Lightning-Dono: Aren't you all just clinging to the edges of your seats? xD; It took me a bit to update this because I had a band concert in the evening. I had to clean my flute and all that crap before it. Lovely language in this chapter as Kaiba's mouth needs to be washed out with virtual soap and water.

And I've made up that stuff about spiritual planes and stuff, okay? Don't add that to any religious teachings. xD; I read too much fantasy.

Answers to the Reviews

Vanessa463 – Thanks and I will NOT add Seto x Anzu because...It's weird. Like...Really.

Witch01 – ((updates)) Happiness! Sorry about the idiotic replies. I thought I'd fit in some review replying before the concert.

can't think – You'll see. Mwahahaha! I am unpredictable! I think...Whatever. Isis may die, she may not. You'll have to read. :) Don't worry, I don't mind if you can't review over the holidays because I'll be gone half the time, too. Don't sweat it! Review when you get back or when you can. I'll probably only update 2-4 times tops. Maybe more if I sit infront of the computer all day. oO; And then end up needed glasses.

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The ringing sound of a bullet penetrating the surface of something died out before Isis and Kaiba could see exactly what had occurred.

I'm not alive, am I? Isis questioned herself, wondering if she were floating along Kaiba as a ghost, upon desperation to be with him forever. Instead, the realization was even worse. She wasn't dead. Gozaburo was. Terror reined her mind like a mighty emperor, holding an iron rod and prodding her brain, making chills spill down her spine.

"...Why did he shoot himself?" whispered Isis, feeling her forehead subconsciously. "Why didn't he shoot me?"

Kaiba, through his partial state of horror, suddenly went quite snappish.

"Be happy that you're alive!" Kaiba hissed at her angrily, stamping out the gun in his stepfather's hand. "If he wanted to die, then good for him! Gone to hell for good and I won't give a damn."

"But don't you want to know why?" She was intimidated by his simple words that meant so much more than a speech about how Gozaburo killed himself would've.

A sound that sounded much like spitting occurred. "He can kiss my ass."

Isis's couldn't just look the semi-respectable corpse of someone being spat on by someone they had decided to adopt and not be angry.

"What do you think you're doing to him?!" She screamed in rage, tearing her way through the suddenly large crowd of workers gaping soundlessly at the cadaver. A shroud of heavy silence seemed to be resting over the ground. Isis was the only one with her mouth open, yelling at Kaiba for his injustice. No matter how much he could've disliked his stepfather, the man deserved to die in peace – not have his body destroyed willingly.

Kaiba turned to toss her a look of dislike. "What are you, thick? I'm treating him the way he was meant to be treated!" The look in his eyes looked like those of an arsonist being caught red-handed. Both fearful yet filled with an unexplainable anger that was encapsulated within him. His angered expression was smothered with a touch of hurt like misplaced mascara. It was like he couldn't believe that Isis wasn't agreeing with him like she had always had.

"Just because he was like that towards you doesn't mean you should return that to him! You-You're becoming just like him!" She had struck a nerve. Watching him was like watching a fast-forwarding tape. Just watching it move too quickly to be possible at stuttering intervals. Kaiba was pinning her abusively to the wall, oblivious of the crowd around them, making sure she was watching each and every action he made by knocking her chin upwards.

"Don't you dare compare me to that snake!" He whispered furiously, giving Isis a face-full of his hot breath that pounded onto her neck. It didn't refresh her one bit, no matter how minty it was from the toothpaste he had used. An iron grip clutched her throat like a clasp that was binding her to the wall.

"Oh, so you'd rather I lie?" She replied coldly, taking one hand and forcing his from her throat. Kaiba's expression darkened, feeling her gold bracelets spreading it's cold against his skin. "Fine then. You're not acting like him one bit. In fact, you two behave so 'differently' that I'm beginning to wonder why you two aren't twins!" With that, she stomped her way out of the building. "I'm not taking anymore of your little temper problems! If you dislike your stepfather, fine! Treat him however you like! Just count me out of your futuristic plans!" Huffily, she shoved her way out of the electric door that proved too slow for her and marched on down the street like a very informal saint.

Kaiba didn't know whether or not to jump up and down with joy and revert to mistreat his stepfather or to chase after the one person he had ever had feelings for. The only thing he was aware of at the moment was the thirty-six eyes focused on him and the color spreading rapidly across his cheeks.

- - - - -

They were trekking up the treacherously snowy mountain when the angel before him suddenly stopped, her hair flurrying around her like a sandstorm.

"I never introduced myself!" She gasped.

"Indeed you did not." The angel's presence was enough to make him become someone else – a respectable a boy that everyone could trust without doubt.

"The name is Kara," she smiled cheerfully, sticking out her hand for Mokuba to shake like they were just meeting for the very first time. "Let's start anew and pretend that you haven't been wandering the third spiritual plane with a stranger."

"I know you're a messenger for the Buddha," Mokuba said pointedly as they floated onto a particularly soft clump of snow that rested on a cliff-like edge. "And what's the third spiritual plane?" Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached down and touched the snow, just to make sure that it really existed. The fact that he was dead bothered him. He wanted interaction with something that atleast looked real and not with a bunch of people who belonged in your stereotypical fairytale.

"The third spiritual plane is one of the five that you must conquer – or rather, get through, in order to see the Buddha," Kara explained gently. "He lives at the summit, meditating. Sees every person coming up the mountain in his mind and judges by their behavior then." Kara grinned toothily. "Just keep being all gentleman-like and he'll accept you in no time."

Mokuba's mouth stretched into a smile – the first he had every carried on his face since he had found himself trapped, separated from the rest of the heaven-like land.

"What was that place then?" He asked her as they continued up towards the peak, snow floating down at a steady pace.

"There are many places," Kara answered with the voice of a mermaid – so normal, yet mystical when you thought about whom it was coming from. In this case, it was coming from an angel wearing velvety emerald clothing that revealed more than necessary. A golden halo ringed her head like a loose headband. A silver bracelet with a gem of jade embedded in it was worn on her left wrist. Her shoulder-length, sandy-brown hair was thin and shone delicately in the film of light coming through a few clouds.

"I mean, that place that the Buddha was saying I couldn't be in. What is it?"

Kara was busy brushing off an icy rock. "That place is the Rebirth Haven. All spirits that the Buddha plan on bringing back to life as babies remain there until their turn comes." Her expression was suddenly grim. "I was offered to be reborn, but I refused. My previous life was exceptionally dull, so the Buddha taught me how to meditate in order to rid myself of the boredom inside and release positive energy. Besides...I can't remember much. Too much time spent in the spirit world depletes memories of your past self." She sighed, sitting down on the rock, legs crossed. "Tell me a bit about yourself." Noticing that Mokuba was hesitantly looking up towards the sky that, with each waking moment, seemed to be getting darker, she added, "We're spirits, remember? The weather, natural disasters...Nothing affects us. It's all just eye candy fit for camera on a film." The dazzling grin emerged onto her rosy face. "So, let's get to it. How was life for you?"

The boy settled down on a rock next to Kara, making sure that she could hear him over the howling wind that had suddenly made it's appearance.

"The only thing I had that was worth living for was my brother."