She found him alone, sitting on a bench in a park. As she neared she saw the coldness in his brown eyes, understand that it meant the spirit was in control of the boy's body. He stared at the ground, eyes distant. He didn't even realize that she had stopped before him.

"Bakura?" Sundari asked softly. Something flickered in his eyes and he looked up at her. She smiled and sat down beside him. "Is everything alright?"

He sighed. "Just thinking." She nodded, remaining silent. He watched her for a moment or two. "Sundari, I'm sorry about what happened at the museum."

"I know." She whispered, patting his hand. "But we can't change what happened. It's alright."

"No, it's not." He assured her.

Sundari thought back to what had happened after they had left the museum, about what Bakura had said. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked carefully. "About her?"

He was quiet for another moment or so, then spoke. "We were all that was left, her and I." He said softly, almost dreamily. "The rest of our village had been slaughtered. So, we went from village to village. We had no home anymore. We also had no money, and we were too young to work. So we stole. Food, clothing, water, everything we had to have we stole. She was a lot like you, you know." He glanced at Sundari then returning his gaze to the ground. "Sweet, funny, innocent, but not without her wilds." He fell silent, remembering those days hundreds of years before.

"What happened to her?"

"Something she didn't deserve." Bakura whispered. "I was thirteen, she was twelve. It had been seven years since our village had been destroyed and we had become adjusted to the lives of thieves. But, she was having second thoughts. We were old enough to find work, and she was tired of the thieving life. But I wasn't, I enjoyed taking things right from under people's noises. I refused to go clean, and she stayed with me for some reason.

"It was a nice enough day, though there were dark clouds in the sky." He continued. "We had just managed to grab ourselves breakfast. I was always a faster runner than her, so I was a bit ahead. I heard a cry. I turned, and saw that one of the Pharaoh's Guards had been on the same street. He had grabbed her and thrown her to the ground. I stood, frozen, as she tried to get up and run. But the Guard hit her, hard. She was flung against a wall, then fell to the ground and lay there motionless. The Guard took the fruit she had had and gave it back to the person we had stolen from. The person refused to take it, saying he would not accept food tainted by death."

Sundari watched his bleak expression. "Then what did you do?"

"I just stood there." Was the hollow reply. "I wasn't sure for how long. I had dropped what I was holding. Slowly I went over to her lifeless form. And then I cried. I hadn't cried when my father had been taken away to war. I hadn't cried as those men gathered my family and friends to kill. I hadn't cried as guards took away the friends I had made on the street. But I did cry for her." He plucked a blade of grass from the ground before him and twirled it in his fingers idly. "And I haven't cried since."

"Bakura, I'm so sorry." She whispered, not exactly sure what to say. "That's horrible."

"It doesn't matter." He assured her. "We cannot change what has happened, no matter what how hard we try. But, after that day I didn't let anyone close again. I kept a high guard, refusing to let people in. I would not allow myself to feel the pain of lose once again. And I succeed in keeping everyone away." He stopped speaking and stopped twirling the grass blade. Slowly his eyes moved to fix on her face. "That is, until you came along."

Sundari remained silent, unsure what to say. Bakura didn't speak either. They both just sat, enjoying the others company.

He headed down the empty hall, alone in the house save for two others who, unlike the rest of the household, stayed in. One sat in the kitchen, deciphering the text of an old book; the other sat in his room, brooding. Two others had vanished before sunrise, though he knew they were alright and allowed them space to fix their own problems.

But it seemed to him that there was more to be done within the house itself rather than in the town where the others had ventured to. Using the excuse of wanting to test how long he could stay away from his host, he now searched room to room, looking for the one person who might aid them. The person that no one else had thought of seeking out.

A certain silence wafted around him. The places that creaked and groaned under the feet of his aidou and his friends remained quiet for him, a reminder that unlike them he had no body mass. He was simply a spirit drifting through the rooms.

Coming to the stairs that led to the main floor, a familiar presence drifted from the floor above him. It was the same cold, chilling feeling that he had felt the day before, the one that had froze Yugi and Chayton to the bone when they had entered Medea's room. This is what he had been searching for. Quickly he allowed the feeling to fill him, pulling him towards its source, taking him through the roof and into a bedroom on the third story while doing so. He recognized the room as Marik's.

And she was there. Sitting in a stuffy chair, the light spraying from the window making her appear to be solid. She looked him over with her soft green eyes, pale hands folded on a white silk lap. Once again her skirts and hair swayed from side to side as if the window behind her was open to let in a breeze. She smiled at him, but it was a smile of someone hiding fear and worry.

"So, you have decided to look for me." The spirit of Nina whispered, a touch of sadness in her voice.

