When Yugi awoke the next morning, he found his Yami at the window, staring into the snow that hadn't ceased falling all through the night. The boy blinked in surprise, approaching him slowly. What could have the Pharaoh so lost in thought?! Yugi couldn't remember him being like this in a long while. "Yami?" Yugi asked almost hesitatingly. He wondered if the spirit would even answer.
Yami Yugi didn't turn around. "Something's here, Yugi," he said gravely. "Something ancient and unfriendly." He gazed ahead, his eyes narrowed as he tried to place what he was feeling. He had felt this presence before, in Egypt. It was a female—he could tell that much—and he was certain he had been at odds either with her or with one close to her, but he couldn't place who the person was. Uneasiness surrounded his spirit like a vise as he watched another snowflake flutter to the ground. "Darkness, as these snowflakes, is descending upon us."
Yugi gasped. When the Pharaoh started to speak in such tones and using such words, his hikari knew something devastating was bound to occur. "Yami, what . . ."
"I don't know," Yami Yugi sighed, gripping the Puzzle. "But I sense we need to keep a greater hold on this. Someone will try to take it." He was tired of all the endless problems that stemmed from having these Millennium Items. But, he knew in his heart, if it wasn't the Items causing such greed, it would be something else. Mortals were always lusting after anything that could give them power—and certainly the Millennium Items were not the only such artifacts that existed.
Yugi shook his head in disbelief. Were their problems never going to stop?! He had hoped that they would have a peaceful Christmas. That didn't look very likely now.
****
Marik woke up falling out of bed. He grunted in pain as he hit the floor, feeling the coldness of the tiles against his bare chest. As always, he found it easier to sleep without a shirt on. On the occassions when he fell out of bed or was otherwise rendered without the quilt, however, it proved to be extremely unpleasant. But still he continued to sleep that way, even in the dead of winter.
Muttering under his breath, the youth rose up slowly and tried to wake up more. He was not crashing into the ice, as his mind was trying to make him think; he was just in his own room, on the floor, as he had been for the last couple of minutes. Another blasted dream, and one about the winter chill and drowning in the ice at that. Not an especially exciting way to get woke up.
A shadow fell across him and he looked up to see Rishid standing there, silhouetted by the darkness of the cloudy day outside. "Are you alright?" the man asked quietly.
Marik smiled lopsidedly, aggravation obvious in his eyes. "I'm fine," he replied, easing himself back onto the bed. Shivering, he grabbed for his shirt and started to pull it on. "Where is Ishizu?" he asked abruptly, realizing that he didn't sense her being there. Somehow he knew she wasn't in the house.
"She . . . left for the museum," Rishid responded after hesitating. That was true enough, but it wasn't all of the story. Ishizu had wanted to do some research concerning the images she had seen in her recent visions. She was extremely worried about it all, especially what she had seen of Marik.
The youth blinked up at his elder brother. "Why so early? And on such a storm-filled day?" Before Rishid could answer, Marik's expression darkened a bit. "It's not easy to keep secrets from me anymore, my brother." He had seen the anxiety on Ishizu's face last night. He had felt Rishid tensing just now. And he knew something was going on that they knew about and he didn't. It was obvious that something was wrong.
Rishid felt a certain pang at Marik's words, and most of it had nothing to do with the fact that Marik had guessed at the deeper happenings. He knew by saying "anymore," that Marik was referring to in the past when Rishid and Ishizu had chosen to keep the truth about their father's death from the poor, already-traumatized boy. Even now Rishid didn't know if they'd made the right decision. Yes, not telling Marik had caused him to go down the path of destruction, but if they had told him . . . Rishid was certain, deep in his heart, that Marik might very well have destroyed himself. Then the Yami would have been gone, never to return . . . but so would Marik. The whole thing had seemed a lose-lose situation, and Rishid and Ishizu had opted for what they had hoped would be the lesser of two evils.
Marik, suddenly realizing what he had said, gripped Rishid's arm tightly. "I'm sorry, Rishid," he whispered, his voice wreathed in guilt. "I know whenever this happens, you and Ishizu only think you are doing what's best for me." Never had he wanted to injure Rishid's feelings. He loved his brother so much!
