Hello there everyone! I'm excited today! Not only is it Friday, but my beloved mate is finally returning home today to stay! I can't wait till she gets home, and we're finally done with waiting for Friday! I'm just so happy and excited that I think I could bust! (//Tries to calm self by using claws to shred stack of papers.\\) Still not calm yet! I just can't wait! (//Gets dreamy eyed about mate. Finally snaps out of it though when he realize people are staring at him.\\) Sorry about that, hehe.
Last time, Ryou lost the duel and his soul, but managed to give Illidan the advantage he needed to beat Darcia. Darcia was finally defeated, but at a cost of Ryou though. Now our group knows where to find Dartz, but the million dollar question is, who is it that Dartz has recruited to stop all invaders (as if everyone doesn't have a clue, hehe)?
Alright, it's fun time now! Let's do it! (//Cranks up review theme music, aka, anything on Yahoo Music, lol.\\)
Tomb Robber Vicky: That's alright. As I tell everyone, life goes on, and I understand when people don't review. (//Takes her off the list of people to track down and force to review.\\) Uh, you didn't see the list, hehe. But yes, Darcia sure had a powerful deck, and poor Ryou lost. I don't know how the story will go on without everyone's favorite villain turned good guy. It's quite possible Illidan won't like who is next. But Bakura, you're always one unhappy spirit…
Ultimate Legendary Master: Sure did end with a bang. Yes, you were right, Ryou didn't make it. I figured I'd end the duel there since Illidan was furious, and Ryou had helped set him up to win. Yay! It's Friday today, so celebrate! (//Sings "Let's Celebrate!" to the world. Hears boos from cube next door, and sees office people standing at doorway with pitch forks.\\) Did I go to hell? Lol, wait, they're going to hunt me down if I don't stop. Alright, you guys win. (//Sulks, but gets happy again thinking about his mate.\\) At any rate, as for how many chapters are left, well, I wish not to reveal that yet. Lol, everyone wishes to know I know, but I'll say this much. The story is on a downhill slide, seeing how a confrontation with Dartz is coming up, and then there isn't much after that, now is there? Or is there, hehe. Anyways, as for Darcia's wife, more on her will be revealed as the story continues on. Thank you for you're comments!
pink-kiss-candy: (//Watches a new ten tons of homework is dumped back on top of her.\\) I never liked math, lol, even though I almost got a math minor in college (we had to take almost that many to be a computer scientist. That's right, this half demon is a smart one, hehe.\\) (//Marie:\\) "Sometimes…" I heard that! Anyways, thanks for the comment.
Isis the Sphinx: Possibly… She was mind controlled in ToP, but if it is her, who knows what Dartz could have done to her. Cool that Verizon is working again. Very cool that you're getting your emails again from Now you can at the least get emails about stories again.
ardee: Muwhahahaha! Yes, evil indeed! Thank you for the comment. True, Ryou had stayed for so long, and fought incredibly hard, but unfortunately, he had to go, but he went down a hero at the least. Possibly it could be Marie or Yami. No one seems to think Yami couldn't be evil, hehe. Or it could be someone else that means a lot to Illidan. Hmm, parents are a possibility, or a good friend. Who knows though, other than me, hehe.
x-knight20: Could be, or might not be. Ouch, that had to hurt. Poor mortal and his broken hand. Here, I'll give you a hand. (//Claps hands together. Watches everyone sweat drop at him.\\) Yeah, I know, it wasn't that funny. You don't have to rub it in! Good luck with the doctor! Wait, doctor… NO!!!
Metal Overlord 2.0: True, he finally won but lost Ryou too. Yeah, it was bittersweet, but at least the battle is over. Yep, it seems another duelist is in Ilildan's way to get to Dartz. Very true, it will most likely be the hardest battle Illidan has ever fought. Maybe even harder than his fight with Gozaburo, or even his fight with Kiba. True, that would be a good idea if it's Marie. Hehe, I won't reveal who it is though. It's going with me to the grave! Lol, but thanks for the suggestions.
Well, that's all for this morning. I wish the day was over, then I could go see my lovely mate at home. Ah, it feels so good to call where me and her are home. Anyways, take care everyone, and I hope to return to find lots of reviews in my email. Till then, everyone enjoy the chapter. Later.
Chapter 50
After the seal had retracted, Illidan fell to his knees, panting hard. Both Blue and Vash ran to him, making sure he was alright. They had then dragged him to a large couch that was in the room, and forced him to lie down for a moment.
They had in the mean time picked up Ryou's body and sat it close by in a chair. Blue then finally convinced Vash to help pull Darcia's body over into another chair. Vash hadn't liked the idea, but when she threatened to do it herself, he gave in and helped her.
