"Welcome to the grand opening of Kaibaland!" blared the recorded message over the loudspeakers.

Tea shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe that Kaiba actually went ahead and built this place. And calling it Kaibaland? Somebody's got a swollen head." They were here to see the opening celebrations and Mokuba had sent them all VIP passes so they could get into the main office for the best view with him and Kaiba.

Joey, Tristen and Serenity all laughed but for once, Yugi did not. He was getting worried about Yami who had been very distant since the day that girl appeared. Serenity noticed Yugi's expression. "What wrong?" she asked.

Yugi forced a smile. "Nothing. I was just thinking." Serenity didn't seem to believe him much, but then he saw something that put that right out of his mind. A flash of purple hair in the crowd. It was that girl again. Yami instantly took over and ran off towards her.

"Where you going Yug?" Joey called out startled.

"Don't worry!" Yami shouted back. "I'll meet you at the head office." Yami ran through the mass of people, trying to catch up with the elusive figure ahead of him. Suddenly she was right in front of him, a smile tinged with sadness on her face. "I must know," Yami said, slightly short of breath, "Who are you?"

This seemed to upset her. "You forgot me completely?"

"I forgot everything."

Asheritu nodded sadly, and began her story. "My name is Asheritu. We met in Ancient Egypt when I saved your life. Unfortunately, our friendship didn't last terribly long." She bit her lip, realizing that she'd said too much.

"Why is that?" Yami asked.

She closed her eyes to stop the tears from coming. "I'm not allowed to say." she whispered. She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued. "That was the condition for keeping my memory. I am not permitted to reveal any details about what destiny has in store. Not even to Ashelin."

"Ashelin?"

"My host. We have been joined since she was only three."

Her eyes changed subtly, becoming wider and more innocent. Her hair also altered, loosing its wave and sitting straight down her back. "Nice to meet you properly." Ashelin extended a hand, smiling warmly.

Yami was confused for a moment, but then followed suit and turned control over to his hikari. Yugi shook her hand, also smiling. "I'm Yugi."

On the way to the main office, Yugi and Ashelin chattered away happily, neither of them sensing the worries of their yamis. Yami couldn't stop thinking about how she had said that their friendship hadn't lasted long and Asheritu was apprehensive about her sweet little hikari and what toll the future would take on her.

Arriving at their destination, the welcome was anything but warm. All of Yugi's friends looked at her suspiciously. Joey opened his mouth to say something, but to everyone's surprise Yugi cut him off. "Everyone, this is Ashelin."

Ashelin, not as confident as her yami, smiled nervously and said a very timid, "Hi."

"I want you all to treat her like you treat me. Please." He said while looking at them imploringly in a way only Yugi could pull off.

"Fine." His friends intoned. Yami was astounded; sometimes he wasn't sure who was the most powerful. Yugi could get people to do things just by looking at them that he'd never manage in a million years.

They got past the guards at the door by showing them the passes Mokuba had sent them and were let in without question. Mokuba himself was waiting inside with a rather disgruntled Kaiba.

"Hi guys!" Mokuba chirped happily. "The parade's just about to start. Come on!" he said, leading them down the corridor to the viewing box.

There was a collective gasp as they followed Mokuba and Kaiba through the door. A huge window overlooked the eager crowd, all waiting for the parade to start. And directly in front of it, a row of chairs

"Check it out guys!" Tristen exclaimed.

"Wow! This place has everything!" Joey exclaimed.

"What?" sneered Kaiba. "Did you think I would slum about like you?" But Joey didn't even bother to retaliate. The sheer opulence of the room had completely thrown him off.

No sooner had they all settled in than a huge monster came thudding around a corner. It was a giant Blue Eyes. Rearing up impressively, I gave a three-headed roar that reverberated through everything around it. At that moment, thousands of streamers began falling from all the rooftops. The parade had begun.

"Impressive." Asheritu remarked, once more in control.

Kaiba turned to her. "And you are?"

She smiled mysteriously. "Just an old friend of the Pharaoh's. So old, you could almost say ancient."

"Whatever." Kaiba snorted dismissively.

Asheritu laughed. "It's nice to see some things never change."