Rishid smiled fondly, brushing the long blonde locks away from Marik's face. "Do not feel badly, Marik," he said softly. "I am the sorry one. You do have a right to know." He sighed, doubting that Ishizu would be happy with him for telling Marik. But after all, Marik absolutely would not panic at the thought that he might perish. He wouldn't like it, of course, but news of his impending death wouldn't affect him near like hearing that his precious siblings would die.
"A right to know what, Rishid?!" Marik demanded, seeing that the man was considering telling him.
Rishid sighed to himself. "Ishizu has had visions," he said slowly, deciding just to come right out with it. "She has seen Domino City under attack. And she has seen what appears to be several young people being killed by an odd flash of light." Never could he forget the horror he had felt when Ishizu had told him this—nor could he forget the feeling that she had, indeed, seen the not-so-distant future. His hand came to rest on Marik's shoulder and subconsciously he refused to let go, as if doing so would somehow seal Marik's fate. He drew a shuddering breath as he struggled to get his emotions under control enough to say it. "Including you, my brother." It pained him enormously to say it.
Marik said nothing at first. While he had more or less suspected it, he hadn't known the full truth. Now that he did, it took a moment to digest. He didn't want to die. That was the last thing he wanted. In spite of all the hardships he had endured, he still felt he had more than enough reason to live on. He had Ishizu and Rishid, and Mokuba too! Those three souls he treasured above all others, and he wanted more than anything to remain with them.
"Marik?"
Rishid's concerned voice broke into the boy's thoughts and he came back to the present, gazing into the endless depths of his elder brother's golden eyes. Not knowing what to say, exactly, Marik finally spoke quietly and broached a subject he had just been pondering on. "Who else died?"
Rishid stared at Marik, trying to determine if he thought the teen was really okay with this morbid news. He himself felt as though he were screaming inside. He refused to believe that Ishizu's dream would come to pass. It was not fathomable—that Marik would die. A world without Marik . . . wouldn't even be a world worth living in, Rishid silently told himself. It was just too horrible—picturing the boy's broken body laying dead somewhere in Domino's streets, never to rise again.
Rishid swallowed hard, telling Marik in truth that Ishizu had not seen the identity of the others present before gathering the teen into a fierce hug. As he clutched the priceless treasure close to his bosom, feeling Marik's heart beating in time with his, he whispered firmly for Marik to never leave. It couldn't happen! Never could it happen! So many times he had come so close to losing the younger brother he adored, but always Marik had managed to pull through.
"I never will leave, Rishid," Marik replied quietly, returning the hug. "Never!"
****
Duke was walking to his shop, despite the snow, when he saw several police cars pulled up around the curb. The red and blue lights flashed angrily, casting colored tints to the fresh white snow, and three officers, including Gabrielle, were applying yellow "Do Not Cross—Crime Scene" tape around the door.
Many thoughts instantly came into Duke's mind, none of them pleasant. What was going on here?! How dare they do this to his shop!! Furiously he ran forward, his emerald eyes blazing at the outrage of it all. "Excuse me," he said coldly, stepping up to Gabrielle. "What's going on here?" He gripped the woman's shoulder and she turned slowly to look at him, her expression not changing.
"Your shop must be closed temporarily, Mr. Devlin," she told him flatly.
"On what grounds?!" Duke could hear his voice rising, but he didn't care. "I wasn't told about this at all!"
Gabrielle gently pushed him aside to continue putting the tape around. "I left a message on your answering machine," she replied in a cold tone. "A crime was committed in your shop only moments ago." Ignoring the falling snow, she finished her job and then turned to her partner, speaking in Spanish.
Duke grabbed at the tape. "What kind of crime?" he demanded of anyone who would answer. Had something truly happened . . . or was Gabrielle trying to make him look bad, for some reason? He hadn't forgotten his suspicions of her. She could try to make him look like a criminal if she wanted to get him out of the way. . . .
The third officer present, whom Duke didn't know, turned and faced him stonily. "About an hour ago we got a call from one of your employees. He said we might want to come out and see something. When we arrived, we found several cases of cocaine stored in your office." He held one up in emphasis.
