Chapter 15

Future Investments

Anna had called Yugi on the phone and asked him to come over after school. She said she had something to show both him and his 'friend'. Yugi knew she meant his other self, the one trapped in the puzzle. As he knocked on her door, he still had no clue as to what she wanted to talk to them about. He just hoped it wasn't bad news. She was unavailable all last week, on what she called a family emergency. He hoped this news didn't stem from that incident.

Anna answered the door and was extremely happy to see him. She about dragged him into the apartment, smiling all the while. 'She must have really missed me,' Yugi thought to himself. She brought him over to the couch and asked him to sit. She had books and papers spread out all over the coffee table. She sat next to him and started shuffling through the pages.

"You won't believe what I found out." She handed him a piece of paper with a copy of the wall carving from the museum. "Do you remember this carving? Silly question, of course you do. Well, I just got the information from the museum that I requested. It's Egyptian, from the Valley of the Kings, dating back three thousand years."

Yugi was a little confused why she was telling him all of this he already knew it.

"But here is the kicker. It's not one wall carving; it's part of a whole room."

"A room?!"

"A tomb to be exact. This part of the wall cracked and broke off a few years ago, that's why it's been able to be moved and sent on the traveling exhibition. But the rest of the room is intact. Don't you see Yugi; there is more information than what we haven't seen. Just because Pharaoh's name wasn't on this section of the wall, doesn't mean it's not on another."

"You think we can find out his name?"

Anna nodded, "His name, his history, and his past. All of that is possible. Who knows what's on these walls."

"Do you have pictures, how do we see the other parts?" Yugi was ready to bounce off the walls he was so excited.

"That's the problem. I've looked through everything, and I can't find any reference to the wall carvings in that tomb. People wrote about the location and contents, but because it appears to be a minor tomb, no one has paid any attention to it. So I made a phone call to Dr. Hawass. He is the head of Egypt's preservation and restoration department, and he's the lead Egyptologist in the world. I explained what I was looking for and he is going to see about getting me detailed scans of the walls."

"When? Is it going to take long?"

"Unfortunately, yes. No one has been in that tomb for years and it's sealed to keep out looters and vandals. He has to petition the government to allow him to open it and release images. It could take weeks or years."

"I can't believe you did all of this?"

"But wait, there's more." Anna selected a heavy book from the coffee table and sat it on her lap. He opened it to a marked page and pointed a diagram. "This is what the tomb looks like. It's got two rooms, an anti-chamber and a burial chamber."

"Was this his...the other me's tomb?"

"Probably not. If he were a king, he would have had a much bigger, grander final resting-place. These kinds of tombs were mainly made for minor royalty, like non-heir princes, mother-in-laws, and queens. They get the star treatment, but not on the scope of what the pharaoh gets."

"Queens? So this could be your tomb. I mean Anck-su-namun's."

"It's possible. But the strange thing is that there were two sarcophaguses in the room." She pointed at a section of the diagram. "Two people buried, side-by-side in the center of the chamber. And there is no proof of any grave goods. No statues, no gold, no jewels, the room was empty."

"Someone could have robbed it, and taken everything."

"They thought of that two. But when they found it, the tomb was still sealed and the sarcophaguses were untouched. Who ever these people were, they went to the afterlife with nothing but each other."

"Why is there so little information? I mean, it's a major find right? Shouldn't someone be researching it?"

"No grave goods, no interest. They gave it a number, cataloged it, and have ignored it ever since. No one has translated the walls, or even bothered to photograph them. But I think Dr. Hawass can help us."

"What about the one in the museum? Has it been translated?"

"You read my mind. There is no official translation as of yet, and I haven't been able to find someone in Japan that reads hieroglyphics. So, I've been doing some amateur translating using that photo." She again shuffled through her papers. "All I've gotten so far is something about chaos and destruction...umm...a battle between light and dark...and Egypt becoming a wasteland. And down at the very bottom it talks about someone's death, but it's cut off, it doesn't say who. I'm hoping the rest will be on the next section of the wall."

"You are amazing! You did all this for him?"

"Not just him. I did it for all of us. You want to know, and I have to admit to being a bit curious after what happened."

