Jaid: Hi guys. I'm not even going to bother with excuses this time, but please believe me when I say that life is crazy. Now that I actually have a life outside of the computer. *sweatdrop* Anyway...I'm figuring maybe once a month for these updates; I'm sorry I can't be faster, but inspiration is a tricky thing with this story. *kicks at document*

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Bakura and Rei were sound asleep, against the wall, when a shadow fell across them. Suddenly and violently, Rei was pulled from Bakura's arms. The thief started awake. Malik glared down at him angrily, Rei limp in his grasp.

"Let go of her." Bakura demanded, staggering to his feet. Malik's eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing with her in the first place?" he asked in a hard tone. "She's supposed to be with the others."

"They're dying." Bakura spat. "I don't know what that priest wanted with them, but they'll all be dead before the week is out."

Malik stared at him blankly, then a smirk appeared on his face. "Oh, I see. So this girl means something to you? Or are you just getting soft in your old age?"

Bakura grit his teeth. "None of your business."  He moved forward. Malik stepped back, jerking Rei's body back with him. The girl gave a slight moan.

"So, you've brought her back, did you? That must have been an experience."

Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Then you knew where they were the whole time?"

The smirk returned to Malik's face. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

A growl sounded low in Bakura's throat and he stepped forward. In a quick, smooth movement, Malik threw off the sheath of the Rod and held the pointed end to Rei's neck. "One quick jab and she bleeds to death." Malik stated seriously.

"What do you want?" Bakura asked in a strained voice.

"We want your cooperation." A voice from behind Malik said. Qenamun appeared in the doorway, his hazel eyes gleaming queerly in the room's dim light. "Assured and final."

"So you threaten me?"

"We do whatever it takes." Qenamun came behind Malik and placed a hand on Rei's shoulder. He whispered something and suddenly she jerked, her eyes blinking open.

"Huh?" the girl looked about groggily. "Where…?"

"Glad to see you awake, my dear." Qenamun said lightly. Although he was addressing Rei, his eyes were on Bakura. "Lovely to have you join us."

***

"Here." Rishid said, pausing at the gate to Shadi's residence. Isis looked at him.

"This is where we part, I suppose." She stated quietly. Rishid nodded.

"I'm afraid so, Mistress. I must get back to Master Malik." The man said, turning away.

"Rishid, wait." Isis called softly. He looked back at her. Isis paused.

"Please…would you…?" she wanted to ask him to care for Malik, but she wasn't sure how to phrase it. Rishid smiled.

"Do not worry for him." He said in a promising tone. She smiled.

"Thank you."

Rishid bowed, then turned and left. Isis turned back to the gate. She bowed her head, sighed, then looked and smiled as she put her hands on the wooden doors and pushed them open.

***

Seto blew out a breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The headache that had occurred last night had continued this morning. He felt thickheaded and grumpy. Joey and Tristan, surprisingly, had been giving him wide berth all morning and continued to do so as they entered the palace. Tea had sent a message to come quickly and to bring Joey and Tristan.

Seto hoped something hadn't gone wrong, but consider how quickly this trip was deteriorating, that couldn't be counted on. His sandals clacked on the stone floor smartly, but then slowed as he saw Ankhkare walking in the opposite direction. The healer looked weary.

"Peace my friend." Seto said quietly. Ankhkare smiled.

"Peace with you as well, Seth. What brings you to the palace so early in the morning?" he asked.

"Princess Tefnut wished to speak to me. You look as if you have not slept; the prince is not worse is he?"

"No, he is healing nicely. This is something quite different. Several members of the court, including the Princess Ipwet and her maid have been suffering severe headaches."

"Sever enough for you to lose sleep over?" Seto asked. Ankhkare sighed.

"To tell the truth, Seth, it worries me. I can feel a trace of magic and I feel that something worse may come of them." Ankhkare looked at his friend, worry evident in his eyes. "And a servant girl collapsed yesterday…"

Seto's face was calm, but his heart suddenly pounded hard. "I see." He said. Ankhkare cocked his head.

"Speaking of losing sleep, you seemed to have had a hard night as well."

"I am fine."

"Seth…"

"There is nothing to worry about. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go or I will be late for my meeting."

"Of course." Ankhkare said softly, then bowed. "Good day to you then."

Seto nodded, partly regretting being so curt with the healer, but he shook it off as he headed towards Tea's apartments.

***

Shadi walked out into the courtyard, thinking. So the goddess' spirit did reside inside the Tauk. Not that he should be surprised; didn't the scales have the power to call up Anubis? At least Yugi would be fine; Shadi had to admit being rather fond of the young man, in his way.

Ahead the doors swung open and a cloaked figure entered. Shadi stopped and frowned, wondering who it was. Slender hands reached up and remove the hood and cowl the figure wore. Isis' face, pale and thin, but glowing with happiness met his eyes. The guardian stood there for a moment, almost stunned. Isis reached out her hands towards him. Shadi found himself racing forward and scooping her up in a crushing embrace. She laughed and put her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest.

"I'm back." She whispered. "I'm home."

"Yes, you are." Shadi whispered, kissing the top of her head. "You are."

***

Rei's head felt blurry. All she knew is that someone had an arm tightly around her shoulders and was pressing her back to someone's chest. And something in her peripheral vision which was gold, but she couldn't quite tell. Not too mention Bakura was in front of her and looking majorly pissed.

"Let her go; what use does she have?" he asked. Another person behind her laughed.

"Don't play stupid, Bakura. It doesn't suit you. I need your skills. You don't trust me. You care for this girl. I can kill her if you do not cooperate. Understand?"

