Before Battle City, After Duelist Kingdom

Notes for Manga in this chapter: Pegasus never gave Yuugi a winning card. Pegasus actually died. Pegasus was actually American while Yuugi and his friends live in Domino City, Japan. The prologue is longer than the rest of the chapters.

Notes for speech in this chapter: Atem speaks in bold and italic to Yuugi. Yuugi speaks in plain italics.

Prologue: The Satiah Card

Seto Kaiba had heard of every card. He knew of each of their powers. He knew their strengths and their weaknesses. He had tried to strive for perfection, experience with every card. The only ones he never could attain had belonged to Pegasus. Toonworld.

That's what he thought at least. Somehow, his company had found a new card. Considered fake or just a decoration someone made. Mokuba had actually been the one to find it, always trying to help him.

After purchasing, Mokuba said it was real. It wasn't fake, it worked with their duel disk system, modern and classics. So, Seto Kaiba took it for a spin.

The card had a pretty picture of a woman with blonde hair. It looked human, like a self-portrait, which is why Mokuba had checked for it deeply before bothering him with it. It was a picture of Cyndia, Pegasus' former love. But, it was also a working card. What did it do? Kaiba laid out the card on his virtual disc system.

The same appearance was there from the card. Besides not being happy the digital version looked exactly the same. "Alright," Seto Kaiba said, feeling somewhat foolish. It better not just smile and say 'hello, honey' or something like that. It probably did, considering who it was based off of. But, Seto knew every card. If it was a worthless card, he had to find out. "Now, let's see what you can do. Since I don't know the names of your attacks, or your attack power, we'll stick with the tried and true." Seto Kaiba pointed to the opposite side of the field to a weak enemy his employee was playing against him. He hated when amateur cards like this existed. No attack and no defense clearly written on the card. Maybe that's why it never made it into circulation? "Cyndia, attack!"

Hm. No attack? Then it was a magic or a trap card. Kaiba summoned another monster. "Attack my monster card," he commanded his employee. He watched as his monster started to get attacked and tried to call for her to use her magic to save it.

No. He set it up again and had her spring her trap. No. "What does it do?" Was Mokuba sure it was a real card? So far, the card had only stood in the middle of the duel, looking around perplexed. "Maybe it has a power after it's been destroyed." He instructed his employee to attack it head on with his strongest monster.

But the card . . . moved out of the way. "How did that card move and why?" Was it similar to Pegasus' properties of toonworld when he changed his monsters? A high missing accuracy? He instructed his employee to keep trying, but again and again, the card just dove around.

The diving was strange too. It didn't float or dive around the board. Instead, it moved like a human would move. Then? Something Kaiba wasn't predicting happened. He watched the card hold her hands out and start to chant toward him. "Why are you doing that to me? I am the one who played you. I control you!"

Then, Kaiba heard it. Swore he saw it. The card . . . the beautiful card that was making eye contact with him?

"I beseech thee, I cannot forsake my King but please find it in your heart to stop this torture against me?"

"What?" Kaiba checked his system. "Is this some corrupted monster card?"

"I am not a monster," she continued to speak to him. "Please. Stop this. I? I can't bow to you," she swore, "I cannot dishonor the King but, I . . . I will do anything I can to escape otherwise. Please."

"Escape. This can't be. You can't actually be talking to me." She wasn't part of his virtual world technology, that was different. Not only that, but it wasn't even Japanese. It was speaking in English. What was this? He tried English. "You can't be talking."

"But I am talking to you," she answered back.

"It's not possible." Did someone steal his technology? Pegasus!

"It is."

"It's lucky guessing!" He pointed at her. No, at the card. "You are programmed to guess what I have to say. You're even speaking English, a true sign your Pegasus' handiwork."

"Then, please." She closed her eyes. "Test me. Ask me something I could never say."

"Amazing intellectual cards that speak inside the game, that's not built by me." Kaiba was intrigued. Stolen tech or new tech he could steal to his own arsenal of ideas. He would test her knowledge. "What is my little brother's name?"

"I didn't know you had a little brother," she answered.

She didn't know Mokuba's name. "Who is your master?"

"The Pharaoh King of Darkness," she said, "and my husband."

What? "Your pharaoh is your husband?"

She had a shocked look upon her face. "No, never." She actually got to the ground and bowed in shame. "This is not to honor you above the King of Darkness but it is to correct such a mistake seen. My husband is my owner, however, the King is above all and is mentioned above all others."

"You have a strange dialogue," Kaiba noticed. "You don't look like an ancient card from Egypt though, so it backfires the reality. However, it's interesting. You must be experimental which is why you were never released to the public."

"Seto, Seto," Mokuba cried out as he came over to the dueling system. "I saw it all. She's talking, and she's speaking English. How is a card talking to you? That's not our virtual tech, I checked it. It shouldn't do that."

"Don't be worried," Seto Kaiba assured him. "It's just a high tech language system. Instead of just all roars or chants, Pegasus had been dabbling in virtual AI talk."

"It sounded like she talked for real," Mokuba said. "Like she was from our virtual world tech. Plus, I heard her mentioning the King and Egypt. That part doesn't sound like our virtual game."

"My name is Satiah," the card said. "Truly. I implore you." She bowed down again. "Without disrespecting my own King, I ask you for help in the most need. I will grant you anything I can give you, just free me."

"Free you?" Mokuba went as close to the dueling area as he could. "Are you trapped?"

"I don't know," she confessed, "but I do know that I must be freed. I don't belong here."

"She's real, Kaiba," Mokuba said. "She isn't virtual, she's real."

"She's a card, she's virtual, end of story," Kaiba answered his brother. "The language system is decent, but she doesn't get quiet and she has no features to fight or defend with. She avoids every attack, so I suppose she could be used when in a tight jam with a monster. Even magic and trap cards don't work on her. We've tried."

"Clearly polite crap doesn't work on you." Her attitude changed. That wasn't supposed to happen with software, clearly inferior. "I was not meant to be in your game, and I need a way to get the hell out of here. Please?"

Mokuba tried to reach and touch her.

"Mokuba, don't." He knew better than that, what was he trying to do?

Satiah lied her own hand almost against him. "If there is anything you can do, please help me. Whether I am in the cursed shadows of nightmares, forced to dwell for eternity or not, I need to know about someone. Her name is Heba and she is two. If Heba is here, I need her too."

"Heba. That's the name of the girl?" Mokuba asked her. "Her hand is trying to touch me, Kaiba."

"She isn't real. She's a card, now back away." Yet, Kaiba could see it trying to stay perfectly lined up against Mokuba's hand. "If she was real, she'd come off the dueling field."

"Oh shut up," The card insisted. "Heba. She is a support card. Find her, and I will have a secret ability to serve you in your game."

"A card that ties with this card." She could be a joint card. She might have a new power. A new fusion. Kaiba stared at Satiah. "You look like someone I saw at Pegasus' place. Whoever was your inspiration, might be the inspiration to this 'daughter' card of yours." He smirked. "It's quite interesting, talking to cards instead of my opponents in the middle of a duel. This would be good with some kind of solitary dueling system against oneself. For those who prefer chatter instead of strategy when dueling. Hmm. Solitaire dueling."

"I'll look into all the cards Pegasus ever gave away," Mokuba said. "That creep. I'll find the little girl. Oh, Seto," Mokuba shouted even though he was right next to his brother. "What if he stole her soul just like he did ours? But something happened to her body and now, she's just stuck as a card?"

"An interesting idea," Kaiba said, entertaining his little brother with the silly thought. "However ,she never said anything about Pegasus, she just spoke of a battle game and Egyptian Kings. Besides, she is speaking English too, not ancient Egyptian, if that puts a little more reality around you," Seto assured Mokuba. "However, I am very interested in seeing what her partner card can do. Let's look into Pegasus' more exclusive decks closely." Kaiba went over toward the dueling system and shut it all down. The Satiah card disappeared along with the rest.

As she should.

"Pegasus had right hand and left hand cards for the final battle," Mokuba said as he looked into the system. "One was for the prize money. Jounouchi used it. The other was to duel Pegasus."

"Somehow I don't think the girl card is a pile of money on a card," Seto Kaiba said. "What else?"

"Uh?" Mokuba looked further. "Maybe Yuugi won a card in it? Maybe there was a card with Jounouchi's prize money?"

"That's probably it," Seto Kaiba agreed. "So. Yuugi or Jonouchi might have the card I need. I can offer them a price. I doubt they treasure a card given to them from Pegasus of all people. Then, I won't have anyone in my business." He heard a sigh from Mokuba. "Let's go."

Game Shop

Seeing Kaiba and Mokuba in the Kame Game Shop, Yuugi came down with Jounouchi who was visiting at the time.

"What the heck's going on here?" Jounouchi questioned as Kaiba looked at the cards. "What are you doing here?"

"We are looking for a card," Mokuba said. "Do you have an exclusive card you got from Pegasus?"

