"You have failed me," Ra said, his back to his disgraced minions.
"Well…technically we had a teeny little set back," Bast said. "You see, we ran into Set, and-"
"Set?" Ra demanded, turning around, "The Chaos god lives?"
"Yesssssss," said Apothus, "He hasssssss taken the form of a young boy. Thisssssss boy'sssssssss friendsssssss carry the Millennium Itemsssssss."
"The Millennium Items?" wondered Ra, as he turned back to the large window to look at the Earth. "Could they truly still exist after all this time? This changes nothing. You must return and complete your mission. Destroy temples of my rival, and if the carries of the Items interfere again, kill them and bring the Items to me."
Bast and Apothus nodded and bowed before they left their master alone to look down on th world he would soon rule again.
Transition
As Mrs. Higurashi strung streamers and paper lanterns around the house, the flowers on the Sacred Tree dropped their petals like soft confetti in celebration of spring's end and te coming of summer. Kagome, who had come for her visit, was helping to cook in the kitchen, while Gramps got out his battery powered shaver.
"Souta! Souta, come now boy, quit hiding. Tonight's your official induction into the family priesthood into The Shrine of the Setting Sun. And that means you get your head shaved."
"I don't wanna!" Souta yelled, climbing out fromunder the table and running into the gift shop.
"It is a sacred tradition!" argued Gramps, chasing him. "When you study to enter the priesthood, you must shave your head."
"Miroku didn't have to, right sis?" Souta, countered, running back into the kitchen and past her.
"Miroku was a lecher, Souta. And a monk," she said, stirring batter.
"You hear d the girl, now come here!" Gramps ordered.
"I'll just make it grow back in seconds," Souta threatened.
"You'll do no such thing," Gramps said, as they circled around the coffee table. "Mystical powers or not, you're going to shave your head and you're going to like it!"
"No!" Souta cried, making a mad dash for his room.
"Gramps, leave him alone," Kagome said as she slide the mini cakes into the oven, "When Souta's ready he'll come out of his shell. Until then I think you should leave him alone."
"Humph," Gramps said, turning off the razor. "Young people these days. No respect for tradition."
Transition
Grandpa Motou clutched his chest and groaned as she surveyed the damage to his old game store. Yugi had told him that the worst of it was cleaned up, but to his eyes, it was still a horrible mess.
"Yugi," he muttered, "I may have another heart attack!"
"Just calm down, Grandpa. Breath… Breath," Yugi said calmly. He had to admit, things looked pretty bad, especially after his conversation with Sesshomaru.
Flashback
Sesshomaru sat in a chair by the eating table as Mai poured him a cup of tea. Yugi/Yami and the others had gathered in the back of the shop to discuss the situation at hand. Unfortunately, Inu-yasha and his team were MIA. Only Souta and Shippo had attended the meeting.
"We're facing a force more dangerous than ever before," Yugi/Yami said. "And I doubt a simple game of Duel Monsters will solve it."
"So this 'Sun god', Ra, has returned to claim Amateratsu's kingdom?" asked Kaiba.
"As near as I can tell," Yugi/Yami said. "we uncovered his air fortress in the deserts, where he laid dormant for over 5000 years. And as the children here have informed us, Bast, the Cat goddess, and Apothus, Lord of Serpents, do his bidding."
"But why come here after all this time?" Joey asked.
"It's possible he may be searching for the Millennium Items," Yugi/Yami said, "So all the carriers are in danger. Shadi already knows, and has hidden the Scale. And the Ring is still hidden safely in the past. That leave only my Puzzle, the Key, the Rod, the Necklace, and the Eye. We have to make sure he doesn't get his hands on any of them."
"What about that thing about 'the avatar'?" Mokuba asked. "Bast said Rin was 'the avatar'."
"I don't know," Yugi/Yami said. "But whatever it means, we must kep Rin from them. If she is the avatar for some type of deity, then Ra will destroy her to rid himself of all rivals."
