After a week of constant "protection," Yuugi was about ready to snap. Sure, he appreciated his friends and their efforts to help him, but this was a little too much. If it was possible, Seto was both the worst and the best monitor. Good because he didn't always try to make cheerful conversation, but bad because you could never get anything close to a conversation with him. He just seemed too cold. At least, Yuugi thought, he usually only came for the night shifts (because of work and school), sitting motionless in a dark corner of the room while Yuugi slept. If he had been company during the day, Yuugi was sure they both would have driven each other mad within the first few days.
That conclusion was the most eventful thing to happen for two weeks. Most everyone started to relax a little. Maybe all their worries had been in vain. Only Seto remained rigidly vigilant, but then again, he was always like that. And Malik, although he no longer worried so much, continued to research with Isis through the family pasts for any evidence of a dagger-like Sennen item.
It took ten days, but finally he found something. "Look at this, you guys," he said upon arriving at school, dropping his bag and pulling out several sheets of paper. "I found some carvings in one of Isis's dusty collections, so I snapped a few shots with a digital camera and printed them out. We may finally have some answers!"
They gathered around to scrutinize the hieroglyphs.
"It says that the pharaoh locked the shadow games away in seven sacred and powerful items. But some with great power opposed the destruction of the games and plotted to stop the pharaoh. They were caught and" Malik coughed "disposed of, but their deaths released their anger and lust for power too close to the place of the final sealing place for the shadow games. Legend says that those emotions were accidentally sealed with the games and that when the power awakens once more, the magic will bring forth an eighth 'rogue item' that will seek out the rest of the bearers, take the power the pharaoh bestowed upon them, and bring about destruction unimaginable, avenging those he had killed."
Nobody said anything for a while. Then Jounouchi leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "So I guess if the world is ending, I don't need to do my Algebra homework."
*
The friends tightened security around Yuugi a little after that, much to the poor boy's dismay. They had, however, forgotten a crucial point.
There were still other Sennen items.
They only realized this two days later, when Isis called. Malik had been found unconscious just off of Domino High's campus, the Sennen rod at his side and a neat ankh carved into his chest. "I thought there was no more power in the rod," said Yuugi.
"Well, apparently it still retained enough to lure out the eighth item and its bearer," said Bakura with a sigh. "It is, after all, still a Sennen item. I think we may be in trouble now."
*
It was on one of Seto's night shifts at Yuugi's house that the rogue item decided to make another appearance. Kaiba was sitting on a chair not to far from Yuugi's bed, listening to the smaller boy's rhythmic breathing and spinning his revolver idly on one finger. His eyes were still alert, though, constantly combing the room for any suspicious movements. It had been three hours since Yuugi had drifted off, but Seto still felt no traces of drowsiness.
Suddenly, new, hushed breath came from his right. In one smooth motion, the safety clicked off and the revolver sat neatly in his right hand and pointed towards the sound. "Who's there?" he growled softly.
The intruder laughed softly and stepped closer to the open window so that by the streetlight's illumination, he could make out the shape of a girl-but he could not see her face. "Seto Kaiba," she said. "How nice to meet you face to face."
"What do you want?" he demanded, moving between her and Yuugi, not lowering the gun.
"Much, but doesn't everyone?"
"You're the one after the puzzle's power, aren't you? Step into the light and make no sudden moves unless you'd like to find yourself suddenly dead."
A suppressed snicker was the reply. "You have to live first to die, silly."
A tremble ran through Seto's steady hands. "What do you mean? What are you?"
"I am," she said softly, persuasively, "everything you ever wanted."
He rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that. I've heard it too many times from shallow, meaningless girls just looking for a rich date. Listen, I'm not interested in these relationship tangles. They get in the way of business. And I have yet to meet a girl who understands that."
She shook her head, still remaining safely in the shadows. "No, Seto. I am truly what you wanted. I am a bitter, brooding hatred; but even more, I am power and victory. Tell me you never felt the loathing. Look me in the eye and tell me you never desired the supremacy to crush everything beneath you."
He lowered the revolver. Nothing had prepared him for an adversary like this. "Too many times," he said slowly, "have I been promised more power, only to be cheated of it at the last moment."
"By whom? Yuugi, perhaps?" She gave him a moment for her words to sink in. "Come, Seto Kaiba, let me destroy his power, his will to fight. Your domination will never be challenged again. No one else can even come close to rivaling you. And this…" She placed her palms inches apart, one above the other, and the dagger appeared in her hands. The eye symbol glowed red like a live coal in the dark. "This will be yours. I am no human; so you will also wield me, the hatred and power within us, as you like. You will be unstoppable. There is nothing more that you ever wanted."
"You're part of the rogue item yourself, aren't you?"
She smirked, her soft lips curving coldly. "You always did have a reputation for being brilliant. So I trust you to make a choice fitting of your intelligence."