"You mean a card that proved who won Duelist Kingdom?" Jounouchi teased.

"Jounouchi, don't aggravate him." Yuugi came all the way over. "Grandpa doesn't hold my cards and you know it." Mm. Maybe that was a little aggravating too, but- He tried to kill us. He hurt Grandpa. Meeting him on an island where he was saving his brother was one thing, but him personally in the Game Shop again?

"Name your price, Yuugi," Kaiba said. "It's no use to you as it is."

"Wha-huh? Yuugi did get a card?" Jounouchi asked. "I didn't know that."

"I'm sorry but I wasn't given a card," Yuugi apologized, "Jounouchi was teasing you. Even if I did, I doubt I would have kept it."

"I don't blame you," Kaiba answered. "His little tournament cards looked like decoration, purely an honor piece and those aren't needed in a functional deck. Every card should have a purpose. Did anyone else get an exclusive card?"

"No, so you should get going." Kaiba was clearly irritated, but so was Yuugi. I can't believe he's here again. I don't like him here!

Yuugi. His Other Personality's more sensible voice came from inside of him. There must be a reason he is here for an exclusive card. Look at Mokuba. Yuugi followed the spirit's command and looked toward Mokuba. He didn't look like he was there just for a simple card like his brother. He looks worried. Panicked. Mokuba doesn't speak over his brother, Yuugi, but perhaps a card truly is important in a different way he can't reveal in front of his brother?

"Please, Yuugi?" Mokuba begged. "If you know anyone, please? This is really important."

"Mokuba," Kaiba scolded his brother. "Forget it. If Yuugi doesn't have anything, then it doesn't exist."

"But Seto, she's-"

"Mokuba," Kaiba warned him again. "Let's go."

"It's not right. They should be together." Mokuba hid his face. "She doesn't have anyone, Big Brother."

"Mokuba, enough," Kaiba said. "Let's go. Yuugi can't help. Nothing new."

"She doesn't have anyone?" Yuugi questioned them. That's not a normal phrase to use when talking about cards.

"That didn't make much sense there, isn't he looking for a card?" Jounouchi said looking toward Yuugi. "Hey? Pegasus liked making cards out of souls. Do you think they got something?"

Yuugi caught Mokuba's look. He won't say it in front of Kaiba, Other Me, but Mokuba must know.

Yes, Yuugi, I think you are right. Your grandfather, Kaiba and Mokuba might not be the only soul victim of Pegasus. Perhaps he hid someone in a different kind of card.

"Wait a second." Jounouchi was figuring it out too. "Hey there, hang on, Kaiba. Is there a soul trapped in a card?"

"Your attention to detail is astounding," Kaiba said to him, sarcastically of course. "If Yuugi can't help, then Yuugi can't help. He doesn't need to know anything."

Kaiba won't share anything else. He's acting like he's collecting important cards, but Mokuba's acting like it's a soul on the line. Yuugi looked toward Mokuba.

Test him, Yuugi. If it's a soul, use the word own or master. Try both. Mokuba is becoming a good person who believes. See what happens.

"You, only. If I can get it back from who I sold it to." Yuugi would have to lie to make this work.

"Me?" Mokuba pointed to himself. "Me what?"

"Only you can own the exclusive card I got," Yuugi said casually, waiting to see his reaction.

"Yeah, you," Jounouchi agreed. "We don't trust Kaiba."

"Only you could own it," Yuugi said again. "Only you could be the card's master."

Mokuba glanced toward Kaiba and then at Yuugi. "No, it wouldn't be me. No one has the right to own that card. No one has the right to another."

Bingo.

There was no more guessing in the matter, and now that a soul was on the line, Yuugi's other self took over. "I want to know about the secret of the exclusive card. Is it a soul card, Mokuba? Tell me, and I promise I will find a way to get it back to you. You are right, no one owns another soul."

That actually made Kaiba laugh. "That's rich."

"I can't say for sure, but there's a chance," Mokuba admitted. "We are looking for an exclusive card that Pegasus made. It might not be it," he said to Yuugi, "but we have to try. It belongs somewhere, but not in anyone's deck."

"That is all I need to know. Kaiba?" Yuugi questioned him. "I will do my best to get that card to Mokuba. Once it is in his possession, he will decide its future."

"Fine," Kaiba said, not caring. "As long as I have it near. I don't care. Come, Mokuba. We have a business to run."

Mokuba waved with a big smile on his face. "Bye Yuugi. Bye Jounouchi."

"Yeah, take care." Jounouchi waited for them to leave. "Good kid. Bad brother. Smart call wanting to get it to him, Yuugi, but how you gonna get it back? What card did you get?"