Lying there, resting, Illidan silently mourned for his now missing friend. "When did I consider him a friend again?" Illidan silently asked himself in his mind.
Shaking it off, he remembered all the times he had shared with Ryou in the past, when he had been good, and had been known as Bakura. The two had met when he arrived back from his training with the nomads. Yami told him that the year after Illidan had left for his training, they had tested Bakura again, and found him to have increased in strength greatly. Being the kind Pharaoh that he was, Yami added him to his little group of stronger friends, which had consisted mostly of Illidan and Set.
With Illidan gone, the group had gone down to two, but the adding of Bakura made things interesting again, so Yami said. Illidan had gotten to know the young man when he returned, finding out that Bakura was to be the next overall general of Egypt's forces. In a way, Bakura kind of admired Illidan because Illidan was the son of the great Egyptian General, Shando Stormrage.
Shando Stormrage and his ancestors had served the Pharaoh as generals for many a year. Shando had managed to reach the rank of overall general of the Egyptian Army. At this position, he had protected Egypt. This is why Bakura sort of worshiped Shando. He had compassion, but was a fierce warrior, as well as a master strategist.
Illidan had felt happy to tell Bakura all he could about his father, but had been slightly sad as well. Remembering how his father had met his demise still hurt.
When Bakura had found out what had happened to Illidan, he apologized for asking so much about his father, but Illidan had simply told him it was no problem. "I'm proud of what my father was, and what he stood for. He was a true hero, and talking about him may hurt a little, but it helps me to continue to remember him." Illidan had simply told Bakura that day.
Throughout Marie's training, Illidan and Bakura became good friends, and from time to time, would spare. Due that Bakura was an excellent swordsman, Illidan loved having a little match with him occasionally, which kept his own skills sharp.
Illidan had been concerned though about Bakura when the rampage of the Egyptian Gods had happened. He was worried that due to the punishment that Bakura had taken from their pursuit, that Bakura would possibly been injured worse than he was, but was thankful when he made a full recovery.
As the remaining year had played out after the rampage up to the creation of the items, Illidan and Bakura had continued to get along as good friends. Then the battle with the Millennium Crown changed everything. During the fight, something dark and evil within Bakura was released. He changed forever due to the fight, and would never be the same.
Within the last week of his life in ancient times, Illidan had noticed the dramatic change, and had tried to help him out, but Bakura refused help or to talk with him. Illidan had even caught Bakura breaking into Yami's tomb, and warned him he would let him go once, but the next time he would have to do something about it.
Then the fateful day when all of the Millennium Item holders prepared to seal away their items arrived. Bakura had foolishly tried to take the items, but Illidan had stopped him. During their struggle, Bakura accidentally sealed his soul within the Millennium Ring, thus sealing his fate for all eternity.
The two would meet again though, for five millennia later, they had fought in a Shadow Game at Tournament of Power. Illidan had prevailed, and locked the evil spirit in within his own mind, thus freeing the vessel who shared his body with the evil spirit.
Fate wasn't finished with the two though, for the met once more when the evil spirit's vessel lost his soul. Illidan had lost Marie as well, and needed help. Regretting having to do it, he asked the spirit. The spirit agreed in order to save his vessel's soul. He then took on the name Ryou, and remained withdrawn. He had pressed Illidan's buttons a few times, in which Illidan showed great anger, but refrained from sending Ryou back to his sealed up room.
Smiling slightly inwardly, Illidan realized in the end, Ryou had made a sacrifice in order to save Illidan. If not for the fact he sacrificed a monster to defend Illidan, he'd have not lost the duel. Now Illidan was more determined to save his friends.
After resting for an hour, Illidan sat up, but groaned slightly as he felt fatigue running through his body. "I've been in so many duels within the seal today, no wonder I'm exhausted. I can't stop now though. I have to save my friends, and especially Marie. I won't quit till I can hold her in my arms again!"
Vash and Blue saw Illidan sitting up, and both rushed over to him, with Blue saying "You shouldn't be up yet Illidan! Lay back down, please."
Shaking his head, Illidan simply said "I'm fine."
"No you're not! You're exhausted, and need rest!" she countered.
Ignoring her, he continued to prepare to stand up. He then felt her take his hand, and look him in the eyes, saying "Please, lay down. You're exhausted, and you can't help anyone in your weakened condition. Just rest a few hours, then we can go."