"This does not concern us," Sesshomaru said. "All I need to do is take Rin back through the well to our proper time. At least there, I can protect her from whatever lurks in the darkness. Here, I'm am uncertain. Fighting demons is one matter. Fighting deities is another. There is a reason they are called 'gods'. It because they possess powers far superior to those you possess, or that I possess. And as long as there is no danger, Rin cannot become the vessel for any deity."
"Is that why you really want to take her back?" Mai asked. "To keep her the way she is?"
"You are mortal, you understand nothing," Sesshomaru said to Mai, "This human child saved my life once, with no powers but that of the kindness and purity in her heart. If a celestial creature takes her body for it's own, that purity will be lost. And I would rather die than lose this child."
"Sesshomaru," Yugi/Yami said, "Is it possible that your dark demonic heart has finally learned the lesson of love?"
"Let me put it to you this way," Sesshomaru said, "Inu-yasha has Kagome to protect, and I have Rin. It is the way of our kind. All that matters is her safety… the rest of this world could go to Hell."
End Flashback
'But the question still remains,' Yami asked Yugi, "Is Sesshomaru on our side, or his own?'
'I want to know what Mokuba wants to know,' Yugi said, 'Who is Rin the avatar for?'
Transition
Souta sat on the shrine steps, pondering what his next move would be. With the return of the Egyptian gods would come great chaos… but the not the chaos he enjoyed. What would he do now that he had to make a choice between his old life and his new one? As Loki, or Set, his destiny was clear, but as Souta Higurashi, it wasn't clear at all.
"Which am I more of?" he asked himself, looking down at his hands, "My human self, or my celestial self?"
"You'll wear your head out thinking that hard," Kagome suddenly said form behind.
"Oh, hey sis," Souta said.
"Is something wrong," she asked, sitting down beside him.
"I don't know what to do," Souta said, his voice shaking a little. "I feel like I'm split in half… When I was who I used to be, I never got scared… But now I feel so overwhelmed… It's times like this when it sucks to be a normal person."
Kagome put her arm around his shoulder, and said gently, "That's what being human is all about. It's about feeling these emotions that you don't always understand. The difference is in what you do about them. You can bottle them up and become a time bomb, like Inu-yasha, or you can be Yugi and Yami, and let your emotions be free."
"It's not fair using two people I look up to," Souta pouted.
"When the time is right, you'll understand." Kagome siad. Then she got up and started back towards the well. "I gotta run. If you need anything, you know where to find me."
Transition
High above the Earth in his air fortress, Ra was besieged by Bast's new acquisition.
"Where did all these cats come from!" he demanded.
"From the pet store," Bast said, pouting and looking teary eyed, "They were all just sitting in cages like wild beasts! How could such precious creatures that the Egyptians treated better than royalty now be lower than the food that some people eat? There are some countries that EAT these poor babies!" she cried, picking up a kitten that had unusually big bright blue eyes.
"But they're everywhere!" Ra snarled.
"And that sssssssstench!" Apothus said.
"They're no worse than your snakes," Bast said, petting the kitten in her hand.
"What snakes?" Ra demanded.
"Uhhhhh, there are no sssssssssnakes bessssssidesssssss me," Apothus said with a sweat drop.
"Nuh uh," Bast said, waving her finger, "Liar liar pants on fire. He's got three cobras, two rattle snakes, seven garden snakes, and an anaconda."
Ra tuned and glared at his "trusted" minion.
"Well if Bassssst hasssssss all thessssssse catssssss, I sssssssshould get all my sssssssssnakes," Apothus said.
"That does it, I want you both to take these pets of yours back to the earth right now," Ra said. "You can set them free as you like, on your way to the Sun Set shrine, which shall be our first target. And this time don't fail me. Or with unnecessary items," he said, glaring down at Bast. "No clothes, no shoes, no hats… And no skin treatment," he said, turning sharply back to Apothus.