Duke's mouth dropped open. Cocaine?! How?! Yes, he had been undercover to investigate the drug ring, but the police had known of that! And he hadn't had stored cocaine in his office. Someone was obviously at work trying to frame him. And, from all appearances, Gabrielle was either believing it all or she was involved.
****
Ishizu turned the crumbling pages of the ancient volume, her hands shaking as she read of age-old visions that had been fulfilled, most of them literally. She shook her head as scenes flashed unbidding before her eyes of people screaming in agony as their poor bodies were tossed limply about by the force of the light. Whatever their attacker was, it didn't care who it was killing. The fact that so many young people with their whole lives ahead of them were dying didn't concern it at all. Tears sprang to Ishizu's eyes as she remembered seeing Marik's body flying through the air and then crashing down on the sidewalk like a broken toy. She couldn't think of it any more. It would drive her mad if the images kept repeating over and over!
"Excuse me."
Ishizu looked up at the unfamiliar voice and beheld a young woman who didn't appear to be much older than she herself. Her silvery white hair was cropped short and hung to just above her shoulders. As she moved closer to Ishizu, the dark-haired woman saw that her dress seemed to also be of Egyptian origin. Orange eyes studied her piercingly from behind loose parts of hair that were falling into the girl's face.
"Yes?" Ishizu asked calmly, closing the book carefully. She didn't want just anyone browsing through such an old publication, nor did she want it revealed what she had been looking at. It wasn't easy to tell who was trustworthy and who wasn't these days.
"I'm looking for the Egyptian exhibit," the strange girl declared in a slightly accented voice, her manner and pose very graceful and authoritative.
Ishizu clasped her hands, instantly on alert. "I will guide you there," she said.
The other woman smiled. "Thank you," she said. "That would be such a help." Her gaze drifted all across the room, taking in each object and hallway. Ishizu watched her, feeling suspicions rising. Who was this strange person? Why had she suddenly appeared? For now Ishizu would do as she had said, but she would be on her guard.
They walked down the hall in silence, passing through the room housing the dinosaur skeletons on their way to the Egyptian exhibits. Ishizu kept a close watch on her companion, who seemed fascinated by it all, but never could she determine what the person was thinking. Never did the girl face Ishizu. Instead she looked all around the room, as if trying to decide on something.
"Are you from Egypt?" Ishizu asked finally, attempting to start conversation. She couldn't shake the uneasy feelings that were growing in her heart.
The girl started, as if coming out of a trance. "Oh . . . why, yes," she smiled. "I'm just visiting here. I don't know how long I'll be staying. . . ." She trailed off, stopping to look at a towering allosaurus skeleton before hurrying after Ishizu. Reaching the doorway first, she stared intently behind her, clutching a gold-rimmed mirror in her hand.
Ishizu felt the sudden need to leave the room immediately. Her Tauk glowed, starting to send her a vision, and she whirled just in time to avoid being struck with the heavy tail of the allosaurus. It had moved!
The strange woman smiled. "Curious creature, isn't it." Screaming loudly in Egyptian, she commanded it to leave its platform and attack Ishizu ferociously. "I am sorry about this, but I can't have you in my way, now can I?"
Ishizu narrowed her eyes, dodging as the allosaurus came off of its stand and began to move toward her, knocking down everything else in its way. At the mysterious one's commands, the other skeletons rose up as well, trying to corner Ishizu into a trap.
Her heart pounded wildly. What was she to do?! They were gathering all around her. There wasn't a way out. Concentrating hard, she tried to use a blast from the Tauk to slow the zombies down. It struck a pterodactyl, which then quickly reformed itself after breaking. The prehistoric creature lunged at her, clipping her dress as it went by.
Ishizu backed up against a sarcophagus, racking her mind desperately for any ideas. This couldn't be allowed! Who was this woman? How could she possibly control the dead? And how would she be stopped?