Sighing, due that he knew she was right, he nodded and complied. He laid back down, and instantly fell asleep. In his sleep, he dreamed of Marie, of seeing her beautiful face once more. Then suddenly, something happened and she vanished with a scream. A large snake like creature then appeared and let out a evil roar, and then he heard an evil laughter of a man.
He suddenly then sat up, instantly waking up. Checking his Duel Disk's clock, he saw that it was a little after six in the morning. Seeing Vash and Blue curled up together, both sleeping, Illidan decided it was time to go. He wrote a note, saying for the two to take Darcia and Ryou to the hospital where they had taken both Kiba and Toboe. He then told them explicitly not to follow him, to stay away.
After signing it, he walked into the next room Darcia had told him to enter and found a multicolored sphere in the room. Figuring this was the portal, he let out a sigh and jumped into it. Instantly, he felt himself being teleported away to another place.
Soon enough, he reappeared at a set of stairs. He looked around, and realized he was on an island. Slowly, he began to climb them, knowing they would take him to his destination. As he glanced up as he walked, he saw what looked like a temple or something on top of the island.
"So, that is where you've been hiding yourself. You'll pay for all those people you had taken." he said softly to himself.
Finally, Illidan arrived at the top to see something that totally shocked him. There, at the left side of the temple, stood someone he hadn't seen for nearly a week. Her light brown hair was blowing in the soft wind, as she seemed to be gazing out at something on the sea. He noted she had on different clothes too. She now had on a pair of tight black leather pants that hugged her hips, stiletto boots with a big heel, and a black tank top that showed off her lovely curves. On her left arm was a black Duel Disk, much like one Kiba and the other Wolf Pack members wore.
"Marie…" he said softly. Smiling, he then ran towards her, happier than he had been in week.
Lightly laughing, he called out "Marie!" He continued to bound over towards her till suddenly she turned towards him and punched him hard in the cheek, knocking him back toward the center of the front of the temple.
In total shock, he grasped his sore cheek, and said with shock and some hurt in his voice "What was that for!?"
She glared at him coldly, making him unsure what was wrong. Usually, he was good at guessing what she was feeling, but the cold stare she was giving him confused him. She then rushed forward, throwing yet another punch at his head. He managed to evade it, but barely.
Growling at him, Marie then charged Illidan again, punching wildly at his head. Confused, and unsure what to do, Illidan backed up, doing his best to avoid her fists.
"Marie, what's wrong!? It's me, Illidan!" he said, wondering if she was being controlled.
This didn't faze her, as she continued her assault. Illidan knew he couldn't keep dodging her all day, but he couldn't hurt her either. Finally deciding he had to find out what was going on, he grabbed both her wrists as gently as possible and said "What's wrong? Marie, don't you recognize me?"
Growling at him, she yelled "It's your fault!"
Shocked at these words, Illidan asked "What's my fault?"
"EVERYTHING!" she screamed at him with great anger.
Again shocked by these words, Illidan didn't feel her free up her wrists. When he realized she was now free, it was too late, for she then punched him hard in the gut with all her strength, making him fly backwards to land on the ground. He slowly stood up, but was clutching his stomach.
She glared at him, saying "My entire life, everything that has happened to me has been a result of you!"
Still not understanding, Illidan asked "What do you mean? Marie, I would never…"
"Shut up!" she yelled. "Everything that has happened to me has been a result of you, one way or another! Do you know why no one ever knew about my Shadow Powers?"
Nodding, Illidan said "We only guessed that it was due that you was a slave, and your master refused to take you in, like some slave masters tended to do."
She laughed evilly, and replied "You're wrong. I know why no one knew about my Shadow Powers. It's due that they thought I was dead."
Not knowing what she meant, Illidan said "What? What do you mean they thought you were dead? If you were a slave, then they'd have kept records on whether you were dead or not."
Laughing evilly again, she replied "You're a fool! I wasn't a slave always! In fact, I remember my last name, which was Pothouse."
"Guess you're kind of glad you got Stormrage instead in the end." Illidan jokingly said.
Growling at him, she ignored it and then sadly said "I… I remember my family. My mother and father, I remember both of them."
Illidan saw this softening, but then saw anger return, as she yelled "And then you ruined it all!"
Not knowing exactly what she was talking about, Illidan asked "How could I have done anything? I don't remember doing a thing till I was eight years old that involved fighting."
"It was not you directly, but it still involved you! It was your father, Shando Stormrage, which ruined my childhood!" she yelled in reply.
This hit Illidan hard. He hadn't thought at all about his father in nearly five millennia, and to hear this was a shock. "She knows I cared a lot about him, how I lost him and all." he muttered in his mind.
Sneering, Marie asked "Aren't you going to say anything, or try to deny it?"
