Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, and all people, places, and events from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! were written and are the rightful property of Kazuki Takahashi (as it should be; if any of us fanfiction writers get our little hands on it... well, then it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh!).

Author's Note: Ooh, the 38th chappie is here! Enjoy, my readers!

#2 Author's Note: All thoughts are in italics.

Revival of the Heart

By: Angel's Nocturne

Chapter 38: What Matters Most Of All….

Anzu sat in the sand for a long time, contemplating all of the things that had happened to her that had brought her to this point. She lightly kicked the sand up with her boots, watching the clouds of it fade away in the breeze as it picked up the particles and sent them fluttering out to other parts of the desert. She observed them go, and wished that she could do the same.

Her heart felt like a shattered vase, spread out in pieces everywhere and if she tried to collect them together she would only hurt herself more. She wasn't sure what to do… she was upset because she dreamed of kissing Bakura, and the one person that she did love was going to die if they didn't bring his spirit back to the living world soon. Her world was falling a part around her and she was unsure of where to turn, or what to do….

Pull yourself together! Her conscience said, and she knew that she was overreacting to the situation, but how could she help it? She wasn't some strong, mystical being who could use a Millennium Item and make everything better with her Shadow Magic; she was a normal, ordinary girl who was simply thrown into extraordinary circumstances for which she had no control over. She was a pawn, like any other mortal teen playing such a dangerous game would be….

But I don't have to be, she thought to herself, I can help them! I've always been there to help my friends, so what makes this time any different? She gradually stood up off the sandy ground, her fists clenched as she took in a deep inhale and released it slowly, in turn diminishing her stress. I've been crying long enough- it's time that I finally start helping everyone instead of being the sappy burden. Though she was still a bit shaky, and butterflies did acrobatics in her stomach she made a gathering of what little courage she did have. She imagined all of her friends- Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Atemu- all looking at her with confidence and trust in her abilities, in her chances of winning, in her. She realized that, with that image bright and clear in her thoughts, the nervousness and fear died quickly, and she actually did have the strength to continue this fight.

I'm gonna do this… for my friends! And so she climbed the steep sand dune, and headed back towards the cave where her companions, and Atemu, were waiting for her.

---

"This is ridicules" Kaiba mumbled as he listened in on the deep talk that the three others in the room were having near him. He had grown bored of it quickly, and had no desire to know anything about magic and spells other than that they were for fools, similar to the ones that were spitting out nonsense a few feet away from him. He stood with his arms crossed and his back straight, and though that ached him slightly he didn't pay much mind since he refused to slump, or otherwise resemble that dog Wheeler. That wouldn't happen, not even over his corpse.

"Say the passage again, Miss Ishizu" Odion said quietly.

"I believe it went something along the lines of, 'Light of Egypt rise like the sun, from pit of peach the earth is spun, shadows flee but lost is heart, exchange of that which one cannot live to part'. The 'Light of Egypt' is definitely the Pharaoh, and him rising like the sun must be the revival- however, it said that he would be revived from 'pit of peach', and that is where I am lost."

"Well" Ryou interjected, "maybe it's a location to a place- the pit of a peach is its center, so maybe it's the center of a city or something."

"Yes, but which city?" Odion asked. "What village? There are many of those all across Egypt, though they may only be runs or completely nonexistent save a dot on the map."

"Then perhaps a monument- that could be it, right?" Everyone was silent, not answering Ryou's inquiry for a short while until Ishizu finally spoke up, though it was very hushed and as though she was trying to word out a thought that she had that wasn't fully finished.

"What I don't understand" she whispered, "is why a peach is mentioned in this passage. To my knowledge, there were no peaches in Egypt- I may not be completely sure but it still seems odd to me. If what I say is true, then what significance does the peach have to this riddle?"

An absence of sound held still, the thought-process taking place instead of the exchange of words, as the trio continued to brainstorm ideas until their heads were throbbing. Suddenly, the fact that the deep quiet had not been pierced finally caught on, and Ishizu, Odion, and Ryou began to feel uneasy by the calm. It was too silent, and with the notice of that came the obvious continuation of thought, the next sequence of questions that instantly came to mind.