The Tauk glowed brightly again, sending images of the ancient past to Ishizu's mind. She saw the girl in Egypt, controlling many armies of the dead as they marched before her. She saw a man standing near her, laughing maniacally. Though she was not shown who he was, she was certain from the silhouette and the rich blue eyes that it was Seth. Then she saw many people fall by the zombies' hands. Blood stained the Egyptian sands as the undead murdered endless numbers. And suddenly Ishizu was back in the present, with the dinosaur skeletons gather around her and the silvery-haired woman standing in front of them all. This person before her was not who she appeared to be. Though she looked young, she was actually ages old.
In the next moment everything faded to black as Ishizu felt a hand strike the back of her head in a fierce karate chop. A bit of blood rose from her mouth as she sank to the floor and lay still. As she felt herself fall into oblivion, the visions she had been having again again came into her mind and she reached frantically for Marik's body as, in her eyes, the youth crashed down near her—but she could not touch him.
"Beautiful, my dear," a voice belonging to one unseen purred, speaking to the white-haired woman. "I couldn't have done it better myself."
The girl blushed, the pink glow making her orange eyes stand out all the more. Mentally she ordered the zombie mummy that had struck Ishizu to return to its sarcophagus, and also for the dinosaur skeletons to return to their stands, which they did. It was so easy for her to control them now, after so many centuries of practice. "Should I take the necklace she is wearing, Lord Seth?" she asked now, bending down to do exactly that. Anything for Seth's approval. He had been confident in her abilities and had encouraged her to keep working at what she wanted. It was for him that she had become her best at controlling the dead. It was all for him.
Blue eyes gleamed in the shadows and Seth stepped into the light, decked in all his priestly attire. "We want powers greater than that, don't we, Nuru?" he said low, stroking her cheek. Such a perfect little toy. She would do his every bidding, as she always had. Seth waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Go ahead, my dear. Take the necklace and keep it for yourself. Consider it a gift of gratitude for your well-earned steps to get us where we wish to be."
Nuru's cheeks turned an even deeper crimson as she unfastened the Tauk and stood up with it held tightly in her hand. Such brilliance! Such divinity! She moved her hand over the gold in awe, touching each curve and design as she imagined how it would look around her neck. The Tauk could show visions. How she would be able to help Seth with this!
"Here, my dear." Seth took the necklace from her and affixed it around her throat, kissing her cheek when he was done. "Now come. We have much to do." Ignoring Ishizu's poor body on the floor, Seth gripped Nuru's arm and led her into the depths of the museum's halls.
Yami Yugi didn't turn around. "Something's here, Yugi," he said gravely. "Something ancient and unfriendly." He gazed ahead, his eyes narrowed as he tried to place what he was feeling. He had felt this presence before, in Egypt. It was a female—he could tell that much—and he was certain he had been at odds either with her or with one close to her, but he couldn't place who the person was. Uneasiness surrounded his spirit like a vise as he watched another snowflake flutter to the ground. "Darkness, as these snowflakes, is descending upon us."
Yugi gasped. When the Pharaoh started to speak in such tones and using such words, his hikari knew something devastating was bound to occur. "Yami, what . . ."
"I don't know," Yami Yugi sighed, gripping the Puzzle. "But I sense we need to keep a greater hold on this. Someone will try to take it." He was tired of all the endless problems that stemmed from having these Millennium Items. But, he knew in his heart, if it wasn't the Items causing such greed, it would be something else. Mortals were always lusting after anything that could give them power—and certainly the Millennium Items were not the only such artifacts that existed.
Yugi shook his head in disbelief. Were their problems never going to stop?! He had hoped that they would have a peaceful Christmas. That didn't look very likely now.
****
Marik woke up falling out of bed. He grunted in pain as he hit the floor, feeling the coldness of the tiles against his bare chest. As always, he found it easier to sleep without a shirt on. On the occassions when he fell out of bed or was otherwise rendered without the quilt, however, it proved to be extremely unpleasant. But still he continued to sleep that way, even in the dead of winter.
Muttering under his breath, the youth rose up slowly and tried to wake up more. He was not crashing into the ice, as his mind was trying to make him think; he was just in his own room, on the floor, as he had been for the last couple of minutes. Another blasted dream, and one about the winter chill and drowning in the ice at that. Not an especially exciting way to get woke up.
A shadow fell across him and he looked up to see Rishid standing there, silhouetted by the darkness of the cloudy day outside. "Are you alright?" the man asked quietly.