Slightly growling, Illidan replied "My father was an honorable man. He never would have tried to hurt you, or your family."
Laughing out loud, Marie said "I knew you would say that. That is why I was ready to show you what he did!"
Holding her hands up to her Millennium Necklace, she tapped into it's power and took both her and Illidan back in time. Illidan instantly realized they were back in ancient Egypt, and then noticed they were in a throne room. He saw people he hadn't seen in almost five millennia.
He first recognized his father. He seemed slightly younger, if not less grey. "He always blamed me for making him go grey headed." he mused to himself.
Illidan then saw two men on the floor to the side of the thrown. He instantly recognized the one with silver hair as a younger Pegasus. The other, after a moment of thinking, realized it was Furion, the former High Priest of Egypt. He was Set's father, and ruled as High Priest for quite a few years before finally dying.
Behind Furion stood a small boy whom Illidan quickly recognized as Set. "He looks like he is at least three years old. Wait, if he's three, then Marie took us back to when we were all three? Why would she do that?"
Illidan then noticed a man in the throne and his heart felt as if it froze. He slightly growled as he recognized the man as the Pharaoh Raijin. This was the same man that ordered his execution at age eight, as well as his father's. Luckily, he escaped, but his father wasn't as lucky. He died saving his only son from death.
Then one last person caught Illidan's eye. It was a small girl walking down the hallway towards the throne room. She had shoulder length brown hair, and the most beautiful brown eyes Illidan had ever seen. Softly, he said "Marie…"
It wasn't hard for him to figure out it was her. Their second daughter, Ali, was the very image of Marie, other than her eye color which strangely was blue. Since this small child looked exactly like Ali, Illidan only assumed it was Marie as a three year old.
She entered and then got down on her knees and bent over. She then said in a small voice "Tanks, Fairbow for letting me be tested."
Illidan saw Raijin laugh slightly and say "We'll see what you have to say after the test."
Knowing what was about to happen, Illidan said "So, you were tested. But why didn't anyone ever tell me?"
Smirking, Marie replied "You'll see."
He then turned back to the testing, where he saw the younger Marie say hello to Set. As usual, Set bragged by showing off his father. Furion then told Marie to stand out past the middle of the floor. The young Marie complied and then the testing began.
The testing was quite simple really. Like when Illidan had tested Marie in ancient times, the testing was simply gauging the amount of resistance a person would put up when being sent to the Shadow Realm. The higher the resistance, the stronger a person was said to be.
This testing was the same type of test. Illidan watched as Furion began by trying to send the young Marie to the Shadow Realm. She quickly put one hand up, causing Furion to do the same. She then put both hands up, which seemed to worry Furion, but he did the same manner.
"Odd… Furion shouldn't have had to use this much power for testing. Usually no hands are needed when testing children." Illidan thought silently.
He then saw Furion getting the upper hand, but then the young Marie pushed back harder. Illidan was quite shocked at the power he saw, and realized then that she didn't have the handicap she did when she was older.
"Her power, it was easier to control as a child. I get it now. Her powers were about the same as they were when I met her. Interesting."
Suddenly, he realized Furion was no match, and about that time, he heard Furion yell "STOP!"
The young Marie did as she was told, and Furion went before Raijin and bowed, saying "I am sorry my lord, but she is stronger than me. You will have to find someone else to test her."
The room broke into talking, as young Marie went back over to Set and asked "What's goin' on?"
Illidan saw the fear in Set's eyes as he replied "No one has ever beat Daddy, not even other grown ups."
Before Illidan could say a thing, he heard Raijin bellow "QUIET!" After a moment, Raijin turned his head away from young Marie and said "Now Marie, you may go home now. Tell your parents that someone will be by later tonight."
Turning back to his small group beside him, he said "I want to meet the High Priest and the head of the Army in my rooms in ten minutes. This section is over."
He then heard little Marie say "Bye bye Set!" as she went down the hallway, far away from the throne room.
"But why…" Illidan began as the vision ended, but then suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ribs. He jumped backwards and slid to his knees in pain as he laid his hands over his injured ribs. Looking up, he saw Marie grinning evilly, as she was the one who had kicked him hard in the ribs.
"I think she might have broken at least one or two ribs. If not, then they're really bruised now. It just hurts to breathe." he thought as he sat there trying to catch his breath.
Smirking, Marie asked "Do you understand now why no one told you now?"
Shaking his head, she only sighed and then said "It's pretty simple. I was too powerful for my own good. Would you like to see what Raijin had in stored for me? I think you should see, and then see why I blame you!"