"But it'ssssssssss hot when it goesssssss on and cool when it sssssssetsssss!" Apothus begged.
"And how can I coordinate my new wardrobe without another pair of strappy sandals?" Bast asked.
"I am Ra!" shouted the celestial being in rage. "I have spoken!" Great thundering and lightening struck about them, and as Bast and Apothus cowered in the corner, Ra flung his cape around his shoulders and reentered his sarcophagus to rest.
Transition
People popped fireworks and party streamers as guests and party goers milled all over the grounds of the shrine. Mrs Higurashi served good hot food, while Gramps tried to peddle a few trinkets from the shop, and Souta and his friends led all the kids in the party games.
"All right, you know the rules," Souta said. "First to catch four goldfish in the bags wins a prize, and you keep the fish," Kids milled around the pond with little nets, while Mokuba head up the pear game for the teenagers.
"Get the pear, win the prize," Mokuba said as teens danced around the fruit with their hands tied. Kagome's suggestion had been fun so far. A few couple had ended knocking their heads together, and there were cheers when there was the occasional kiss. But what people mostly got out of this was a concussion.
"Mokuba," Rebecca said, standing next t him in her festive kimono, "When are you going to ask me to take a turn?"
"Uh, I gotta pull the rope," Mokuba said, panicking. He yanked the rope, and the pear went, making two middle scholars slam their foreheads against each other and fall down, while Shippo laughed in the corner.
"I don't remember this game being so violent," Kagome said, dragging Inu-yasha along.
"Sis! You came back," Souta said happily.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss the Spring Festival for the world," Kagome giggled.
"Wait, I smell something," Inu-yasha said.
"It's probably the hot ramen booth over there," Souta said.
"No, I know this scent, and it's not ramen," Inu-yasha said. At that moment, Rin came skipping up the shrine step, pulling Sesshomaru behind her.
"This way, m' lord," she said giggling, "Shippo said there would lots of fun and plenty of people here, so no one will notice when we sneak back through the well."
"Rin, settle down," Sesshomaru said as the wind blew, "There is trouble coming our way."
"You!" Inu-yasha shouted.
Sesshomaru took off his false glasses and put them in his pocket. "Well well, little brother. Here for the Spring Festival, are you?"
"Yeah, and just what are you doing here?" Inu-yasha asked warily.
"I am just treating Rin to a evening of entertainment," Sesshomaru said. "Is that, how they say, a crime?"
"No but abandoning me was!" Jaken yelled, jumping out from behind Inu-yasha, carrying both Inu babies in slings on his back and chest.
"Jaken, I see you have found gainful employment," Sesshomaru said.
"No thanks to you!" Jaken yelled again, "You left me without so much as a kind word or a reference!"
"Dookie!" shouted one of the inu puppies, unhappy to have her ear yelled in. She grabbed Jaken's nostrils and pulled. This made the babie on his back wake up from his nap and start crying.
"Now look what you've done," Jaken said to his former master, "Do you know how hard it is to get these two to sleep!"
"You'd better just pack up and get out of this city," Inu-yasha said.
Sesshomaru smiled. "No. I don't think I will."
"Huh?"
"In truth, brother, I was planning to leave, this very night, to our own time. But now that I know you don't want me here, I am inclined to stay."
"What?" Inu-yasha screamed, yanking at his hair. "You can't do that!"
"It is a 'free country' now, is it not?" Sesshomaru asked. "I'll stay as I wish. Now, Rin and I must-" he turned to look but Rin wasn't there anymore. Sesshomaru looked around, almost frantic.
"Now you see what I had to put up with," Jaken said, seeing his expression. "That kid had the attention span of an acorn."
"Did you see where she went?" demanded Sesshomaru.
"Where who went?" Inu-yasha smirked, and crossed his arms.
"Excuse me," Sesshomaru said snidely, and went on past him.