"Kaiba?" Everybody turned around to where they last remembered seeing the CEO, and were shocked to see that he was laying face-down on the ground, unconscious and not appearing to be breathing. They all rushed abruptly to him, kneeling down beside him to see what had happened. Ryou pushed him onto his back, so that he was now laying face-up, and Ishizu checked to see that he had a pulse by putting a hand to his neck and listening intently. After a moment or two of dramatic pause, Ishizu sighed and looked to the males.

"It's alright- he alive" she said. Both of them let out a suspended exhale, but their troubles were far from over.

"What happened to Kaiba?" Ryou asked fearfully. A shadow flew out of the corner of their eyes, and all of them wheeled about to see what it was. To their dismay, they saw nothing besides the dark walls of the cave and the sunlit opening- their only means of escape if anything were to occur.

"We need to protect the Pharaoh! He may be in danger" Odion said, and as he did so both he had Ishizu sprint stealthily over to his body, the multi-colored haired boy still deep in slumber and unaffected by the latest panic. But they had no need to worry about him, as they soon realized once they approached the area.

"Where is Master Malik!" Odion shouted, his emerald eyes wide with terror as he looked around swiftly, with no Malik within his range of sight. Ishizu stood dumbstruck as she stared at the empty spot where her brother's body once lay, and then quickly regained her composure and took charge of the situation.

"Be on your guard Odion! Malik is not himself- we cannot think of him as our brother if he should attack-" her sentence was cut off as she turned to address Ryou. Her eyes veered to look at him, and what she saw was Ryou struggling against Malik as the blonde Egyptian grabbed a hold on the teen's neck. Ryou gagged a little as his pale hands attempted to grip Malik's hands and pry them loose, but he proved not to be strong enough as the amethyst-eyed servant continued to choke him, strangling him until there would be no more air left in him to stay alive. Ishizu rushed towards her brother and fiercely shook him, trying to pull him away from Ryou and let the snow-haired teen live.

"Malik! Malik, stop this now!" Ishizu shouted, but it was to no avail as he closed his hands around Ryou's neck tighter, and in turn Ryou's face became constricted as he tried to breathe but only found that he could cough a small wince out, and only that. Stars started to cross his already dim vision, and his head felt light as he saw the world around him grow dark and quiet… as Bakura possessed him and took control of the present predicament.

"Ma…lik… you…bastard" he hissed venomously as he ripped the Egyptian's hand from his throat and shoved him a good few feet away, watching as Malik staggered from the sudden push and then gained his balance, his body slowly aligning itself back to perfect straightness like a puppet being pulled back up by the puppeteer's commanding strings. He observed them with cold lavender eyes that made no suggestion that he had is own mind back, instead displaying the blue Millennium Symbol that was so prominently Samira' on his forehead, underneath his blonde bangs. He smirked at them malignantly, and he made no move to attack as the two of them stared at each other and waited for the first move to commence.

"Malik, stop obeying Samira!" Ishizu shouted to him, but his attention was not drawn to her in the least as he continued to stand off against Bakura and his lethal glare, his fists clenched and his legs positioned so that they could spring in an instant, his target most likely tomb robber who stood in his way so defiantly. He grinned maliciously.

"My Queen will rule the world- there is nothing that any of you fools can do to stop her. She arrives soon, and with her entrance will come your destruction!" He laughed at them, showing the poisoning evil that now consumed his being through Samira's control. His eyes moved towards the sleeping form of Atemu and his smirk grew larger. "I will be here to make sure of that."

"That you will not do, Brother!" Ishizu said as both Odion and herself drew close to the Pharaoh's body in a protective shield, facing him and eyeing him carefully. "Please Malik! Try to break free! She's brainwashed you to believe her lies! Don't give into them!" But her calls were only met by cackling from her sibling, his head thrown back to accentuate it so that it echoed throughout the cave.