Marik smiled lopsidedly, aggravation obvious in his eyes. "I'm fine," he replied, easing himself back onto the bed. Shivering, he grabbed for his shirt and started to pull it on. "Where is Ishizu?" he asked abruptly, realizing that he didn't sense her being there. Somehow he knew she wasn't in the house.
"She . . . left for the museum," Rishid responded after hesitating. That was true enough, but it wasn't all of the story. Ishizu had wanted to do some research concerning the images she had seen in her recent visions. She was extremely worried about it all, especially what she had seen of Marik.
The youth blinked up at his elder brother. "Why so early? And on such a storm-filled day?" Before Rishid could answer, Marik's expression darkened a bit. "It's not easy to keep secrets from me anymore, my brother." He had seen the anxiety on Ishizu's face last night. He had felt Rishid tensing just now. And he knew something was going on that they knew about and he didn't. It was obvious that something was wrong.
Rishid felt a certain pang at Marik's words, and most of it had nothing to do with the fact that Marik had guessed at the deeper happenings. He knew by saying "anymore," that Marik was referring to in the past when Rishid and Ishizu had chosen to keep the truth about their father's death from the poor, already-traumatized boy. Even now Rishid didn't know if they'd made the right decision. Yes, not telling Marik had caused him to go down the path of destruction, but if they had told him . . . Rishid was certain, deep in his heart, that Marik might very well have destroyed himself. Then the Yami would have been gone, never to return . . . but so would Marik. The whole thing had seemed a lose-lose situation, and Rishid and Ishizu had opted for what they had hoped would be the lesser of two evils.
Marik, suddenly realizing what he had said, gripped Rishid's arm tightly. "I'm sorry, Rishid," he whispered, his voice wreathed in guilt. "I know whenever this happens, you and Ishizu only think you are doing what's best for me." Never had he wanted to injure Rishid's feelings. He loved his brother so much!
Rishid smiled fondly, brushing the long blonde locks away from Marik's face. "Do not feel badly, Marik," he said softly. "I am the sorry one. You do have a right to know." He sighed, doubting that Ishizu would be happy with him for telling Marik. But after all, Marik absolutely would not panic at the thought that he might perish. He wouldn't like it, of course, but news of his impending death wouldn't affect him near like hearing that his precious siblings would die.
"A right to know what, Rishid?!" Marik demanded, seeing that the man was considering telling him.
Rishid sighed to himself. "Ishizu has had visions," he said slowly, deciding just to come right out with it. "She has seen Domino City under attack. And she has seen what appears to be several young people being killed by an odd flash of light." Never could he forget the horror he had felt when Ishizu had told him this—nor could he forget the feeling that she had, indeed, seen the not-so-distant future. His hand came to rest on Marik's shoulder and subconsciously he refused to let go, as if doing so would somehow seal Marik's fate. He drew a shuddering breath as he struggled to get his emotions under control enough to say it. "Including you, my brother." It pained him enormously to say it.
Marik said nothing at first. While he had more or less suspected it, he hadn't known the full truth. Now that he did, it took a moment to digest. He didn't want to die. That was the last thing he wanted. In spite of all the hardships he had endured, he still felt he had more than enough reason to live on. He had Ishizu and Rishid, and Mokuba too! Those three souls he treasured above all others, and he wanted more than anything to remain with them.
"Marik?"
Rishid's concerned voice broke into the boy's thoughts and he came back to the present, gazing into the endless depths of his elder brother's golden eyes. Not knowing what to say, exactly, Marik finally spoke quietly and broached a subject he had just been pondering on. "Who else died?"
Rishid stared at Marik, trying to determine if he thought the teen was really okay with this morbid news. He himself felt as though he were screaming inside. He refused to believe that Ishizu's dream would come to pass. It was not fathomable—that Marik would die. A world without Marik . . . wouldn't even be a world worth living in, Rishid silently told himself. It was just too horrible—picturing the boy's broken body laying dead somewhere in Domino's streets, never to rise again.
