Atem is my cousin.' He explained sensing Kaiba's question.

Kaiba didn't want to think about it anymore. He didn't want to even know any of it anymore. He just wanted Serenity next to him-no, closer. In his arms, where nothing could touch her. He had to find her. He had to hold her. He had to tell her he was sorry...

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So yeah. Dark right? Some of you who might have read my previous fics from forever ago (have since been deleted) might recognize the memory scene from a story I wrote about three or four years ago. I really liked it (I'm twisted) and wanted to rewrite the story so it took place in a different time frame than the original, so I guess this story is a rewrite of my old one, but it's so different, that it might not count... but yeah. Hope you enjoyed it despite the gory-ness of this all.

R+R+E ~3