Notes: Eek! I just found out who died in Book 5! It's not fair… but then again, neither is life. ::sigh:: If only… Well I wont ruin the surprise for you. (In fact I haven't even read the book. I just know where to get straight answers. ^_~)

Thanks for the great reviews guys and gals, I appreciate it!

Oh, look a guest appearance! Just 'coz this is Seto-centric doesn't mean I'm excluding other characters. ^_^

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Turmoil

By Kaitourei

Chapter Four: The Night Before

"The High Priest is walking the earth once more… only I doubt he knows who he truly is…"

- He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Lord Voldemort)

A blonde boy sat idly on the steps outside of a large museum, waiting. It was dusk and the sun had begun to sink under the horizon of buildings, blocking the youth's view of the real sunset. He twirled a golden scepter-like rod in his left hand, while the other supported his chin.

"Isis…" he muttered through clenched teeth. "Where the hell are you?"

The sun had fully disappeared behind the buildings, but there were traces of light still illuminating the land. Rolling his lavender eyes, he stood up and stalked toward the museum doors.

It was quiet inside, too quiet… like a crypt. He instinctively froze, his muscles tense. The room he stood in was dimly lit with only the traces of sunlight creeping through the huge doors behind him. Every breath he took and every beat of his heart echoed inside his head until it was a symphony of chaos. Calming himself he walked on, choosing the least intimidating corridor and following it.

"Isis!" His voice rang through the hall, echoing several times back to him. "Isis! Where the fuck are you?" He continued shouting her name and occasional curses in a foreign language as he proceeded deeper into the dark hallway. His face portraying anger and fear as he stalked through the corridor, emotions coursing through him.

That's when he stumbled on it. Literally stumbled.

Something caught the blonde's feet, causing him to crash onto the museum's tile paved floor. He swore softly as he tried vainly to untangle himself from the object restricting him. It wasn't until he had fully freed himself did he realize he was holding a purse. A purse he seemed to hated, to say the least; it was beaded with some sort of white material (probably plastic, he noted mentally) and had uncannily long straps… like a giant book bag. Nevertheless, his face shown recognition.

"Isis loves this Ra forbidden thing," He cursed. "She would never leave it… oh no… ISIS!"

He shot to his feet, purse grasped tightly in one hand, the Rod in the other. His face stated there would be hell top pay if anything had happened to Isis. He dashed down the nearest hall ignoring the fact he had no idea where Isis might be, but that didn't matter, he would find the answers around the next bend.

It happened so fast he had less than a nanosecond to stop, the blonde ran headlong into a caped man. Both crashed to the floor in a frenzy of kicking and cursing. When they were free of each other the youth followed his instincts. With his Rod in hand he sent the other man flying into the wall, but instead of falling the man was suspended – held to the wall with a magic-like energy all around his body [1].

It was the element of unplanned surprise that allowed the blonde the upper hand. He made good use of his victory; pointing the Rod toward his captive he evoked a type of magic unknown to most.

"Who are you?" The Rod holder shouted, glaring at the frozen man. "What are you doing here? And where the hell is my sister, Isis!" He released the other, allowing him the dignity of dropping painfully to the floor.

"I am *Evan Rosier…" The man said in a deadpan, his body still sprawled across the floor. "…I was sent here on a mission by my Lord… to retrieve information concerning the Book…"

"Where is Isis?" he yelled, his grip on the Rod tightening. His knuckles were almost white.

"The Egyptologist woman was to take us to the tablets holding the information…"

Malik didn't hesitate; he knew where the tablets were being held… and he also knew that Isis would be there. With a flick of his wrist he sent Rosier flying into the opposite wall – knocking him unconscious. He was out of the room before the caped man hit the floor.

The youth cursed his legs to run faster, he was tiring already from sprinting the length of the whole museum. He skid around a corner, grabbing at anything to slow his turn. After nearly smashing into a sarcophagus that seemed to appear out of nowhere, the blonde made it to a flight of very ominous stairs.

