5. SECRETS REVEALED

In my darkest hours I could not foresee
That the tide could turn so fast to this degree
Can't believe my eyes
How can you be so blind?
Is the heart of stone, no empathy inside?
Time keeps on slipping away and we haven't learned
So in the end now what have we gained?

Are they themselves to blame, the misery, the pain?
Didn't we let go, allowed it, let it grow?
If we can't restrain the beast which dwells inside
it will find it's way somehow, somewhere in time
Will we remember all of the suffering
Cause if we fail it will be in vain

- Our Solemn Hour, by Within Temptation

It had taken Yami five minutes to convince Yugi to leave her room and that was the longest five minutes of Chisis and Beryl's lives, since the weight was totally on their shoulders. Both had emerged and made their way across the living room where Yami sat down in the recliner he had left while Yugi sat on the arm of the recliner, not even flinching when Yami slipped an arm around her waist. "Shall we begin this little story time?" Yami asked as Chisis, who was still kneeling by the punch bowl, refused to look at the couple and Beryl bit her lip.

"Can we please start at the beginning of this particular situation?" Youko suggested as all attention turned to her, but she ignored their surprised looks. "It is obvious we have no time to go back any further." No one was protesting that request, since it was obvious that Youko understood a fraction of what was going on.

"In that case, that means I should begin." Beryl stated before Chisis could start his story, shocking the nervous teenage boy. "All of you present already have an idea who I am, since Ate… Yami introduced me as his mother. I believe this also starts just before Heba died."

"Heba?" Youko asked as Zuka shifted, nervous about the subject of that woman, and tipped his head back to avoid eye contact with everyone while Yami tightened his grip around Yugi's waist and turned to bury his face into her side as she relaxed a bit and drapped her arm around his shoulders in comfort.

"My mother." Chisis spoke up as Zuka's head snapped up to stare at the boy. Malik fell over, having slid to far to the side to listen to the story, but no one looked away from Chisis or Beryl since the discussion just became something like a train wreck that no one could look away from. "She was the Pharaoh Atemu's second wife, his Chosen Wife, and she was murdered." He explained with a stormy looked as Beryl cleared her throat, drawing attention back to her.

"Heba was the only apprentice of Dark Paladin Shadi, who was the oldest and most powerful dark magic practioners in the lands, and she later the apprentice became a master and she was titled Silent Magician, the most powerful white magic practioner." Beryl explained while sitting back, hands folded in her lap. "She was also the missing elder daughter of the neighboring amazon kingdom. This kingdom was the one my bastard of a husband coveted control over, but could never defeat in battle, so he decided to arranged a marriage between the Amazon Queen's daughter and my son."

"So they were set to marry." Ryou pointed out as Zuka snorted.

"Keyword is 'missing,' chibi-hikari. Before Heba's heritage came to light, that was after Nepha's demotion from Chosen Wife to second wife but before her pregnancy, everyone believed that Nepha was the only daughter of the family." The Thief King explained as no one said a word and he turned to a frowning Youko. "Nepha was the youngest of three children, she was also a spoiled brat and the spirit sealed in the Millennium Tauk."

"Ah, the psycho bitch with too many issues to name." Youko stated with a shiver, remembering all too well the spirit that had tortured her several times over a course of ten or more years. "Go on." She added with a sweeping motion of her hand.

"Nepha than attempted to use a deadly drug that prositutes take to abort unwanted pregnancies, since such was dangerous to their trade, on Heba. Unfortunately for Heba her magic was not happy, but she had to make a decision between her life and her children's." the red haired former Queen continued to tell, her hands now forming fists as she tried to keep her voice steady. "When her magic began to be overtaxed, she made the decision to sacrifice her soul to save her children and Chisis was born that day from her sacrifice while his unborn sister was stillborn. Well, we believed she was stillborn since she was not alive when we pulled the children from her weaking body."

"A true mother." Malik muttered as Yugi turned and slid into Yami's lap as he tightened his embrace, burying his face into her hair to hide his tears.

"Atemu fell into a depression so severe that he was just a walking shell, barely eating and barely taking care of himself. Young Chisis was raised by Zuka and the others till age five." Beryl continued, biting her lip now as she mentally debated at how much of the story she wanted to tell. For now she decided that she would not tell them the true ending to the dynasty that her son ruled before he was sealed in the Millennium Puzzle. They were not ready for that and the present event did not have anything to do with that event that had broken her heart and her will to live, those many thousand of years ago. "I had began a war against the Amazons and later against Queen Serenity for the travesty they orchestrated against my family. In those five years I received letters about the suffering kingdom, the deaths of those that were close to my son, and then that Chisis was whisked away from the war for his safety and handed over to Zuka's half-brother— Diamond." She stopped there as Chisis sighed.