Rishid swallowed hard, telling Marik in truth that Ishizu had not seen the identity of the others present before gathering the teen into a fierce hug. As he clutched the priceless treasure close to his bosom, feeling Marik's heart beating in time with his, he whispered firmly for Marik to never leave. It couldn't happen! Never could it happen! So many times he had come so close to losing the younger brother he adored, but always Marik had managed to pull through.
"I never will leave, Rishid," Marik replied quietly, returning the hug. "Never!"
****
Duke was walking to his shop, despite the snow, when he saw several police cars pulled up around the curb. The red and blue lights flashed angrily, casting colored tints to the fresh white snow, and three officers, including Gabrielle, were applying yellow "Do Not Cross—Crime Scene" tape around the door.
Many thoughts instantly came into Duke's mind, none of them pleasant. What was going on here?! How dare they do this to his shop!! Furiously he ran forward, his emerald eyes blazing at the outrage of it all. "Excuse me," he said coldly, stepping up to Gabrielle. "What's going on here?" He gripped the woman's shoulder and she turned slowly to look at him, her expression not changing.
"Your shop must be closed temporarily, Mr. Devlin," she told him flatly.
"On what grounds?!" Duke could hear his voice rising, but he didn't care. "I wasn't told about this at all!"
Gabrielle gently pushed him aside to continue putting the tape around. "I left a message on your answering machine," she replied in a cold tone. "A crime was committed in your shop only moments ago." Ignoring the falling snow, she finished her job and then turned to her partner, speaking in Spanish.
Duke grabbed at the tape. "What kind of crime?" he demanded of anyone who would answer. Had something truly happened . . . or was Gabrielle trying to make him look bad, for some reason? He hadn't forgotten his suspicions of her. She could try to make him look like a criminal if she wanted to get him out of the way. . . .
The third officer present, whom Duke didn't know, turned and faced him stonily. "About an hour ago we got a call from one of your employees. He said we might want to come out and see something. When we arrived, we found several cases of cocaine stored in your office." He held one up in emphasis.
Duke's mouth dropped open. Cocaine?! How?! Yes, he had been undercover to investigate the drug ring, but the police had known of that! And he hadn't had stored cocaine in his office. Someone was obviously at work trying to frame him. And, from all appearances, Gabrielle was either believing it all or she was involved.
****
Ishizu turned the crumbling pages of the ancient volume, her hands shaking as she read of age-old visions that had been fulfilled, most of them literally. She shook her head as scenes flashed unbidding before her eyes of people screaming in agony as their poor bodies were tossed limply about by the force of the light. Whatever their attacker was, it didn't care who it was killing. The fact that so many young people with their whole lives ahead of them were dying didn't concern it at all. Tears sprang to Ishizu's eyes as she remembered seeing Marik's body flying through the air and then crashing down on the sidewalk like a broken toy. She couldn't think of it any more. It would drive her mad if the images kept repeating over and over!
"Excuse me."
Ishizu looked up at the unfamiliar voice and beheld a young woman who didn't appear to be much older than she herself. Her silvery white hair was cropped short and hung to just above her shoulders. As she moved closer to Ishizu, the dark-haired woman saw that her dress seemed to also be of Egyptian origin. Orange eyes studied her piercingly from behind loose parts of hair that were falling into the girl's face.
"Yes?" Ishizu asked calmly, closing the book carefully. She didn't want just anyone browsing through such an old publication, nor did she want it revealed what she had been looking at. It wasn't easy to tell who was trustworthy and who wasn't these days.
"I'm looking for the Egyptian exhibit," the strange girl declared in a slightly accented voice, her manner and pose very graceful and authoritative.
Ishizu clasped her hands, instantly on alert. "I will guide you there," she said.
The other woman smiled. "Thank you," she said. "That would be such a help." Her gaze drifted all across the room, taking in each object and hallway. Ishizu watched her, feeling suspicions rising. Who was this strange person? Why had she suddenly appeared? For now Ishizu would do as she had said, but she would be on her guard.
They walked down the hall in silence, passing through the room housing the dinosaur skeletons on their way to the Egyptian exhibits. Ishizu kept a close watch on her companion, who seemed fascinated by it all, but never could she determine what the person was thinking. Never did the girl face Ishizu. Instead she looked all around the room, as if trying to decide on something.