Ignoring the oblivious signs of danger the blonde tore down the stairs with speed he didn't seem to possess.  There was a guard at the bottom of the door. Without hesitation the youth launched himself toward the guard and landed a blow to the head that left the man unconscious. Next the blonde slammed through the door, ignorant to what ever lay behind it.

 "You'll let her go or they'll be hell to pay!"

There was a clash as gold met silver and then the blood flew. Blood so red, blurring everything in sight, distorting the figures in the room until all it was a warm glowing hue…

…Filling the void behind Harry Potter's eyes. The boy's jet green eyes opened in fright. Blinking in surprise and dread the black haired boy leaned back in his pillows. He was in Hogwarts… safe. But ever so slightly his scar burned, warming him of danger to come that was ever more probable.

Harry doubted he would be able to sleep at night anymore.

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He sat waiting.

The room was a dim green, color dancing from the torches that lined that hall. There were no windows or doors in this narrow room. It would seem to close in slowly, ever so gradually shrinking as you neared the end where the throne stood. The shadowed lord sat within the darkness, letting the greens play across his pale snake-like face.  The color twisting and writhing while his red eyes waited hungrily.

It wasn't until the two men appeared in the room did his eyes show any signs of immediate interest or vague life. Rising slowly with an animalistic grace, the Dark Lord descended.

 "I trussst you retrieved the information…" It wasn't a question.

"My Lord," the larger of the men bowed, the other following in suit. "We have fulfilled you're wish… and we have brought you, our esteemed Lord, an added bonus."

"Ssstop buttering me up, Avery…" the Dark Lord hissed. "Get to point. What is it?"

"A S-sennen Item, M-my L-lord," the smaller balding man said, holding as golden scepter-like rod forward. It bore the eye of Ra. "M-my Lord?"

"Fool!" There was a burst of light and the small man flew roughly into a wall. "This was not part of the mision! You're careles acts may alter my plans, and that cannot be accepted. I do not need the Sennen Items, they have already fallen into the cumbers some hands of muggles!"

"Forgive us, my Lord," Avery said, his voice quivering slightly. "It shall not happen again. But we have the information you requested - "

A cold hand clamped around Avery's neck, cutting cut off his speech. With his other hand the Dark Lord pulled a black cover off a stone basin that slightly resembled a birdbath. Avery was pushed forward and forced to look into the silver swirling waters of the *Pensieve.

"The tablets," the dark Lord hissed again. "Show me what you remember."

Avery swallowed and began, memories filling into the silver swirling waters; faces of people, places, and the stone tablets depicting an "epic battle". He remembered all of it, up until the blonde Egyptian boy burst through the door. The memories there were blank.

"What happened here?" the dark Lord demanded.

The smaller man stepped forward, having recovered form his last beating. "The Item, my Lord, it is able to control the mind… l-like the *Imperius Curse. We were able to sub due him long enough to take the Item for our own."

"A mistake you shall pay for dearly, Wormtail," came a hiss. There was a thud as Avery was thrown to the ground. "But on the other hand… we see here," the dark lord's hand drifted to the Pensieve's swirling waters. The depiction of a priest holding an identical item floated into view. "*High Priest Seito, betrayer of the unnamed Pharaoh, if the translations are correct… a worthy ally."

"My L-lord," Wormtail ventured. "I-if I may… H-he's quite d-dead by now…?"

"Death is not the final stage, as you should know," the Dark Lord said discreetly. "The ancients of Egypt believed in life after death, reincarnation…" The Dark Lord reached into his robes and the three before him tensed. Fortunately it wasn't his wand, but rather a crumpled piece of paper. "This was found during the raid at the Quidditch Cup a year ago [2]… tell me what you see."

On the picture was the face of a young man with brown hair and deep blue eyes hanging half out the door of a muggle chopper in a dramatic pose. Below the picture the words "Start of Battle City!" could be read in English. On the other side of the paper was a profile-like image of the same brunette along with a few playing cards. Under it read:

"Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp. kicks of second *Magic and Wizards (or commonly known as Duel Monsters) tournament. Mr. Kaiba himself will be participating in the tournament known as 'Battle City'. Unlike 'Duelist Kingdom', by the late Pegasus J. Crawford, there have been changes to the dueling rules…"

"What does this have to do with anything?" Avery asked slightly disgusted at the muggle sport.