"No card, but with the way they were speaking, I suspect they have a soul card in their possession and want to break it free. Without Pegasus' assistance, maybe there is another card that can free it?" It was hard to say, but if it was in any way important to him and his past, he wanted to know more.

Kaiba Corp

Satiah waited in the dueling arena. Life ceased to be every time a game was over, but Mokuba had felt compelled to keep her company. Although he was older, he himself still seemed to desire a mother figure. Mokuba tried his best to explain where she had been. She rose from the monster stones now called cards that were remarkably small. He even showed her what they looked like.

The painted cards fit restlessly, harmlessly in his hand. How the world had changed. She didn't care how much it changed on the surface though, she only cared about one thing. The fate of the one who suffered with her. Good or bad, she had to know.

"You're so lonely," Mokuba said to her. "It hurts me to see how lonely you are."

Satiah understood those feelings. Mokuba had conveyed his past to her. About how he was left alone with his brother to be raised. She understood his brother more, and why he couldn't believe what was in front of him.

Every day longer Mokuba wanted to speak to her. She understood his need. Lacking his own parental figures, he was gravitating toward her. It did her no real good. If she didn't feel like her presence somehow helped the boy, she would have rather stayed sealed away.

"Satiah?" Mokuba questioned today. "Yuugi said he'd call soon. Maybe he has news?"

"It'd be great if there were news." Mokuba put his hands on the arena near her and laid his head down. A risky move that the child never cared or thought about. He only wanted to be close to her.

Satiah bent down. He asked such foolish questions yet he was so familiar, she tried to answer what she could. It still wasn't easy though. His modern day senses couldn't conceive of what her time had been.

"Why couldn't you have spoken up? Why didn't you tell anyone you had to carry a little girl to the tablet, Satiah?"

"The new King Atem was trying to save the world, Mokuba." No matter how many times she explained, he still didn't understand. "Everyone helped."

"You carried a two-year-old girl into a battle you knew you probably would never walk away in." Mokuba was crying now. "I don't understand, and I never will."

"There are worse things than death." Satiah tried to comfort him. "There were countless things that could have happened that were so much worse." That she could not reveal to him. "During these trying times, during this battle, people sought out things to own. Things to claim, especially lives. Heba. Could not defend herself." Unlike the other brats.

Mokuba looked up toward her, with a shine in his eyes that said he might be finally understanding.

"In life, Mokuba," she said, not wanting to stir his mind into negative directions. "We have to make decisions. Hard decisions. If I let go of her and left her to chance, anything was a possibility. She may have died with me, but we may have succeeded and lived well again. Her chances were better with me." At least, they would have had a quick death. Over within seconds.

"I'll call Yuugi again," Mokuba promised her. "I'll call right now. Maybe he's finally out of the hospital?" He backed away and rubbed his eyes and tried to clean his nose. "We are going to get Heba back, and we are going to get you out. I promise we are." Then his phone rang. Mokuba answered and he left to the panel right away to turn it off. "I have to go, Satiah. I'll see you later."

Kame Game Shop

"Yuugi!" Mokuba's voice urgently pierced the air as he stepped into the Kame Game Shop. "You said you have it?"

"Not so quick there, pal," Jounouchi confronted Mokuba. "Yuugi had to do a lot for that card. Nobody likes to give up a card. He had to apologize, grovel, beg-."

"Jounouchi," Yuugi said quietly. He didn't need to embellish the lie. He hadn't done much, but they still needed to take care of it. Dealing with the millennium puzzle and the fire that almost ended his life put him behind. Yuugi borrowed a rare card that had a shape of a person on it from his grandpa's shop. As long as he was very careful with it, it should work on Mokuba.

But Jounouchi grabbed it like it was a regular card. "But we still don't know the importance of this card," he complained to Mokuba. "We just want to know? Is it a soul trapped by Pegasus? Give us something. Not the whole details that your brother said is off-limits."

"No," Mokuba admitted. "Yes? Pegasus was involved, but not the same way as with me and my brother." He was quiet a moment, like he was trying to think of what to say. "I wish I could tell you. I should, but a promise is a promise. Kaiba's been keeping the end of his promise. But. She's just so . . ."

Yuugi, switch places with me.

Yuugi switched places with his other self, leaving him in command.

"Promises are important, Mokuba. Being true to those we promise is something we should all strive for. However, there comes a point when a promise may have to be broken. If doing the right thing inside one's heart is overwhelming you, for instance. Are you feeling overwhelmed to tell us?"