"A year after I settled in with Uncle Diamond, a cloaked figure calling himself 'Wiseman' approached Uncle Diamond and the other members of his family. He offered to take everyone away from the war that was tearing the lands a part, the only price would be that Uncle Diamond and the others serve him for a period of twenty years." The teen explained with a defeated look, looking down at his clenched hands. "Twenty years is a long time when the man you promised to is a demanding bastard that has one goal he will not tell to anyone."

"How did you escape that?" Yugi asked as he glanced up with a sad look.

"Uncle Sapphire hid me away so that I did not have to sign my name." He admitted with a hint of an embarassed blush. "He and Uncle Diamond thought that my parents would not be happy with them if I was enslaved to such a man, nor did they trust telling the man I was there. It was my only saving grace."

"How do you know the pink menace, Chibi-Usa was it?" Youko asked, tilting her head to the side as the teen's eyes narrowed and he looked very annoyed.

"I met her by accident in the future he took us to. It was the future of Tokyo, I know that because they were so creative and called the place 'Crystal Tokyo.'" He answered, wrinkling his nose as a few memories of the cold and desolate place popped into his mind. "She is the Princess of Earth and just as stuck-up, her parents are Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask and they are considered the 'perfect' rulers but neither one of them have any personality and the only reason why they rule is because of this pre-destination shit they forced on to everyone."

"So like the bitch Serenity to set things up in such a way, her and her pet manipulation Sailor Pluto." Zuka sneered as a few looked surprised by his statement. "The joys of having a broken family is dealing with half-siblings with issues. Serenity was a controlling bitch when our loving Mother sent Diamond and I away to suffer and be killed as slaves, it is passed down that line of false 'serene' bitches." He growled out as no one dared to ask him about his family lineage.

"Tokyo was revamped to look like a rock candy palace and everything was this utopia where nothing happened. I got back here because this shrouded figure pushed a time key into my hand and told me to go back and make sure things never came to that." Chisis added as he looked up and at Yugi. "And, because of that, I found a true family."

Usually such a phrase would inspire a group hug, but no one moved.

"This means we will have to go forward in time, but how?" Yugi asked as all glanced at her, since she had been silent p to this point. "What? Time Wizard is too dangerous of a gamble."

"Good point." Malik added with a shiver, trying to imagine what would happen if they were not that lucky on the spin.

"I still have a store of power, plus the gods may bless such a journey, and the Shadow Realms thought Zuka and Yami." Beryl stated as none spoke. "We got the power and I can direct you to where a concentration of Serenity's power is, so we would not be shooting in the dark too much."

"Are we willing to take such a risk?" Malik asked as Ryou got to his feet.

"Like hell am I going those two idiots rule the world." The white haired teen stated and nodded to Beryl.

"Not to mention we have to make sure Nepha is taken care of and that this 'Wiseman' character is not a blast from the ancient past that may potentially want something else." Yugi pointed out as Malik snorted.

"Sure, let's do this for the sake of removing Nepha and preventing such a bleak future." He stated with a grin. "To making sure the future is not set in stone."

"Are you sure?" Zuka asked them as the three nodded, to Chisis's shock and fear. "I hope so because if the Pharaoh and I are involved in this little ritual, that means we can't go with you."

"We have to stand on our own sooner or later." Yugi stated as she got to her feet, crossing her arms. "You guys dealt with this pyscho for far too long, it is time that we step up and make sure she is gone for good. On that note, it will take her longer to try and break us since she doesn't know our weaknesses as well as yours." She added as both spirits looked surprised as her statement.

"Off to bed with you all!" Youko stated as she too got to her feet. "We all have a busy morning, too bed!" she stated and shooed everyone off, minus Beryl, which they conceeded to do since she had a point.

"Are you sure you are okay with all of this?" the red haired woman asked, looking a bit afraid, as Youko sighed and pulld her friend to her feet and pushed her towards the hallway.

In the early morning hours the atmosphere at the Kame Game Shop was heavy and resigned, but only because of the secrets of the past that had been revelaed the previous night. Youko did not sleep at all, her mind a whirl with everything that had come out, so she had decided to watch movies while everyone else went to bed, having gone as far as guiding a drained Beryl to her room. There was a sound of faint footsteps and a pensive Yami entered the living room, fully dressed for the day. He froze when he noticed that someone was up and the fact that Youko was staring at him. "Youko-basan?" he asked as she nodded and motioned for him to sit down on the couch by her as she turned her attention back to the movie she was watching— Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, of all things.