Yami crossed over to sit on the edge of the bed, directly in front of her. "I believe you may know a few things."

"Perhaps I do." Was her reply. "But what information of mine would help you?"

"There's a possibility that it could."

"But there's also a possibility that it couldn't." They sat silently for awhile, Yami searching for emotion in her face, Nina hiding whatever he was looking for.

"What holds you to this place?" Yami finally asked. He had been wondering that ever since Nina had first appeared in her niece's room.

"I cannot say…" The words fell dully from her lips.

"Why is that?" He questioned. Nina didn't answer, only looked away from him with guilt. Her actions were all he needed to see. "It's because of the Turquoise, isn't it? You are bound here because of the Shadow Gem."

"That's absurd." She whispered, still intent on looking at the wall.

Yami rubbed the back of his neck. "I've seen the pictures." He muttered cautiously. He noticed her eyes dart in his direction, then return to the wallpaper. "The ones in the living room, sitting on the mantel. They're of you and Sanders when you were still alive. In all of them it shows you with the Turquoise, showing that you were its Keeper." A sorrowful expression crossed her face. Yami couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy and knowing in his chest. "Why is it keeping you here, Nina?"

She remained soundless for a few moments. Slowly her gaze fell to the ground, moving across the floor as she turned her head, then refocused on his face. He could see the pain of a prisoner in them, a pain he had once felt. "It's not." She whispered. Then her voice went lower so he had the strain to hear her words, her eyes falling to the wooden floor once more. "But He is…"

"He?" Yami inquired, moving to the edge of his seat. "Who's 'He'?"

Before she could open her lips to answer a burst of freezing air rushed through the room like a wild wind, pulling at the curtains and covers and making small objects sitting on the dresser and selves shutter and wobble. Nina's eyes went wide with immense fear. She pressed herself against the back of the chair like a child would. Her fingers clutched the arms of her seat so tightly that her pale knuckles turned even whiter. Her eyes darted around the room wildly like a frightened horse.

"I've said too much." She cried as a dull roar filled Yami's ears. He covered them with his hands, falling off the bed to his knees as a dull pain squeezed his chest. "He's angry with me. I'm not suppose to tell. He knows I'm here. He'll try to make me leave. Please, make sure Medea stays safe." Somehow, Yami wasn't sure, Nina appeared on her knees before him. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and pulled him close to her so he could hear her whispered words. "He'll make his move soon. The other's are already on the move. No one in this house is safe. Beware of Es-"

Her voice was cut off and the feeling of her fingers enclosed around his shoulders vanished. The wind, roaring sound and pain disappeared with Nina. Everything in the house was calm and quiet, as if nothing had even happened.

But as he left the room he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had settled into his stomach. He wanted to get out of that house, and make sure that everyone else got away as well. Something in the walls themselves didn't feel right.

Nina's warning remained in his head as he walked right through the front door to head to the town to find Yugi. The faster he told Yugi this, the faster they might leave. But questions rolled around in his mind. Who was "He"? And why was he keeping Nina in that house? Who or what was this mysterious person who's name began with "Es"? Was "He" and "Es" the same person, or were they working together? Were they the ones behind everything?

If so, then he had to find Yugi and the others. Fast.

"If you could change anything from you past, what would it be?" She asked in a soft tone.

She sat beside him within the hidden cave, hiding from those who were gathering on the beach. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs and chin resting on them. She stared blankly before her. He sat leaning over, his arms falling limply between his legs as he rested his elbows on his knees. He stared at his hands.

"I would change everything." Was his reply to her.

Medea slowly turned to look at him, silent. It dawned on her that she wasn't the only one with a life that someone else had screwed up for her. Destiny had played cruel jokes on them both, leaving them broken as it moved on to the next person on the list.

At least Marik is trying to get his life back on track. A voice inside her whispered.

She continued to stare at his silent form with icy eyes. He had seen more hardship than her, had caused more trouble. And even though he had been lost for so long, he was much more better off than she.

You can't even get control of yours. It hissed.

He was free of that darkness even though it continued to torment him. She was still a prisoner. No, not a prisoner, merely a tool. Destiny was still tugging her in different directions. And now it had thrown another twist in the game that was her life.

You haven't even tried to get control.

"We all have things we wish we could change." Medea uttered, needing to drown the hissing in her head.

"But not everyone had done the things I have." Marik whispered, rubbing his hands together.

"Yes. But people have done worse, as well." She watched him closely, then added, "Some people are doing worse right now."

"You mean the Gem Keeper who's collecting the other Gem Keepers?"

"Him, and all those who are helping him."