"I don't follow orders from you anymore, Sister. You cannot dictate me around the way you used to before Samira- I belong to her now, and it is to her that I have ears and a will to listen. Your cries will not change that." Without warning Malik's gaze shifted to the cave entrance, where his eyes were drawn to something there. The others turned to see a figure shadowed by the light of the noon day sun, and though they could only see her outline they instantly knew who it was from the short hair, skirt and delicate stance that represented only one person out of the two that they were expecting.

---

Anzu was worn from walking up and down the sand dunes, since it was still a bit of a struggle to manage such a feat in her high-hell boots. She was mildly cheerful, due to the fact that the small bit of exercise she obtained from the strain proved useful in relieving her of some of her stress. She felt confident that, one way or another, she would bring Atemu back from the dead, even if it took a little thinking on her part and a bit more time. She could waste any precious time at all though, so the faster she got to working with Ishizu and Odion the faster the process would be. She came within reach of the small cave opening, and it looked pitch black inside from how bright it was outside. She squinted as she entered, and her manifestation was answered by someone's yelling towards her.

"Anzu! Don't go near Malik- he's still Samira's slave!" Bakura shouted when he saw Anzu approaching cautiously, her cerulean eyes scanning the dark room as she stepped forward into the room. She was at first unaware of the dangers that hid in the shadowed room, her eyes having a hard time adjusting to it from just being out in the blinding sunlight. She had thought that something was amiss from the way the silence had held when she first entered, and now that she saw Malik, blue Millennium Symbol and all, she became conscious to the fact that she had walked into a delicate battle, and her presence had now tipped the scales- possibly out of their favor.

"Aah, Anzu" Malik whispered as he watched her with animalistic eyes that narrowed as he spoke, "so nice of you to join us. You almost missed the death of Pharaoh Atemu, but now that you are present... things can commence as planned." Anzu stood silent for a moment or two as she observed the conditions, and she realized that she was not in a good place at the present time. Malik could launch an attack at her at any second, and she didn't have many options after that. His words also stunned her a bit, and she was taken a back by the thought that he had awakened to assassinate Atemu now. Why was he attacking them now, instead of earlier, but then a thought occurred to her: Samira must be coming. Anzu knew that she didn't stand a chance against Samira if she came into this feud, and once she did there would be no reason for Samira to not kill off Atemu as soon as possible. Everything was happening so soon; she was just getting over her grievances and now this crops up. She wasn't prepared, wasn't ready for a fight, and at this time her new-found courage was being depleted faster than Ishizu's food stash.

"Malik, you have to stop! Please don't fight us!" Anzu tired to reason with the former tomb keeper, but he only chuckled.

"Save your words for my Queen- in fact, why don't you just tell her now, since she has just made her appearance." All of them grew silent with fear, as the air thickened with a collective darkness that felt so cold and bitter that it could only be from one person. The shadows became darker, the air grew chilled, and just as Anzu felt like she would lose the feeling in her legs from fear she realized that she could sense a presence accumulate behind her. She turned her head slowly, and with wide eyes she watched terrified as the floating figure began to move into the cave, her steel-toed boots inches off the floor as her black skirt swayed with her slight movements, her hair gliding like an inky-black waterfall from her head down to her waist, framing her darkly tanned face and teasing crimson eyes. She moved leisurely, and as she loomed over Anzu the frightened brunette finally found control over her legs and shakily backed away from the woman, who smirked in delight at the fear that was overflowing out of her prey's eyes. Anzu staggered, but eventually found her footing and managed to scurry over to where Ishizu and Odion were standing, but that didn't seem enough to stop the rabid thumping in Anzu's chest as she watched the witch hover before them, smiling from ear to ear, with a bow and arrow in her hands, maliciously staring at them as she chuckled amusingly.

Now the true fight began; now the tables would turn and the ending to their story would be dependent upon the next few moments, and what would occur within them. The result of this encounter would determine if Atemu lived or died, if the world plundered into nothing or remained safe from evil, if Anzu would ever see Yugi's amethyst eyes look to her again. Now was the instant that they had all loathed, feared, and hoped would never come:

They were now under the ultimate attack: Samira had just arrived.

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Author's Note: Yes, I know a bit of a lame ending but hey, I couldn't think of anything else to say. Well, here it is, hope you guys enjoy the next few chappies to come!