A cruel chuckle escaped the Dark Lords lips. "Open your eyes!" the placid hand drifted over to the Pensieve. The full tablet was revealed in the swirling waters, the stone engravings of monsters almost matched the cards feature for feature. Avery held the paper next to the water, a look of awe on his face.

"You're saying…?" Wormtail asked.

The Dark Lord smiled wickedly. "The High Priest is walking the earth once more… only I doubt he knows who he is…"

"I'll send men to intercept him," Avery volunteered, but the Dark Lord held up a hand stopping him.

"Avery… you know the location of the Book, tell us where is it?"

"After the Ministry discovered its existence it was put under the watchful eye of our favorite headmaster," Avery sneered with apparent disgust. "But spies have already been deployed to Hogwarts and are awaiting further command."

"You may think your smart, Avery, but I know already where the former Priest is heading," a familiar sneer appeared on his pail lips. Another parchment letter was pulled from his robes, the Hogwarts seal gleamed in the dim light. "This was found in the Kaiba mansion by my spies, along with a useful tool of sorts, but that does not matter. The point is Seto Kaiba has been accepted by Hogwarts… the Book is in Hogwarts… two birds with one stone, Avery."

"I see my Lord," Wormtail said in Avery's place. "But what if the priest declines?"

"He won't," the Lord looked confident. "I have an advantage over him, you see I have what he holds dearest in my grasp. And once he has agreed I have all I need to complete my plan. The other two keys have been brought here safely I presume."

"Yes, my Lord, but," Avery began. "The other holders of the Sennen Items? What if they discover our ploy?"

"They could never react quick enough," the Dark Lord had turned away, his attention on the Sennen Rod. "But what is the use of an original Item when it's power is gone… drained away to me and my own creations of power."

Wormtail looked wary, "And Harry Potter, my Lord?"

"He shall be the first to fall after the creation…" The Dark Lord picked up the Sennen Rod. "As for this, it will help our future ally remember who he is…"

Laughter filled the room and rang out through the stonewalls, sending shivers down the spine of the young boy with blonde hair and his black haired sister as it reached their ears. The pair sat in darkness, cold and desolate… like hope was drained from their spirits.

The woman sighed. "I only hope Rashid returns soon enough to notice our disappearance…"

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End Notes: Sorry if this didn't have much Seto in it and don't worry about Malik and Isis they'll sat alive, for now.

Next chap Seto's sorted and we meet the new DADA teacher! (Trust me, it's not who you think it is.)

*Evan Rosier = a known deatheater in book 5… dies later on in the book, no biggie.

*Pensieve = A shallow stone basin, which contains a silver substance that constantly moves and changes. It is used to siphon-off excess thoughts and memories from one's mind. Then the thoughts and memories can be examined at one's leisure. (I'm not sure how these work so just bear with me.)

*Imperius Curse = A powerful, illegal curse that can control it's victim's mind completely. One of the Unforgivable Curses, and can be jailed for it's use.

*High Priest Seito = Seto Kaiba's reincarnation, High Priest to the unnamed Pharaoh. "Seito" is his actual name in the manga, not "Seth" as is commonly used.

* Magic and Wizards = the manga name for Duel Monsters in the 1st volumes. It was then changed to "Duel Monsters", I believe.

[1] In the manga Malik (or rather Yami Malik) pinned Yami Bakura to a wall – hovering him about three ft. above the ground - when the tomb robber interrupted his would-have-been brutal murder of Rishid. Fortunately for all the Yami B. fans out there, the Ring stopped the Rod's effect. (I'm guessing Malik can also activate this…)

[2] Deatheaters raided and tortured some muggles during a Quidditch Cup game before the start of Harry Potter's fourth year. (So it's about a year after Battle City.)

Heh, review?