"You do know that if you break my Yugi's heart, no god or goddess in heaven or hell will be able to save you from the pain I will inflict on you… correct?" she asked in a steady tone as he sat straight up, shocked by the cooly deleivered death threat.

"If I do break her heart that I hope that they do not save me, Youko-baasan. I will try my damndest to never make her cry or to hurt her in any way, but you and I both know that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship." Yami stated as Youko pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, glaring at him from the corner of her eye. This in turn made Yami feel a bit uneasy, since he had never faced an overprotective parent before, so he decided to change the topic. "You do know that Zuka nor I nor Beryl will be going with them tomorrow to the future. We will be sitting here in the present, biting our nails…" he continued as Youko turned and glared at him.

"They are stronger than you obviously believe, Yami, and you should know that." She snapped as he frowned, confused. "You are implying that they have room to fail, my sons and daughter do not need such miniscule negative thoughts." He slumped back as Youko did not look away from him, which unnerved the Ancient Pharaoh. "They will succeed and I believe in them with all my soul and heart, so should you." With that and uncomfortable silence fell between them. Unbeknowst to the two Zuka was leaning gainst the wall, across from Yugi's room and just out of view of the two, listening to the discussion.

"What if they have to go head-to-head with the Scouts? Will they be able to go all the way?" he asked as she looked away from him and back to the television screen.

"They will do what they think needs to be done and will accomplish it by any means possible, I trust them." She emphatically told him with a nod. "No one asked Yugi, or Ryou, or Malik what their views are about knowing the future. Even though you are her fiancee, I doubt you know what she thinks of things… hell, I barely know their believes but I have the reason of only being around for a couple months. You lived in her head!" she pointed out as Yami flinched, but did not counter her.

"Well said, Youko." Zuka drawled out as Youkos head whipped around and Yami's eyes narrowed at the Thief King's enterance, having heard enough. "Pharaoh, Yugi handled herself pretty damn good in the fight against Nepha a couple months ago, then Ryou finally came out of his meek shell, and who knows what Malik will bring to the table. Have a little faith, will ya'?" he asked as Youko smiled at him and turned back to her movie as the Thief King sat on her other side. The next hour was spent in silence, watching the final fight take place in the movie when Youko glanced at the clock on the VCR and sighed.

"I guess I will go wake Beryl, you three will need all the time you can to prepare. I'll send my children on the bus." She stated getting to her feet as Zuka reached out and grabbed her wrist in a loose grip.

"Do you consider us your children?" he asked as she chuckled and pulled away, pausing in the doorway to the hallway.

"When you marry you will officially be so, right now you are in that transition stage." With that the woman went off to wake Beryl.

"I thought you hated Heba and I." Yami stated as the credits began to roll and Zuka snickered.

"You are considering Yugi to be Heba?" he asked as the Pharaoh frowned.

"No, but you made it apparent early in our tentative alliance that you hated me and everyone connected to me." Yami remarked as Zuka snorted and looked away.

"Five millenniums of silence and darkness gives a person time to think, but I still hate you because you're the Pharaoh and I don't like government in any way but I have come to terms that it was your father's order that massacred my village. In concerns to Heba, I hated her because she had no personality and was always so damned perfect. Personally, I like Yugi because she likes being imperfect and off the wall and if you screw with her in any way I will slowly destroy your soul." He snapped out and sat back, arms crossed and neither man spoke another word.

"I would never intentionally harm Yugi in any way." Yami growled out, glaring at the Thief King.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Zuka pointed out in a dry tone as the Ancient Pharaoh scowled. "I know that you love her, or else you wouldn't be so obsessed with her protection and happiness, but if you slip up and start treating her like she is Heba I will make you regret it." He added and stalked off into the kitchen.

Three tense hours later, two dark spirits left with Beryl before Yugi, Malik, and Ryou were pulled out of bed by a nervous Youko who prodded them to getting ready before the bus arrived. Chisis was lurking in the shadows of the hallway, clad in pajama pants with a baggy t-shirt with a black robe, trying not to let the tears that gathered in the corners of his eyes fall as he witnessed the heart breaking sight before him. In reality he did not want to risk losing them, his new family, to a future that would not be or to the family that he loved till it was warped by the vision of a man that knew how to manipulate people. It bad his chest ache when he seen Yugi, clad in a pair of black jeans with a purple-and-white stripped turtle neck under a black t-shirt that declared 'I used to care but now I take a pill for that' with a black leather belt and a familiar pouch around her waist, packing her messenger bag with things that they may need. He really didn't want her to go!