Bakura's fists clenched tightly. "What do you want me to do?"

"That's more like it. But we don't need her awake for this."

Someone touched the side of her neck and Rei felt everything go woozy, then black.

***

Tea was pacing the room when the door opened and Seto entered, followed by Joey and Tristan. She turned and let out a breath. "Thank goodness you're here!" she exclaimed, coming up to them. "We have problems."

"You mean more?" Seto commented.

"What's up, Tea?" Tristan asked.

"Yugi's gone."

The three boys stared at her blankly for a moment.

"huh?" Joey asked.

"He's gone! I went to see him and it wasn't Yugi I talked too, it was Yami!" Tea persisted. "And not only that, but Serenity collapsed and…"

Seto's jaw tightened. 'Damn…' he thought.

"I don't know what to do." Tea admitted, rubbing her head absently. "I just don't know…"

***

The blonde girl on the bed opened her eyes; her vision was slightly blurred. Leaning over her was her mirror image.

"Mana?" Tara asked in a hoarse voice.

"Hello sister." Mana said in a voice barely above a whisper. She put a cool hand on Tara's forehead. "Ankhkare sent for me; it is just your head?"

"It hurts; horribly." Tara bit her lip and some tears rolled down her cheek. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take the increasing pressure in her head. Mana carefully wiped away her tears and stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. Tara closed her eyes and tried to relax best she could.

***

"Katya?"

The girl looked up and turned to see Yugi in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. She smiled. "Hi! Have a good sleep?"

"No, I kept having nightmares." Yugi admitted. "Where is Shadi?"

"Um, out in the courtyard with some lady."

"Really?" Yugi's eyes widened. Katya nodded, her curls bouncing with the movement. Yugi smiled.

"That's great! She's back!"  He moved towards the door, then paused. "Katya?"

"Yeah?" the girl looked at him. Yugi's smiled faded and he opened his mouth, then shook his head.

"Never mind." He said quietly, then walked out. Katya blinked then jumped to her feet.

"Hey, come back here and tell me what you were going to say!!" she called, going after him.

***

"There is nothing we can do." Seto was saying. He was standing by Tea's window. She was seated on her sleeping couch, while Tristan and Joey sat cross legged on the floor. The girl gave a sigh of frustration.

"I know." She said. "I just hoped..." her voice trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"We all did." Tristan stood, and absently rubbed his left temple. Seto's blue eyes narrowed slightly. Tea's hand had been going to her head quite a bit during their conversation, and now Tristan...

Seto didn't know what was causing the headaches, but if they were only affecting the kids from his time, that could mean major trouble. He straightened. "I should go."

Tea looked at him. "Okay." She said softly. "I'm going to go check on Serenity and Mai."

Seto nodded, then regretted it when his head pounded a little harder. "If you need to, send me a message."

Tea smiled. "Thank you."

***

Yugi paused as he saw Shadi and Isis hugging. The boy smiled. Katya looked over his shoulder. "Is that her? The woman Shadi was looking for?"

"Yeah." Yugi murmured.

"You both can come out here you know."

The teens looked over to see that Isis and Shadi had ended their embrace, but Shadi still kept a protective arm around the younger woman shoulders. Katya made a face as she and Yugi walked towards the two.

"You don't need to make it sound like we were spying, 'cause we weren't." she stated, crossing her arms. Isis smiled, her blue eyes studying the girl.

"I don't believe I've met you. I'm Isis Ishtar." She said.

"Katya Suzuki." The younger girl shook Isis' hand politely, then brushed her black curls from her face. "Good thing you're back; I think he was going crazy trying to find you."

Shadi's face remained impassive, but Isis smiled again, then looked at Yugi. "Hello there, little Yugi." She said softly.

"Hello Isis. I'm glad you are safe." The boy told her. "And I hate to cut short our reunion, but we need to talk. I kept having nightmares and I have this awful feeling that they are more than just dreams."

***

Rei started awake. She had been having one of those queer dreams where you trip and right before you fall flat on your face, you wake up. She bit back a yawn and tried to get her bearings. She was in a semi-dark room, made of mud brick. There wasn't much else around. And it was quiet. Rei rubbed her eyes, wondering why she was so tired, when everything came back: The past, collapsing, the fight in that odd dimension she had found herself in and then seeing Bakura so angry...but at whom?

Well, best to find out right? Rei stood and went to the door of the room. She tried to pull it open, but it was locked. "Okay..." Rei murmured. "There's got to be a way out of here..."

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I don't think any notes are needed, but if you have a question about something, e-mail me and I'll answer as best I can.

Reviewer Response:

Coco Strawberry: ^__^ Merry Christmas. *hands her plushies* Hope you and your sister enjoy...but nobody's getting my Malik plushie!! *holds possessively* lol, hope you had a great Christmas!

Indigo: Yes, I got lots of nice stuff. I hope yours was good too. Lol, to tell the truth, Ankhkare is getting a bit suspicious, but come on, what makes you think that these are the future reincarnations of the actual people? (I don't think that sentence made sense...*sigh*) I keep writing! Even though it is slow...

Dr. Vorlon: *sweatdrop* Well, looks like I over-estimated myself...again. *bows* I humbly present my apologies at this late update. (Oh hey that rhymed!)

Fire Pendant: ^__^ No, he won't. I'm writing another ficcy for Indigo called "Eyes of Blue"; it's going to be a Pegasus/Isis/Seto love triangle...hm, should I make it a square and throw Shadi in the mix too?