At this Marik glanced at her. "You think there are people helping him?"

"Of course." Medea said, blinking a bit. "You can't hunt down and kidnap seven people from different countries without help. Especially with how quickly he did it."

"I suppose you're right." He whispered. "I needed help for what I did as well."

Seeing the sadness that crossed his face at the memory of it Medea linked her arm with his, taking his hand and squeezing it gently. "Marik, you shouldn't blame yourself for what you did." She whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. "There was a darkness inside of you, dictating your every move. You said so yourself that you are someone else now."

"I could've fought it." He told her. "I could've-"

"How could you do anything when you were unaware of it happening to you?" She asked, cutting him off. With her free hand she cupped his cheek and forced him to look at her. "You're not a bad person. The only way you would be if you had known that evil was just moving through you, but you did nothing to stop it."

"But-"

"But you did find out, and you did do something to stop it." She let go of his cheek and hand and stood, wrapping her thin arms around herself. "There are worse people out there who know they're helping horrible people and are too afraid to try and stop it because they don't know if its in they're head or not."

Marik stood as well, but the bleak expression was gone from his face, replaced with a semi-worried one. "It sounds like you know a lot about this subject."

She turned to face him, her mouth open to reply. But a strange yet familiar sensation came over her. She could feel it pulsing from the brooch around her neck. Suddenly she felt dizzy and placed a hand against her forehead in an odd way to try and steady herself. She felt cold.

"Medea?" He asked, the worry in his eyes growing. "You look pale, are you feeling alright?"

She blinked, trying to focus on his face that seemed to waver in her sight. "Wha? Oh, um. Yes, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." The radiating feeling from the Turquoise became stronger. Her hand went to it quickly, grasping the stone roughly. "It happens sometimes…" She wobbled where she stood, threatening to fall.

Marik grabbed her as her knees buckled and she fell. Quickly he sat her on one of the rocks. "Medea? Come on, speak to me. What's wrong?" He continued to coax her, but she remained silent. Her head lolled to one side, her eyes closed, her body limp. Fear gripped him.

His skin prickled because of something else, though. Faintly he could recognize the Shadow Magic that had begun to linger in the air. His violet eyes fell to Shadow Gem around Medea's throat. The green stone shimmered, though there was hardly enough light to reflect so brightly off its surface. And it was getting brighter.

Medea's eyes sprang open like a zombie's in a horror movie. But it was like her eyes were replaced with a bright green light, filling the cave with an eerie glow. She sat straight, staring at something beyond Marik.

"He'll make his move soon." She spoke, her words hollow of any emotion."The other's are already on the move. No one in this house is safe. Beware of Essie." Then her eyes closed again, her body relaxing from its tense state.

Marik sat still, almost afraid to breathe. He didn't understand what had just happened, nor did he know why. But he did know it was because of the Turquoise.

She stirred a bit. Slowly her eyes opened and she looked at him with exhausted eyes. She smiled at him weakly, and he smiled back with relief.

"Are you alright?" He asked, taking her hands to make sure she was real.

"I am." She uttered in a nod. "I'm use to it. It happens all the time. I just need a little time to rest, and then I'll be good as new."

"Does it always look possessed by something and say weird things when it happens?" He questioned. At this her eyes widened. "What?"

"What do you mean "Look possessed" and "Say weird things"?" She asked quickly.

"I mean exactly what I said." Marik told her, his uncertainty visible. "You looked possessed and you were warning me about something." She looked down, biting her lip. "Medea, what's wrong?"

"I never knew that happened." She whispered. She didn't look at him. "I never knew I said things. I only thought I would have blackouts. That's what Sanders told me, anyways."

"When would these blackouts happen?"

"Just whenever. I would be minding my own business, then everything would go dark. Then I'd come to minutes or sometimes hours later. But never more than an hour at a time." She drew in a breath that shook. "But I've been having them more often lately."

"Does anything trigger them?"

"No, I don't think so." She fell silent. Then a thought occurred to her. "But-but lately it seemed whenever Sanders would ask me something I'd have one. But he never mentioned anything about me saying anything."

"Then maybe we should go talk to him about it." Marik offered. Medea nodded, allowing Marik to pull her to her feet and lead her to the cave mouth.

He was staring at the shell necklace that hung from the rack along with several other necklaces. He reached out a finger and touched the glistening white shells, then pulled his hand back to his side. A sadness had come upon him as soon as he had entered the shop, and everything seemed to remind him of someone back home that he missed dearly.

"What's wrong?" A voice asked. Chayton turned to see Yugi standing behind him, a worried expression on his face. Chayton tried to smile, but found he couldn't.

"That necklace." He uttered, pointing to the once that had caught his eye.

"What about it?" Yugi questioned as he took it off the rack and turned it over in his hands. "It's pretty."

"When I saw it I thought 'Wouldn't Takoda like it? She likes shells'." The boy's face fell. "Then I remembered how much I miss her. I remembered I may never see her again."

Yugi watched him for awhile, then patted his shoulder. "How about you get Ishizu to buy it?" Chayton gave him a quizzical look. "Then you can give it to your sister when we get her and the others back."

This made the younger boy smile. "You're right." He grabbed the necklace and looked around to find their chaperone. "Where is she?"

Yugi glanced around the shop and noticed Ishizu wasn't in there with them. "She must have moved on already." He saw Chayton's face fall. "Hey, I'll stay and watched this," He took the necklace from the boy's grasp. "And you go find Ishizu so you can ask her, alright?"

"You won't let anyone else buy it?" Chayton asked.

"Of course not." The older boy assured him. Chayton smiled, then rushed off to find Ishizu.

"That was a really nice thing you did." A voice said softly, almost thoughtful. Yugi looked behind him to see Bree leaning against a mirror hanging on the wall. Her arms were crossed, but there was a faint smile on her lips.

"Oh course it is." Another voice said, patting Yugi on the shoulder. He looked straight up to see Joey towering over him. "Yug's nice to everyone." The taller boy grabbed a key chain that hung among other tacky trinkets. "Besides, wouldn't you try to cheer up a sad kid?"

"I guess." Bree muttered. She looked down at Yugi again. "You still need to show me where that rental shack is."

"I was wondering when you'd remember that." Yugi chuckled, leading her from the store. Once outside he pointed down the street. "It's just two blocks down. A brick building right on the corner with a big sign with a motorbike on it. The whole thing is hard to miss."

She smiled, ruffling his hair. "Thanks." Then she started in the direction Yugi had indicated.

Shaking his head, Yugi turned and headed back to where he had left the others. A cold chill crept over him, then dissipated as he felt Yami emerge to the surface of his mind.

What's wrong? The boy asked, feeling the worry that possessed Yami.

Find the others. Yami ordered. Get everyone to the house. There are important things that need to be discussed.

Yugi nodded, continuing down the street as he did. He saw Ishizu leaving a store across the street from the one he had been in. It seemed Chayton hadn't found her. The woman looked down at him as he rushed over to her.

"Yugi, is something the matter?" She questioned, not liking the look on his face.

"Yami said there's something that we need to talk about, back at the house." Yugi explained. "It sounds important."

"Everyone?" She questioned. After checking with Yami, Yugi gave her a nod.

At this point Joey also excited the store he had been in, hearing everything said between the two. "I haven't seen Ryou or Sundari since we got here."

"Neither have I." Ishizu admitted. "I believe they went off to explore."

I don't think this can wait, Yugi. Yami's voice was urgent in Yugi's head. Something's not right here. We have to get everyone together and figure out what we're going to do. Time is running out. Yugi nodded, then relayed the information to the other two.

"Then let's go." Ishizu said. "Perhaps Sanders has made a dent in that book yet. He might have found out where the last Shadow Gem has been hidden, and where this madman is bound to be taking his prisoners."

"Hopefully he has." Yugi mumbled as the three of them set off down the street. "Because it sounds like we need that location."

"Yugi, Ishizu, Joey!" A voice cried. They turned to see Chayton running after them. They stopped and waited for the boy. "Where are you all going?"

"Back to the house." Joey told him.

Ishizu turned and shrank down to see eye-to-eye with the boy, her hands firmly set on his shoulders. "Chayton, I need you to go through town and try to find Bree, Ryou and Sundari. When you find them, send them back to the house. Once you've found all of them, come back as well, alright?"

"Bree should be in the rental place." Yugi added as Ishizu released him. He nodded, then ran down the street.

"What about Marik and Medea?" Joey questioned once they began to head back to the house once more. "I haven't seen them all day."

"I have no idea where they could be." Ishizu admitted when Yugi cast her a glance.

He sighed. "Hopefully they'll be back at the house by now."

Joey and Ishizu nodded, quickening their paces as they walked. An eerie feeling had come down around them, and the need to have a plan was getting stronger. They all knew Yami was right. Time was indeed running out.

A/N:

Yay! We have finally entered into the Final Chapters of Shadow Gems! Hopefully the story will be wrapped up soon (but with how long it takes me to write a chapter, who knows). On that note, MAN! It was hard to write this one for some reason… And the next one will be even more difficult to write, I can tell know. It's time to start making ends meet, which might be a bit tricky, so please bear with me!