Ryou, who was wearing a pair of simple black pants with a black turtleneck, carefully tucked his dueling deck into an extra pouch, which Yugi had lent him, and than clipped that on to a belt loop. Zuka had left a prepared ragged back pack for him, since the Thief King decided that he would not let them go without materials he approved of for a fight, and that sat at his feet. Running a hand nervously through his spikey white hair and glanced over at Malik, who had went with faded blue jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt that read 'Stand back! I'm going to try Science' on the front with a stick figure holding beakers, who was hugging a sobbing Youko.

Chisis took in a deep breath and darted from the shadows and hugged Yugi, burying his face in her shoulder as everyone else looked surprised by this. "Do you have the two God Cards?" he asked her as she looked a bit taken back by his question, but than smiled fondly and reached down to the pouch on her hip.

"Nearly forgot about them, but Yami slipped them into my deck before he left." She stated as Chisis pulled back and reached into his robe pocket, pulling out another card.

"Now you have the full set." He stated as Yugi accepted the card, looking down at the image in surprise. The image displayed was of a golden creature that looked to be metal with the head of an eagle and its claws and wings visiable. "A srouded figure gave that to me before I came to the present, said that I would know what to do with it when the time came."

"In the words of Jonouchi, that sounds ominous and cliched." Malik remarked as Chisis blushed and hugged Yugi again, which she returned by wrapping her right arm around his shoulders while tucking the card into her deck with her left hand.

"Things will turn out all right, Chisis, we'll be back before you know it and we can than have a better birthday party for Youko." She stated as he cracked a smile, but it was sad.

"How about before my birthday?" the younger teen asked, sounding rather hopeful.

"Sure!" Malik stated as the boy turned to the grinning blonde. "When's your birthday?"

"October 31." Chisis answered as Ryou flashed two thumbs up.

"Consider it done." The white haired teen stated as the three ruffled his hair or hugged him before approaching Youko and hugging her one last time, before she handed Yugi a piece of paper with written directions to Beryl's house on it. With heavy hearts they picked up their bags and than proceeded to check the contents again, out of paranoia. With a wave they slipped on their shoes—well, boots (in Yugi's case), combat boots (in Malik's case), and worn tennis shoes (in Ryou's case)— and were out the door as Youko rushed over and glomped on to Chisis while sobbing about her children going off into the dangerous future.

The bus trip was tense and boring, but the three arrived in Juuban and were stalking through the streets on their way to Beryl's residence. "Motou-san!" a familiar voice shouted as the three paused outside the Crown Arcade when a frantic Mizunio Ami and Hino Rei.

"We suspected you would be around this area, more so when that pink haired brat came back proud because of something she did." Rei stated as she brushed some dust from her jeans before nervously fixing her zipped up brown coat while Ami fiddled with the hem of her knee length dark blue dress or the buttons of her gray, wool overcoat. "Your descriptions came up in her 'epic' tale."

"Why aren't you with your friends?" Ryou asked, more curious than annoyed, as Ami blushed.

"Can we discuss this someplace private?" the blue haired genius asked, looking around.

"We are on our way to Ba-chan's, why not tag along?" Yugi asked as both froze for a moment before nodding and they set off at a quick pace towards more residental area of Juuban.

"You do have a good idea of what is going on, correct?" Ami asked as Malik bit his lip.

"Some things came to light last night, most concerning why you were heading to the bus stop to Domino." The blonde answered as Rei crossed her arms and bowed her head.

"We had a split of ideals with our other friends." Rei admitted in an even tone, obviously trying to keep her emotions in check. "They bought into what was told to us by the pink haired menace and what was revealed does not go well with my, our, views." The shrine maiden admitted as they continued down the streets, Yugi leading while occasionally looking down at the directions had Youko had handed her.

"What views are in question?" Yugi asked, making a left turn as they followed her, just as Ryou began to whistle a slow and dark tune.

"We do not believe that the future is set in stone and that by knowing it we doom ourselves." Ami answered as they walked for a block before making a right turn. "What I mean is we were told that we gave up our lives, our families, our dreams, and our aspirations to someone. We had no choice because of what happened in the past and what was brought to the present." That was heavy to all as Yugi came to a stop in front of a typical, two-story house with a fenced in yard.

