Chapter 2

"I don't even know where to start, Joey." Mokuba looked up at his brother's best friend, worriedly . "We're going to run out of time."

"We're not going to run out of time. Stop worryin'. Start from the source. Lizzie said it's her yami, Liza, who's causin' the problem. Maybe you can talk to her."

"Talk to an ancient Egyptian in a golden pyramid? I don't think I'd better. Last time I did, she tried to steal my exam memories for Biology." Mokuba shook his head, setting Elizabeth's Item on the counter in their industrial kitchen. "Besides…if I awaken her, Bakura's yami might awaken too. It's been kinda peaceful without listening to those two argue."

"Then I don't know what to tell you, Mo-Mo." Joey walked over and got himself a drink. "For all we know, Lizzie could be on to somethin'. "

"Yeah, but how do we know she's not talking feverishly?" Mokuba poured himself a glass of milk.

"We don't." Seto and I walked in together. "but we have to assume this is a part of who Elizabeth is." I looked at Joey. "Have you seen Tristan?"

"Not since we left the hospital. It was nice of Tea to offer to stay with her. Lizzie's gotten really attatched to her, you know?" Joey looked over at Seto, with a grin. "Did you get to tell the nurses' stations off?"

"Yes, but I don't think threats are going to do any good this time. Dr. Branch is absolutely the best one out there,so they're doing the best they can."

I smiled. "Yeah. I believe that. You've always given her the best medical care,Seto." I turned to Mokuba. "What have we decided to do about the Pyramid, and the yami inside it?"

"Nothing yet, Bakura. Joey seems to think we should talk to Liza, but I don't know if it's a good idea to awaken her. She's been dormant for more than four months."

"If Elizabeth thinks her yami is causing the problem, she's not dormant, Mokuba." I sighed. "We have to decide what to do….I mean her life is hanging in a balance, you guys."

Seto walked over, and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Bakura. We've gotten through times like these before. We will get through this, together." He turned to his little brother now. "Mokuba, I want you to run a database search on any and all recent illnesses that have every symptom Lizzie's got, including fatalities." He looked at the rest of us, as Mokuba left the room. "I don't know if this disease of hers is linked to anything real, but it could be a damn good copy cat, given to her."

"It's impossible, Seto. She was born with this. Her other doctors told us that the day we had her adopted." I wasn't really arguing with him, but I didn't want to believe someone would deliberately put her life on the line like this.

"It's not entirely impossible, Bakura. We both know she's been one of Pegasus' prime targets since I took over her care giving. He gave up taking Mo-Mo, and started taking her instead."

Seto wasn't trying to be funny, I knew. I just really wished he wouldn't have brought Pegasus up as a possibility. "If it is him, how is he doing it, Seto?" I was certain if Rakura had been around, he would've come up with a few good ways, but thankfully, my yami and I had finally come to a somewhat mutual agreement about him suddenly possessing me.

"Who knows? I only speculate, Bakura. We both know how powerful he's been in the past."

I could only nod. Seto was right, as usual. "I've gotta get to the store. I want to open it on time for once." I turned to walk out the door.

"Bakura." Seto walked over and looked directly at me. "We will find whoever made your sister this sick. I swear on my company, she is not going to die." He went out of the kitchen, taking Lizzie's Pyramid with him. I guessed he was going to demand some answers from her yami. If he'd asked me, I would've told him that Liza was more likely to talk to her brother, who was my yami. With a sigh, I left the estate, and headed to my book shop.

"Come on, Lizzie…eat just a little bit for me?" Tea sat at Elizabeth's bedside, trying to coax her into taking some mashed potatoes.

"I'm not hungry…." She was off her respirator, for the first time in three weeks. "Where's Ryou?" It was known that she was the only one who actually called me by my first name.

"He's at work. He just called a little while ago while you were sleeping. The others will be here as soon as Seto's finished some paperwork. " Tea set the spoon aside. "Lizzie, if you don't eat, you won't get any better. You need your strength."

"I'm going to die anyway." Came her hopeless reply, as she leaned against her pillows exhausted.

"You're not going to die! Seto and the others are working on it, Lizzie. It might take time, but you're not going to die. I promise you that." Tea brushed Elizabeth's hair out of her face. "You're a Kaiba. Kaibas fight. Are you going to let whoever did this win?"

"No." Elizabeth looked up at Tea, her eyes were full of the fear she'd been trying to mask. "Who's doing this to me,Tea? Why can't they leave me alone?" She buried her face in the hospital pillows, as Tea stroked her hair.

"Shh…..we're going to find them,Lizzie, and I promise you. When we do, Seto's going to make them pay. He's got that kind of power, you know."

She nodded,slowly. "I…Tea, I want to help them."

"You just work on gettin' better,Lizzie. We'll deal with this creep." Tristan walked into her room, and sat down on the other side of the bed. He patted her arm. "At least you're off the breathing machines. That's gotta be a good thing, right?"

"Tristan's right." Tea smiled at her,then looked at Tristan. "She's still not eating right though, Tristan."

"Oh? Why not,Lizzie? I figured you'd be starving."

"I'm just not hungry, Tris. I'll eat when I am." She shut her eyes, tiredly.

Tristan looked at Tea, a worried expression on his face. His voice came out cheerful though. "I bet you'll be hungry after you've slept. Seto and the others will be here in about half an hour." He smiled at her,as she fell into a restless sleep. "She's still so weak. People can die from that alone." He whispered to Tea.