"You should see. Oh, you could see," Mokuba shouted at Yuugi. "Come down to Kaiba Corp. Seto said I couldn't let you interact." He held up the card. "He never said I couldn't interact for you."

"Translate what to who?" Anzu asked as she and Honda walked into the game shop.

Kaiba Corporation's Experimental Dueling Arena.

Mokuba strode through the security with Yuugi and his friends easily. Confident, proud and almost running. It was clear whatever Mokuba had been hiding, he was glad to finally get it off his chest. It was a good thing the spirit talked to him. "This way guys. This is going to blow your mind." Mokuba went to the dueling arena and turned it on. "Jounouchi, get on the other side, but don't make any moves against me. This is delicate. Okay?"

"You bet." Jounouchi went over to the opponent's side. "So, does the soul gotta be set free using a dueling arena? Weird."

"No, it's not what you think." Mokuba gestured to the middle by the side. "Stand there, Yuugi. Straight in the center. I can't tell you, but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

If there was any kind of soul magic at work, it would be best to let his other self be in charge. "I'm here." He watched as Mokuba held up the card they once saw at Pegasus'. A picture of Cyndia, Pegasus' deceased love.

"It doesn't have an official name," Mokuba said, "but I call it the Satiah card. I think you'll learn why." He looked hesitant. "I haven't shown her to anyone but Kaiba. I mean, she hasn't been seen by anyone except Kaiba Corp. So." He looked toward Jounouchi. "I will play a monster card. Don't attack it, okay?"

"I promise, Mokuba," Jounouchi said. "I won't hurt anybody."

"He never would," Anzu agreed. "You can trust in Jounouchi. He won't attack."

"Okay." Mokuba laid the card down. "I play the Satiah card."

The spirit watched as the card came to life. It looked just like it's painted counterpart. What is it Mokuba wants us to see? He concentrated on the card, but it looked toward Mokuba. She was speaking in a foreign language toward Mokuba. Mokuba chatted back to her in the language.

"She just asked who you were and I told her you were Yuugi and that you brought the card for her," Mokuba said.

"He's um? Uh?" Jounouchi looked toward Yuugi. "Yo, Yuugi? Is he translating to that card?"

And the card is interacting back with him. Is it some type of soul card that we've never seen? "Can you come out of the dueling arena?" Mokuba translated for him. She looked scared by his request. She spoke and bowed low to the ground.

Mokuba translated for her. "I would . . . ohh . . . no she changed her mind?" He shrugged and talked back to her in the foreign language again. "Okay. She says she can't perform that feat."

She's a trapped card. The spirit looked toward Mokuba. "There is a spirit trapped within a card?"

"If that's what you see," Mokuba said. However, he was smiling. "Jounouchi, play a real gentle card, but no attacking."

"Yeah, no kidding." Jounouchi said. "Scapegoat."

"Good. Now." Mokuba looked at the card. "Let's hope this all works." He laid the card down.

She stopped bowing, turned around and looked. No longer bothered by anyone's presence, she raced toward it. The card didn't respond. She comforted her with words that weren't Japanese or English. They were nothing he knew, yet at the same time he . . . "It's Ancient Egyptian? I am sorry, the card isn't real!" He just realized his terrible mistake. She wasn't a modern soul trapped in a card, she was an Ancient Egyptian soul somehow trapped, and her daughter was also trapped in a card somewhere. I did not mean such cruelty. "Mokuba, translate that it's not real! Pegasus never handed out anything that looked like a little girl. I'm sorry, Mokuba. I just needed to find out what was going on."

Mokuba looked saddened. He translated it to her. He glanced back toward him. "Can you help her at least?"

A few minutes later . . .

"What is Yuugi and his friends doing here, Mokuba?" Kaiba demanded as he strutted into the room.

The spirit met his match with each strut. "You knew of this, and you never told me? There was an innocent soul, trapped within a card, Seto Kaiba!"

"Yeah, you creep," Jounouchi added. "You've got a mom trapped in a game set."

"Oh? You found the card." Kaiba stared at the dueling arena where Satiah had been. "Hm. So they do interact, I knew it. Did you find out what it did, Mokuba?"

"What it did?" The spirit was livid. "It's not a monster card designed for a game, it's a soul trapped in a game. A soul. Trapped. In a game."

"Mokuba?" Kaiba questioned his brother again.

"They don't appear to do much," Mokuba said, not wanting to tell what he thought of as truth to his brother. He also didn't tell him about the other card being fake.

"What a waste," Kaiba said. "Does the other card have interactive features?"

"You mean can it talk, like a human being?" Anzu mocked Kaiba.

"You all get too crazy in your delusions of these cards," Kaiba said. "Keep your head on straight. They are just cards. If they weren't, they'd walk right off the dueling platform."

Her poor soul. He heard the empathy in Yuugi's voice inside of him. Trapped. Only to exist in battle now. We'll end this for her, I promise, Other Me. He looked toward Mokuba. "I need that card."

"What do you need it for?" Kaiba addressed him. "If their interactive feature doesn't work, then I don't need your card. However? The Satiah card is mine ."

"Nobody owns her!" Mokuba's voice penetrated the air. It was the strongest sound he ever used against his brother. "Nobody owns anybody, ever." Mokuba jumped down and ran onto the dueling arena.

"Mokuba, get off of there," Kaiba warned him.

The spirit watched as Mokuba went straight toward the woman. He assumed her name was Satiah considering the name he called the card.

"Interactivity that close is too dangerous," Kaiba declared. "Get down, Mokuba!"

"Please do not make your brother mad," she said. "Knowing her fate is all I needed."

She was speaking Japanese now? If she's really embedded in the system, maybe she got some kind of language translator to start.

"Go down. It's dangerous when games are in session with more than me." Then it was like that personality split and she became rougher. "I said get down you brat before you hurt yourself, move it! It's fine!"

Mokuba moved away.

No, it isn't! It isn't freedom. She has no way to leave the dueling system. Can't we do something?

The spirit came closer to the arena. I don't know. We could try the puzzle, but it may be a terrible idea. The situation is different. Her soul is trapped inside a card, there is no body like your grandpa, Kaiba, or Mokuba had. If she indeed was an Ancient Egyptian, then her body passed on thousands of years ago. "Kaiba. I want to know about Satiah. I demand to know."

"Demand? Well, that's gentlemanly of you, Yuugi," Kaiba said as he helped his brother down from the arena. "She has an interactive past story that doesn't match her image."

"Kaiba," Mokuba practically whined. "Please, Brother?"

"Fine, you tell them the bogus story the card gives," Kaiba said. "It doesn't matter though. When I learn the features, we'll get it sorted. An Egyptian past does not go with a card that looks like that."

"Don't you dare touch her memories, Kaiba," The spirit warned him. He turned to Mokuba. "Please. If she will not tell me, then I need your help, Mokuba. Who is this spirit Satiah?"

" . . . and that's all I know," Mokuba finished. "The end of the world. I guess. Things get missed."

"It is a sad story," Kaiba agreed with Mokuba. "Quite fitting for the card, and the situation. It may be easier to paint over the card instead once I learn how this bootleg technology works with my system."

The spirit stood there. Contemplating. "She held her child, raised The Dark Magician, and then this." He barely spoke everything he felt out loud. A Pharaoh did this. Does that mean? Did I do this? I sentenced a woman and a two year old to death. No, I summoned thousands to their deaths, to play a game?!

Spirit. I don't know, I'm sorry.

Saving the world. I didn't even realize or see it. Or maybe I did, and I'd just played for too long . It wouldn't be the first time he lost what was important.

"Sounds like that husband of hers was a complete coward," Jounouchi said, having to add his two cents to Mokuba's story. "I can't believe a guy would just let his wife and child do that to save his own skin. Now she's a trapped soul, caught in a dueling system in order to live." Jounouchi still didn't relax, slugging the duel area with his fist. "It's not fair. Nobody can always have a dueling system running and if Pegasus had this card? Did he really think it was his lover again?"

A question out of the blue. A question that made some sense. Pegasus did want Kaiba Corp. What if he had interacted with Satiah, and he wanted to create an environment where she could move as she pleased? He wanted Kaiba's Solid Vision. Yuugi, she may not be what she seems. She could have pretended to be Cyndia.

Who could blame her? Anything to have more room and feeling to move around.

"Even so," Jounouchi said. "Still not real, still trapped to live as a card. How is that any kind of a life? At least death would be final."

"Jounouchi!" Anzu scolded him now. "Don't say that."

"But she's caught, in a system. She'll never go anywhere. Her mind is trapped forever." Jounouchi left the area and ran toward Yuugi. "Can't you break them free?"

"If I use the millennium puzzle to set her free, it would be the end of her." He looked back toward the dueling arena, where she refused to look in his direction. Then again. Death may be the only way out.

She didn't ever get to live.

Being trapped inside of cards for eternity is no way to live either, Yuugi. She needs to be freed from this prison to pass on.