Yugi paused for a minute, like he was deep in thought. "The other me, he wants me to tell you 'thank you'. He really does appreciate it."

"Tell him, he's welcome."

Meanwhile across town at Kaiba Corporation Headquarters...

It was days later and Seto was feeling much better. He was back to work and his surly self. Mokuba had a done good job while he was incapacitated, but he still wanted to tie up some loose ends. He tried working, but he kept being distracted by a presence, or in this case, a non-presence. Because Anna had been at the apartment for so long, because he had gotten used to seeing her everyday, he realized that when she wasn't there that he missed her. This was a strange notion that came into his head. She already came by twice a week, why would he want her around more? She was annoying, bossy, giggled way too much, and infested their bachelor life with...girlie things. But he did like her smile and the way she makes him smile. And she did bring laughter back into their lives. And she had such a lust for life. He stopped dreaming and chastised himself. What was he thinking? He had work to do, and he couldn't afford to get distracted by some woman.

Mrs. Wong knocked on the door and entered with the mail. Seto flipped through the envelopes and stopped on one that caught his eye. It was sent from 'Sung Medical Services'. He tossed the others on the desk and opened the suspect envelope. Upon reading it he couldn't help but smile and laugh to himself.

"She sent me a bill."

The invoice contained a bill for twenty-four hour nursing care and massage therapy. The amount due was listed as 'Dinner at a nice restaurant' with a hand written note at the bottom saying 'restaurants with unpronounceable names and foreign food are acceptable.' He couldn't believe it. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out his checkbook and started writing. Once done he sealed it in an envelope and called for Mrs. Wong.

"Have a currier deliver this." He told her when she entered, and he handed her the envelope.

That afternoon Anna answered the knock on her door and received an envelope from a currier. She opened the envelope and seeing the contents busted out laughing. Seto had written an invitation for dinner on a check. And in the memo slot on the check he wrote 'for services rendered'. He even signed it. She couldn't believe it. And she definitely couldn't turn down such an invitation.

On the appointed night and time, Anna walked out of her apartment building to find Seto waiting at the curb with a car and driver. He was wearing a nice dress jacket and pants with a silk shirt and tie. Anna always thought he looked good in a suit. It suited him. As she approached him he pulled out a single white rose and presented it to her. She smelled it and thanked him. He then helped her into the car.

Seto has a little surprised at what she was wearing. He had never seen her in a nice dress before. Sure, she wore skirts, but a dress is a different thing. It was sleeveless, low cut in the front, came down to right above her knees, and it was red. And the heels brought her right to his height again. And what he liked most about it all was that she had her hair down. It was like she read his mind that day.

They drove downtown to one of the premier districts and the driver let them out in front of the restaurant. As they entered Anna couldn't help but comment, "Carlton's? Very swanky. How did you ever manage to get a reservation? This place is booked months in advance."

"I have my ways."

They were immediately seated and the waiter took their orders. But before they could even get a conversation going Anna's phone rang. A scrunched and disapproving expression came across Anna's face as she heard the familiar ring. She pulled the cell phone out of her purse and checked the number.

"It's my uncle. He has perfect timing. Please excuse me, I'll be right back."

Anna walked across the room, out of the way of the customers, and answered the call. Seto could still see her from where he was sitting. He watched as the happiness on her face melted away and a slight depression took her. He had a power over her, one that could instantly turn her meek and submissive, and Seto didn't like that. He didn't like that one bit.

Seto was distracted momentarily when the waiter brought their drinks to the table. And when he looked back towards Anna his view was blocked by a young lady. She was looking at him; she even winked at him. Did she think he was looking at her? He did have to look right past her to see Anna. Was she really looking at him? Perhaps she was looking at someone else? No, she was looking directly at him. She flashed him a smile, and Seto was hoping that she wouldn't come over to his table. He was rescued when Anna reappeared and sat down. Seto tried to ignore the woman, but he did throw a few glances in that direction to make sure she was no longer looking. But even the presence of Anna didn't deter her; she still made eye contact with him and suggestive gestures. Anna noticed this exchange of glances and turned slightly to see what or whom he was semi-flirting with.