"What would you say if I told you that we are going to follow your friends and put an end to whatever is going on?" Yugi told them, tucking the directions back into her pocket and facing the two girls. "Ryou, Malik, and I are going to go after them and set what we can right."

"I hope you do." Rei stated as she pulled out three good luck charms that the Cherry Hill Temple usually sold, handing one to each of the three from Domino City. "Those are for good luck and to know that we support what you will be doing."

"What about our discussion?" Ami asked as Malik smiled at her.

"You already told us what you were about to do, all we can ask is that you believe in us." He answered as Ryou nodded in agreement.

"You are welcome to come in with us and get to know Beryl-san on better terms." Ryou offered as both nodded and followed the trio into the house, resolving themselves to mend a broken bridge that was broken long before they were born.

The three heard the front door open and than shut and moments later they heard several pairs of feet coming up the stairs in front of the door and towards the guest room they were preparing for the transport ritual. Zuka sat back against the wall, under the window, while Yami was sitting in a corner looking much like a broken doll. "We have all that is possible finished." Beryl whispereed as the door opened and five teenagers entered. "Are you three ready to face the great beyond?"

"As ready as ever, Ba-chan." Malik responded as the two girls behind them looked nervous about being in the presence of the red haired former Negaverse Queen.

"One moment." Zuka drawled as he got to his feet and shuffled over to Ryou. "You'll be needing this, chibi-hikari." He stated taking the Millennium Ring from around his neck and slipped it over a surprised Ryou's head. "Considering your present powers are not strong enough, or controlled enough, to fully protect you this Ring will allow you to draw on me and my own powers. If things get too out of hand, I'll rip through hell to save your ass." With that he kissed Ryou which causied the girls, minus Yugi, to blush bright red.

"I have a feeling they will want a little 'personal time' when this is over." Malik dryly commented, the voice in his head snorting and muttering something, as Yugi snickered.

"By then everyone will be pairing off, I think Strings wants to kidnap Chisis to have her wicked way with." Rei commented, blush still prominent across her cheeks. "She has plots for that one."

"Yugi." Yami stated as he got up and pulled the Millennium Puzzle from round his neck. "Same as what the Thief said, this will be a link to my powers since you are just figuring your own out and I would feel more at ease if you wore it. Make sure to bring everyone back." The Ancient Pharaoh told her with a smile as he mirrored Zuka's previous move and slipped the Millennium Puzzle around her neck.

"Thank you, Yami." Yugi stated as she kissed him on the cheek. "I'll save the kiss for our return." He pouted as Malik pulled the Millennium Rod from the pocket of his sweatshirt and sighed.

"I feel so left out." He muttered as Ami and Rei looked a bit mischevious and ambled over to flank him. Ami took the Millennium Rod as Rei gave a dramatic sigh.

"You will be needing this." Ami stated handing the Rod to him as he blinked.

"And a kiss for good luck, our knight in armor." Rei added as both kissed him on the cheek at the same time, causing him to blush and the rest to laugh at the dark blush that colored his cheeks.

"Now that's a well wishing." Zuka stated as the girls looked innocent.

"Now, let us begin." Beryl stated, her serious tone killing the light atmosphere as everyone turned serious. Yami smiled sadly at his lover and motioned for them to step into the middle of the room while Ami and Rei stayed by the door, out of instinct and logic since they had no idea what was going on. "Son?"

"Of course, Mother." Yami stated bowing his head as Zuka stalked around the group to stand by the two girls. Beryl took a deep breath and gacefully fell to her knees with her head bowed.

"Gods of the Shadow Realms, the honored ancients that blessed our homelands long ago." Yami intoned in Egyptian, raising his arms up as the three teens watched him. The Ancient Pharaoh closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "I ask for your aide in our endevor to send these three warriors to the future that a foolish mortal has tried to set in stone, circumventing your powers. Please belss them with your guidance…" his voice trailed off as the shadows in the room came together around the three teens and dispelled moments later and they were no longer present.

The only thing with such a ritual such as calling on the gods to aide, was that one never knew if the gods gave their blessing or took a sacrifice. This is what put the three Egyptians on edge…

A/N: Well, if most have noticed, I am getting scattered with updates and this is not intentional. First off, my main issue is real life killing my urge to write and second, Crystal Tokyo is mentally breaking me because I am attempting to either make Crystal Tokyo a bit more realistic or trying to give a reason for what happened in the manga. The other part of the second issue is figuring if I am focusing too much on filler, but I defend the fact that most of this is a need to know deal if not boring. I apologize ahead of time.

Hopefully the Sailor Moon section of this turns out better then most out there...