"I don't . . . get it though." Anzu looked toward the system too. "If it is all true, then the little girl wasn't even a part of it. Satiah could have given her to someone and she would have been fine."

"No, she wouldn't have!" That triggered Mokuba. "It wasn't like it was today back then. Death with her was a better option than what could have happened to Heba. It was chaos, people were desperate, even for food in any way. She never would have survived anyhow, but it wouldn't have been quick and honorable." He went quiet again as he started to cry.

"These cards are not worth the hassle they are causing to my brother," Kaiba answered. "Mokuba, it's okay. It's a wrapped-up fantasy meant to seem real to fool the opponent. You know this. You know virtual technology. Relax. Watch this card in action again." Kaiba went over to the other dueling area where Jounouchi had been before. The Spirit yelled but Kaiba played a card and set it to attack Satiah.

Satiah ran out of the way as the attack blew by her.

"The Satiah card avoids all trap cards, magic cards, and physical confrontation. For that, it has a use. It also has a decent AI system, that could prove useful for either Kaiba corp, or a lawsuit against Pegasus. I'm sure the other card must have a special addition to it. One that strengthens or weakens it." Kaiba set another monster to attack.

The spirit dashed up to Kaiba's area this time along with Jounouchi and Honda.

Kaiba struggled as Jounouchi tried to tackle him. "Let go!"

The Pharaoh tried to pull off the card but it wouldn't quit in the middle of an attack. "Seize this attack, Kaiba." He watched as Satiah moved completely over to the other side of the board, constantly avoiding the barrage attack the monster had used against her. No more.

"Please, Brother," Mokuba shouted. "Don't hurt Satiah." Tears shined in Mokuba's eyes as he started to cry.

Kaiba stopped the assault, giving the spirit the upper hand to pluck the enemy card for good.

"Out of the arena, Kaiba," Jounouchi warned him.

"Telling me what to do in my own company? Please. End simulation." Kaiba stepped back down and away from the dueling arena to his little brother. The only thing Kaiba loved besides power and his cards.

Poor Satiah.

I know, Yuugi. We need to get that card. Kaiba will use his technology to push her to her limits, not help her.

Kaiba picked up the cards.

"Wait, Kaiba," The spirit called out to him. "The other card is my card." If her mind can be hurt, he'll hurt her. She could be hurt every time, being summoned in a game. I don't know her intentions, she was with Pegasus. She could have lied to him. She flipped on Mokuba when things got dangerous, her whole vernacular shifted. I don't know what to believe, but I can't leave her there. No matter what. "I will have to make a deal with Mokuba if he wants it from me." That was Kaiba's language.

"Fine," Kaiba said. "Get Yuugi back his card or figure out an arrangement if you want it." He then plucked the Satiah card back up.

"Gentle, Seto," Mokuba said. "Please."

"That card should be with you, Yuugi," Anzu said from next to him. "You would take care of them. Kaiba's going to put her through an endless gruel of challenges to test her power."

"You are right, Anzu," The Pharaoh agreed. Kaiba should not be the owner, but Kaiba never let go of ultra-rare cards.

I don't care if we can't read her intentions. No one deserves this.

It is true, Kaiba would do her no justice, but we do not have a virtual dueling deck system, Yuugi. She is more alive out here with Mokuba. This is all different than being trapped within a millennium item. She is trapped in a game, set to experience nothing but battle. Up until she becomes disposable. Trapped. For eternity, Yuugi. We cannot let her end that way.

You're right. I don't want to, but you're right. If there is no body, and she can never really live.

"Let me speak with her for a few minutes, Kaiba," the spirit said, "and Mokuba can have my card." It has to be this way, Yuugi. I'm sorry.

No, I understand. Satiah deserves the choice. This might be our only opportunity to talk to her if Kaiba won't let her go. If she doesn't agree, then . . .

"A private session," he warned Kaiba.

"Well." Kaiba looked toward Mokuba. "Yuugi wants to play pretend with the card. Is that agreeable, Mokuba?"

"If Yuugi wants to talk to her, yes," Mokuba said. "Let's go, Kaiba. We'll give them privacy."

"Ten minutes is more than gracious enough," Kaiba warned Yuugi. "I have business to attend to not far from here. I'll be done in ten minutes, and then Mokuba will collect his card. And it better be a real card."

The Pharaoh started up the machine again. He held the Satiah card.

How did Pegasus ever make this? I thought it was only a tribute to his wife Cyndia. How did this happen?