"She's cute." Anna said turned back to him. "I could talk to her, set you up." She smiled devilishly at him.

"No, thank you." Was Seto's immediate reply.

"Oh come on, it will do you good to get out of the office and date a little."

"I don't have time to date."

"You have time for me."

"That's different. We're not dating." He said it in the plainest and most stern voice he could muster.

"That's true." Anna was very quick and sincere with her answer too. Seto was a little disappointed at this. He was hoping to get some kind of reaction from her. Some indication of where their relationship stood.

"I've been thinking about something you said to me." Seto began cautiously.

"Oh, which of the millions of things would that be?"

"You had mentioned that if you had known you were going to be at my place for a week that you would have packed some clothes."

"Are you mad I wore your robe? Did you have to have it de-cootiefied?" Anna was joking because she didn't want the conversation to get too serious. She couldn't afford to let anything get serious between them.

"Considering when you visit, you're often there pretty late, and it would be illogical for you to travel home in the middle of the night. Perhaps you should take the spare bedroom? You could keep some clothes in there and when emergencies or unexpected events happen, you wouldn't be at a disadvantage like you were." Seto waited for her response, but due to the silence he thought it better if he say something else. "It's just a suggestion."

"I appreciate the offer. I'll think about it."

As it got later into the night the restaurant became scarce of clients. This made both Anna and Seto more relaxed. They wouldn't have prying eyes on them if they got too loud or laughed too much. They were down to desert and coffee when Anna started telling one of her stories.

"And of course, I was just learning the language, and I was terrible at it. So I went up to the teller and asked to buy a ticket for the next train. And the lady just stood there and stared at me like I was crazy. And all the time my friends are snickering behind my back. I turned around and asked them what was so funny. And Libby looks at me and says, 'you just told that lady her monkey was running loose.' I was so embarrassed I wanted to die." Anna started laughing and Seto couldn't help but join in. Her laughter was contagious.

"Was this the Tina Turner trip?" Seto asked.

"No this was before that. We snuck out all the time. We'd go museums, concerts, and parties, anything to get out of there. We must have gotten away with it two dozen times. We had everything planned and mapped out. All the bases covered, and after a while we started messing up. I remember the head mistress calling me into her office and asking me if I knew why we had gotten caught. And I said, 'yeah, we got overconfident and lazy.' Oh man was she mad. That's probably the reason I got whipped."

Anna thought it was funny, but Seto didn't. "It amazes me you can laugh about that. They hurt you, aren't you mad?"

"The way I see it, bad things happen. And believe me I've had my fair share. But you can't dwell on them. If you spend your life in misery because of something someone did to you, then the bad guys win. In the long run you are only punishing yourself. That's why I spend every day knowing that the future is going to be better than the past, and I try to remember only the good things. The truth is if I didn't laugh so much, I'd be crying all the time."

"That's something else we have in common. The future is all that matters."

Anna raised her glass, "To the future."

"To the future." They clicked glasses and drank.

Anna really enjoyed their evening. Seto was a perfect gentleman and he looked as though he might have had some fun. Anna didn't want it to end, but it had to. The car pulled up in front of her apartment building and Seto escorted her to the door. She thanked him for a lovely evening, and she was even more thankful that he wasn't looking for a goodnight kiss. She left him there as she entered. He returned to the car but before he could get in Anna reappeared at the door.

"Hey, I almost forgot." Seto turned to see her. "Your debt is paid in full."

"Does that mean I get my check back?"

"No way! I'm going to frame it and put it on my wall."

"Oh, so everyone who walks into your apartment will have access to my bank account numbers?"

"Who says I'm going to hang it on my wall here?"

"Where are you going to hang it, Grand Central Station?"

"I was thinking about your place." She left him with that cliffhanger and disappeared into the building.

'Yes,' Seto thought to himself. 'The future is getting better all the time.'

Another side note: Spirit Seer thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions. I like your idea about the Museum gala, but I think you'll find I have a much more devious and evil way for Yugi to find out about Seto and an even worse way for Seto to find out about Yugi. Hope I'm not ruining the plot, but everyone knows it has to happen sometime. I was going to e-mail you, but I couldn't access your e-mail address. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed.