Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! I've been having MAJOR computer troubles with hackers and the like. But, nonetheless, I got this one done! YAY! o

"What in the name of Ra…?" Anubis murmured at the strange sight he beheld before his eyes. Something was definitely not right. What was it that had happened again? One moment he had been talking with Yami about the current situation and the next they had both been captured by Ammon and the Ceremony was underway. However, something had gone awry. Yami lived still and Ammon was lying unconscious on the ground. Khentimentiu and Khalid were in the same state as their master. And again, the question of what had happened crossed his mind.

Yami groaned and lifted up his head. His eyes slowly cracked open. He felt as if he were being held down with a three thousand pound weight tied to every limb of his body. His head pounded violently. When he saw Ammon lying there in a death-like state, he jerked at his chains, desperately trying to break them. He screamed out to him, his shackles digging into his flesh and drawing crimson nectar from his veins. Ammon, however, didn't move, and Yami hadn't the strength to break his restraints.

Yes, something was definitely out of place. Normally, the Pharaoh would be able to shatter anything that would hold him back, but right now he was as weak as an ordinary human.

When the truth dawned on Anubis what had truly occurred this night, his eyes widened and he found it difficult to believe that the Ceremony had been altered. Someone had purposefully…

"Stop," Anubis said softly, walking over to the panicked Yami slowly as not to upset him. "You'll make yourself bleed to death." He removed the key from the nail on the wall (which just happened to be a bone from a human finger) and unlocked Yami's shackles.

Yami shoved Anubis out of the way and ran as fast as possible to Ammon's side. He took the sleeping boy in his arms and shook him gently. "Wake up, wake up!" he demanded.

"He can't hear you," Anubis said. "Ammon is struggling to regain control of himself."

"What are you talking about?"

Anubis sat on the floor and crossed his legs. He rested his chin on his knuckles and spoke with a calm, soothing voice. "Someone altered the Ceremony to take Set instead of you. Although I am unaware of the exact details, I'm guessing that the energy absorbed from Set's soul was not enough to awaken Osiris. However, the god is attempting to take control of him nonetheless. Sadly, it was not Ammon's intentions to actually revive Osiris, just to transfer His powers over from the Underworld into his own body, leaving the god powerless. But, by sacrificing the wrong soul, everything Ammon had planned was ruined. The vampiric soul of Set was more than enough to break the spiritual restraint Ammon had placed on Osiris and it allowed Him to enter Ammon's body. But that's only an assumption."

"That still doesn't explain what happened to the other two. And it doesn't explain why Set was taken instead of me, or…" Yami stopped talking when Ammon stirred in his arms but did not awaken like he had hoped. "Why is this happening?"

"Osiris is cunning. He realized what Ammon had planned and wasn't fond of the idea of being drained of all His strength and left to rot in the Underworld. I think that He Himself somehow managed to reach into this world and sabotaged the Ceremony."

"None of this makes sense. How could you possibly know all of this?"

Anubis cast his eyes downward and spoke even softer. "I…was His vessel."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "So. This was all a ruse. Everything you did for me was done under his influence. You lied to me."

"I did. But it was not out of my own free will. I—"

"I don't want to hear it," Yami said, standing up with Ammon still in his grasp. "I had once considered you my ally. I was mistaken. Anyone who allows Osiris to use him just to get to me is forever my enemy. Anubis, the next time we meet, I will kill you. And if you ever come near Ammon again, I will personally tear your heart out with my teeth and watch you bleed." Then, like that, Yami and Ammon were both gone, like shadows into the night. Anubis didn't follow. He couldn't. Not after that threat. He merely sat there, taking in everything that had just happened with shock. Osiris had promised him freedom if he would betray Yami. But it was only recently. When he had heard Osiris inside of the Shrine halls…that was when he unknowingly made the pact. And now, because of it, the entire world would soon crumble and it would be entirely his fault.

"S…" Ammon mumbled. "…mi…"

Yami lay the slowly awakening Ammon on a bed in one of the sleeping quarters in the Shrine. He watched his loved one fight the growing darkness inside of him with horror and pity. He knew he was fighting a losing battle but was willing to resist anyway. "I'm sorry," he whispered soothingly. He kissed the boy's forehead and took his hand. "Just keep holding on. I'll find a way to free you."

"Seyumi," Ammon said quite clearly this time. "Don't leave me."

"Never. Never again. I'll never leave your side…Yugi."

As his eyes opened, Ammon turned to face his protector and muttered, "Is that what I used to be called?"

Yami felt tears trickle down his cheeks. Ammon's memory was fading quickly. Soon there'd be nothing left of him. "Yes. Before all of this, you used to be Yugi."

A small, sad smile crossed Ammon's face. "Yugi…I like that name. It's…comforting to be called that. Yugi." Then, with those last words, Ammon slipped into dark slumber once again while Yami stood by his side, waiting for the moment he would be reunited with the pure soul he fell in love with.

But Ammon never woke up.