"Are you from Egypt?" Ishizu asked finally, attempting to start conversation. She couldn't shake the uneasy feelings that were growing in her heart.
The girl started, as if coming out of a trance. "Oh . . . why, yes," she smiled. "I'm just visiting here. I don't know how long I'll be staying. . . ." She trailed off, stopping to look at a towering allosaurus skeleton before hurrying after Ishizu. Reaching the doorway first, she stared intently behind her, clutching a gold-rimmed mirror in her hand.
Ishizu felt the sudden need to leave the room immediately. Her Tauk glowed, starting to send her a vision, and she whirled just in time to avoid being struck with the heavy tail of the allosaurus. It had moved!
The strange woman smiled. "Curious creature, isn't it." Screaming loudly in Egyptian, she commanded it to leave its platform and attack Ishizu ferociously. "I am sorry about this, but I can't have you in my way, now can I?"
Ishizu narrowed her eyes, dodging as the allosaurus came off of its stand and began to move toward her, knocking down everything else in its way. At the mysterious one's commands, the other skeletons rose up as well, trying to corner Ishizu into a trap.
Her heart pounded wildly. What was she to do?! They were gathering all around her. There wasn't a way out. Concentrating hard, she tried to use a blast from the Tauk to slow the zombies down. It struck a pterodactyl, which then quickly reformed itself after breaking. The prehistoric creature lunged at her, clipping her dress as it went by.
Ishizu backed up against a sarcophagus, racking her mind desperately for any ideas. This couldn't be allowed! Who was this woman? How could she possibly control the dead? And how would she be stopped?
The Tauk glowed brightly again, sending images of the ancient past to Ishizu's mind. She saw the girl in Egypt, controlling many armies of the dead as they marched before her. She saw a man standing near her, laughing maniacally. Though she was not shown who he was, she was certain from the silhouette and the rich blue eyes that it was Seth. Then she saw many people fall by the zombies' hands. Blood stained the Egyptian sands as the undead murdered endless numbers. And suddenly Ishizu was back in the present, with the dinosaur skeletons gather around her and the silvery-haired woman standing in front of them all. This person before her was not who she appeared to be. Though she looked young, she was actually ages old.
In the next moment everything faded to black as Ishizu felt a hand strike the back of her head in a fierce karate chop. A bit of blood rose from her mouth as she sank to the floor and lay still. As she felt herself fall into oblivion, the visions she had been having again again came into her mind and she reached frantically for Marik's body as, in her eyes, the youth crashed down near her—but she could not touch him.
"Beautiful, my dear," a voice belonging to one unseen purred, speaking to the white-haired woman. "I couldn't have done it better myself."
The girl blushed, the pink glow making her orange eyes stand out all the more. Mentally she ordered the zombie mummy that had struck Ishizu to return to its sarcophagus, and also for the dinosaur skeletons to return to their stands, which they did. It was so easy for her to control them now, after so many centuries of practice. "Should I take the necklace she is wearing, Lord Seth?" she asked now, bending down to do exactly that. Anything for Seth's approval. He had been confident in her abilities and had encouraged her to keep working at what she wanted. It was for him that she had become her best at controlling the dead. It was all for him.
Blue eyes gleamed in the shadows and Seth stepped into the light, decked in all his priestly attire. "We want powers greater than that, don't we, Nuru?" he said low, stroking her cheek. Such a perfect little toy. She would do his every bidding, as she always had. Seth waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Go ahead, my dear. Take the necklace and keep it for yourself. Consider it a gift of gratitude for your well-earned steps to get us where we wish to be."
Nuru's cheeks turned an even deeper crimson as she unfastened the Tauk and stood up with it held tightly in her hand. Such brilliance! Such divinity! She moved her hand over the gold in awe, touching each curve and design as she imagined how it would look around her neck. The Tauk could show visions. How she would be able to help Seth with this!
"Here, my dear." Seth took the necklace from her and affixed it around her throat, kissing her cheek when he was done. "Now come. We have much to do." Ignoring Ishizu's poor body on the floor, Seth gripped Nuru's arm and led her into the depths of the museum's halls.