"Shh! I know that! I'm sure she does too. Look, even if we do get her eat, she could have a relapse. We just don't know what the real problem is." Tea watched Lizzie sleep. "She's got to have some hope though. Bakura told me one time that she's at her strongest when her dueling deck is close by. At least, she thinks she is." She put Elizabeth's dueling deck beside the sleeping girl.

"They're just cards, Tea."

"Just cards?! How can you say that? These cards mean the world to her, Tristan. I've seen her duel with them many times. She says we gave each card to her. Yugi gave up his Dark Magican to her. I gave up my Magician of Faith. What card did you give her?"

"Cyber Commander, and my Red Eyes Black Dragon. I bet Kaiba didn't give her any."

"Yes he did. He and Mokuba each gave her a Blues Eyes White Dragon. And she's got Joey's Flame Swordsman."

"But that one's in a frame. She won't duel with him anymore." Joey spoke up from the doorway.

"Actually, I gave her two of my Blue Eyes." Seto added. He looked at Joey. "Lizzie may not duel with your Swordsman any more,Joey, but she talks to him every night."

"Is she crazy? Cards don't talk, Kaiba." Tristan hadn't quite given up calling Seto by his last name.

"Not to normal people, no, they don't. Elizabeth has gifts, Tristan or have you been ignoring the roaring from her bedroom?"

"Roarin'? What roarin?" Joey looked a little puzzled now.

"Her Blue Eyes. They converse. She's named him Kaiba, after me."

"Are you tellin' me that her cards come to life? Only place I've ever seen that was in the Shadow realms. "

"That's what I'm telling you. Joey, your Swordsman is named after you. She calls him Wheeler." Seto smirked at his friend's bewildered look. "She has gifts,Joey. I think it has something to do with her Millennium Pyramid."

"Yugi and Bakura have Millennium Items. They don't talk to cards…" Joey was a little freaked out about the idea of cards that could talk.

"No, they don't, but they're also adults. Maybe it's a kind of magic only children can do." Seto shrugged. "We can't tell her not to do it anymore, Joey. The cards seem to like her."

"Plus, she's never talked to them during a duel. Only right before it. " Tea nodded. "Now that whole ritual of hers makes more sense to me."

"Wow. I didn't know half of this stuff. I bet you Bakura doesn't either."

"Of course he doesn't, Tristan. She's been living with me for the last four and half years."

"He misses her, Kaiba." Tristan spoke to the feelings of his friend, suddenly.

"I would think so. I haven't been keeping him from her, Tristan. He's more than welcome at the estate. He knows that." Seto looked at Tristan, almost hurt. "I mean, sure, I got her involved over at the company, but she's still his sister. I would never intentionally make him think otherwise."

"I think after this, Kaiba, he's goin' to take her back." Tristan said slowly.

"Then he will lose her." Seto's voice found it's coldness again. "He'd best not expect me to bail him out again."

"Calm down, Seto. I'm sure we can work something out. Lizzie probably won't want to go with him anyway. She's practically grown up under your tutelage." Joey gave Tristan a Look.

"Stop it, you guys! Elizabeth doesn't need this right now. It doesn't matter who's her guardian right now. We've all got to be here to support her." Tea scowled at the three boys, before looking at Elizabeth's sleeping form. "She looks so helpless I wish there was more we could do for her."

"We're doing all we can. I'm waiting for a report from Mokuba." Seto explained to Tristan and Tea what his and Bakura's theory was.

"Do you think he'll find anything useful?"

"I don't know. If anyone's going to find anything, it'll be Mo-Mo."

In his room at the estate, Mokuba was hard at work. It seemed Seto had been on to something. Most of the cases that were similar to Elizabeth's had happened to children between the ages of six and thirteen. The second link frightened even him. It seemed these children also had two other similarities. Each of them had possessed an Egyptian-type necklace, and all had been Duel Monster league duelists. Mokuba shivered. Man, this is really bad, he thought. The only thing the articles weren't stating was the cause of the ailments. Luckily, all of these children had survived. He printed out the articles, one by one. Someone wanted the Millennium Pyramid. Whoever was behind this would make ill any child with anything that remotely resembled Lizzie's Item. This had to be stopped. He gathered up some Duel Monsters guides he'd been reading for Elizabeth, and headed to the hospital.

"Damn! What are we going to do now?" Joey set aside the final article, looking at Seto.

"I don't know, Joey. I'm at a loss. This is a really bad thing though. It's gone past Elizabeth now." Seto shook his head, peering into Elizabeth's hospital room. She was talking to Mokuba about a new strategy she'd cooked up. "We're going to have to take her out of the league."

"She'll never talk to us again."

"So be it, at least she'll still be alive."

"Seto…"

"What? It's the only way we can help her, until we find this guy, Joseph!" Seto looked at Joey, with a sigh. "I'm sorry. It's the only thing I can think of, given the information we just got."

"You're right. What about the other children though?"

"I'm shutting the league down. I sponsor it; it's my responsibility to keep it's participants safe."

"It's right before finals. Maybe…."

"No, Joey. I'm shutting it down, before someone else gets sick." He got up to make a few phone calls. "We'll tell Elizabeth later. Right now, she needs to just be resting." Seto didn't like what he was about to do, but he had no other choice. It wasn't just Elizabeth's health anymore. The health of duelist everywhere was in jeopardy. He had to find the person responsible for this, before it was too late.