I ran, my lungs grateful for the fresh air I was breathing in. After being underground for however long I had been trapped down in the Tomb Keeper Clan's hideout, I felt refreshed to feel the rays of sunlight on me. To be trapped in the shadows for one's entire life—I shuddered at the thought. That would be the surest way for me to lose my sanity, after all.

I could sense the clan members following behind me, their eyes watching my every move. I knew I couldn't outrun them in my condition, and I had no intention of doing so. I paused at a refreshment stand and asked in Arabic to use a phone. If the storekeeper was surprised at my fluency, he made no comment and gestured for money.

Grudgingly, I handed him an Egyptian pound out of the meager allowance Shadi had granted me for the sole purpose of obtaining documents that needed to be forged. As I began to dial, I sighed. What was I doing? Or rather, what was I becoming?

My mind flashed to the pleasure I had felt when Odion lay suffocating in the chamber or when I had almost strangled the woman to death with—with whatever those tendrils were that had originated from the millennium key. True, under Gozaburo I had felt detachment; I had watched as my stepfather destroyed businesses, people's families and their very spirits. But I had never derived any pleasure from them, or any other emotion for that matter.

The sound of the phone ringing broke me from my reverie, and I hoped Mokuba would be on the other line. I didn't trust myself to speak to anyone else at the moment.

"Hello? Kaiba residence," Mokuba said formally. I almost smiled in relief.

"Mokuba, it's me," I said. I heard his audible gasp from the other end.

"Where are you? We've been looking for you for days! Yami went missing, too, so Max went to look for both of you while Kisara and I have been searching for you remotely…" Mokuba said quickly.

"So Pegasus is in Cairo now?" I asked in a low voice.

"Yes. Onii-chan, are you okay?" he asked me.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Look, I need you to do me a favor…" I began, and then proceeded to explain the situation I had landed myself in as briefly as possible.

"Roland is in Cairo. I can get the documents faxed to him…but are you sure you want to do this?" Mokuba asked, "After all, if I give Max your coordinates, he can pick you up…"

"No," I replied firmly, "I came here to defeat Marik and I won't leave until I do. Besides…with Muto…"

"We'll find Yami. Just come home, Seto," Mokuba said in a choked up voice. I closed my eyes and tried not to think of the state Mokuba—and Kisara—had been in when I went missing. And now Muto was missing, too. I should have known that this plan had been flawed from the start. And now Muto was paying for my reckless stupidity as well.

"I'll be home soon, I promise," I said in a soft voice, and then cut the line. I felt a shudder run through my system, and felt the sudden urge to be alone—completely alone. I turned away from the stall and ran straight into the mob of customers at the marketplace. My clothes stood out too much, so I ran into a clothes stall and quickly grabbed a head covering at least. I threw extra pounds at the storekeeper for his silence and ran.

I felt suffocated, exhausted and useless. A combination that was causing my usual migraine to pop up. When I thought I had finally lost the clan members who had been following me, I suddenly felt their presence behind me.

Shit, I thought, frustrated, and put on another burst of speed—when a hand roughly covered my mouth and pulled me aside into an alley. I struggled, but the grip was unusually strong. I spun around to attack my kidnapper and froze in mid-punch.

"Pegasus," I breathed, relaxing as I saw the unmistakable millennium eye glint from underneath the hood.

"The one and only. Jesus, Kaiba boy. You know how to give us one hell of a scare," he said, pulling his hood down. And in an action that shocked me, he leaned his head onto my shoulder and sighed in relief, giving me a half-hug. I immediately stiffened, to which he chuckled.

"Same as ever, huh?" he remarked, stepping back. I did not respond. I had no answer to his question. Was I still the same? Pegasus must have caught the flicker of confusion that passed through my eyes because his smile faded.

"What happened down there?" he asked.

"Later. I don't have time now. You better get out of here and work on finding Muto. I'll be fine here on my own," I responded.

"I'll be damned if I hear you say that you'll do this heroic solo business anymore. Tell me what's going on," he said, his eyes blazing.

I sighed and gave him a brief summary—leaving out my account of being trapped in the dark chamber—and felt irritation spread across my features when he laughed.

"Is there something that is particularly funny in my situation?" I asked icily.

"I knew…you liked Ishizu…but didn't think…you'd get married," he said between bursts of laughter.

"I'm not married to her, you know that," I hissed, "I couldn't think of anything else at the time…"

"The great Kaiba boy out of ideas. I wonder what led you to that," he mused aloud.

"Well then, take me as a witness," he said, "If anyone uses the millennium balance on me, I can lie and it will register it as truth because of my eye."

"The millennium balance?"

"Solomon Muto translated another section of the tablets, and apparently the millennium balance has the ability to weigh an individual's sins—including lying. But the millennium eye can break through its ability, therefore…"

"I'm stuck going with you, huh?"

"That would be correct."

"Then let's go," I said, walking back into the street, where the clan members had formed a ring to prevent my escape. They watched me warily as Pegasus walked beside me.

"He is also the pharaoh's magi. I called him here to serve as my advisor," I explained. They nodded and indicated me to follow them. Pegasus raised an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him and followed them in silence. I needed to find a way to use the Tomb Keeper Clan—and fast—before anything happened to Muto.

Muto, who should've been the safest of us all…