Yuugi. I don't think Pegasus was trying to make anything in the beginning. He was only putting love into this card. Pegasus was twisted and consumed by grief. I think that kind of pain and love, unable to let go of his past nor celebrate a future he once envisioned, brought the restless spirit of Satiah into this card.

Well, if her soul was able to be transformed to the magic of those cards just like the others-

Then her soul was out there, somewhere, unable to rest within an area he had explored. He placed her card down and left the arena, to meet her on the side.

She was on the field now. Still appearing as the card. A lost mind with truly no form. She looked around, probably searching for Mokuba, when her eyes landed on Other Yuugi.

He pulled himself onto the dueling arena. "Satiah, I do not have much time to discuss something with you. It is of grave importance that you listen." She was quiet. Still. "You are three thousand years into the future. Your mind is trapped inside of a new game. I believe I have the power to break you away from all of this, but your body has long since passed on. This means when I free you, it's over." He gave her time to absorb that news. Maybe time for a translating unit in the game to feed that back to her.

"I sacrificed our lives that day when I raised The Dark Magician," Satiah told him. "Fate will not be changed. If you are willing to grant my soul release, I humbly accept." She smiled. "Maybe I will still have Heba."

He could feel Yuugi crying inside of him, while he could hear emotion on the outside too. Anzu was crying. It was disheartening to see what had happened. He couldn't hear Honda, but Jounouchi had tears in his eyes, keeping it all back. His friends were always tender in their hearts. It's okay, Yuugi. Moving on into the afterlife is a blessing. There are no other cards of Pegasus that match Satiah. Heba will be waiting for her on the other side.

Satiah stood in front of him obediently.

He held his millennium puzzle. "Break from the magic that binds you here!"

The light of the puzzle shined against her and she disappeared, like she was never there. Jounouchi picked up the Satiah card and showed it to them all. It was empty.

"She picked the right decision. An immortal life of this was no way to live," the spirit answered. "Are you all okay?" They all nodded, staying strong. Although, Honda, Jounouchi and Anzu all had tears shining in their eyes. Yuugi. Are you okay?

Yes, Other Me. It was the right decision, better than sentenced to being a card forever. She gets to be with her daughter. I'll deal with Mokuba and Kaiba. Rest. I'm sure you need it.

He gave Yuugi back control.

BACK AT KAME GAME SHOP

"Man," Jounouchi said. "I don't know how to feel. We faked her out with a fake card, giving her hope. Then she was set free into death? It doesn't feel like a happy ending. Although, being trapped forever like that. It was no way to go either."

"A mom never finding her daughter, and then her life ended," Anzu added. "This day really sucked. I hope they both end up okay."

"But, they are free. No more duel deck," Jounouchi said.

"It couldn't be helped," Yuugi said. It was the right thing, Partner.

I sentenced her to death, as I just did today.

If she was telling the truth. We won't know until we know who you are. Even if that is the case, I don't blame you. No one could. Even she didn't say she blamed anyone. It was hard, but it was the right thing. What else could we have done? Sometimes, it's just the way it went. To end their suffering, the spirit had to end her. She's someplace better. Freed.

That was all that mattered.

Kaiba Corp.

Mokuba stared at the dueling deck, empty with tears in his eyes. He didn't blame Yuugi for what he did. It was better that way, no one should be trapped in a game. But? It didn't take the sting away. Satiah had helped comfort him, like his mother must have used to. Way back when. "She was so good. She was a little rough around the edges at times, but I didn't care. She never deserved any of that. None of it." He wiped his tears as he looked at the arena. "Satiah, wherever you are? I hope you and Heba are resting in peace now."

Other Yuugi's Soul Room

"A game." A shadow game that tore lives apart every time a monster fell. "I had to play it. I needed to save the world somehow I suppose, but look at the cost." An innocent woman. A child. They had been trapped in the summoning somehow. How many lives had it taken to play that deadly game? He remembered the way Mokuba shouted at Anzu about leaving her child.

Their world being plunged into darkness for an untold amount of time must have affected everyone. "She brought her own child in because her chances were greater of a kinder death." That was the world he had known? Where he didn't even recognize a woman with a young child beside her was being casted to raise a monster? "A coward of a husband and father, to leave his family to perform his duty."

If it were true. While she seemed good, her sudden attitude changes, and her mysterious past with Pegasus? Was it an accident, or was she interacting with Pegasus to make him get Kaiba Corp so she could always be played? Was she pretending to be Cyndia or not? There was no way of knowing, which made the feeling worse.

Should he feel sorrow for that woman, or should he feel betrayed?

Soon, he would know the truth.