Author's Note- Whooo! It's 6:44 am EST here and I'm hyper! I own nothing except my original concepts and characters.

!"Words"! B speaking. She has no connection whatsoever to the past, and she isn't exactly a true, full being at all, so she goes back to being slightly more then a voice in Heather's head who can speak telepathically to everyone else. I have no idea where this idea came from, but let's see if it works!

Chapter 24- Sparking

!"I'm telling you we're lost."!

Nessert sighed.

"Quiet Fang, I know where we're going."

!"And that's supposed to mean something? I know where I want to go ALL the time and never seem to find my way."!

"That's because you have mud for brains."

!"YOU! YOU-!"

"KNOCK IT OFF B!"

!"WHY SHOUL I!"!

"YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!"

!"AND I'M SUPPOSED TO-"!

Nicole had once again ended B's ranting with a well placed talisman to the head. How she did this while precariously riding a lioness at Re-knows how many miles per hour even she doesn't know.

"Arigato, Nikki!"

"She was giving everyone a headache. I had to do something."

Up ahead a mound of sand-colored rocks appeared on the horizon.

"I told you I knew!"

!"…"!

"Nes', she can't talk right now."

"Aw, I wanted to rub it in her face…"

FWOOOSH!

"HOLY-"

Overhead a bright bird appeared in a burst of flames.

"You people really have to learn to tell me things like this."

"Aaron! Achet! Konnichiwa!"

"PRIEST! DAMNIT WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

The phoenix-like creature shoot it's head.

"If I make you burst into flames I'm afraid I'll hit your lighter half."

"Cool! Vessel's a human shield!"

"That's not good Nes'…"

The creatures slowed to a padding trot, to a walk, and stopped. The stones lay a few mere meters away. Nicole hopped off as Nessert became human, and ran up to the stones.

"RYOU! BAKURA!"

Twin, white-haired heads popped out of the rock.

"Are we glad to see you!"

"Took you long enough..."

Where the phoenix had landed were two tall, human teenagers. Both had blond hair with M-shaped bangs, pale skin, and steel-grey eyes. Only, one was dressed in a blue suit and tie with a slightly-longer coat then there should have been, and the other was dressed in full-length white robes and tattoos across almost all visible skin. The later eyed Bakura distastefully.

"Definitely a thief, and he stinks of blood alchemy…"

Nessert tackled him bodily.

"YOU BASTARD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM!"

"GET OFF ME THIS INSANT!"

The thief just sat, crosslegged, on the priest's back, smirking.

"Never."

"…"

The priest made a quick gesture with his free hand and suddenly erupted in flames. Nessert, with amazing reflexes and grace, leapt off the priest before the fire started and landed face-flat in the sand. The burning Egyptian calmly got up, dusted himself off, and the flames put themselves out.

Ryou and Bakura twitched at precisely the same moment.

"How did you do that…?"

The living-version of the priest smirked rather evilly.

"I am Aaron Maldan and this is High-Priest Achet-yw-Benu. We are magicians by fate, company executives by profession, and controllers of fire by element."

"…I'm Ryou Bakura and this is… Bakura. We are partners by fate, duelists by profession, and… I'm not sure what we are by element."

The two newcomers exchanged annoyed glances.

"You don't know what your element is?"

"They aren't fully magicians yet, Aaron. You didn't know what your element was until you walked through fire unharmed."

"That was courtesy of Thau, I'm sure."

"Well…, yes..."

Andro sighed.

"Laura's earth, I'm water, Heather's metal, B's… we aren't sure what B is, Nicole's electricity, Nessert's darkness, Aaron is light, and Achet is fire."

"Are they the only people in the world with these elements?"

Nicole shook her head.

"All people are born with an element, they just don't know it. Or, when they sort of do, it manifests itself as some dangerous condition, like pyros and stuff."

Ryou looked thoughtful.

"Do you know what my element is?"

Laura shook her head.

"Nope! We're gonna test you when we get out of this place!"

Bakura grinned.

"YES! MORE POWER!"

The priest sighed. Damn, they almost forgot about elemental powers…

The group disappeared once more, leaving no trace that they had ever entered this realm.

On a hill a few dozen meters away.

"What the…"

Sekhmet-hekau had just watched a group of oddly-dressed people, somehow including herself, the king, and the priest, wander dangerously close to the hideout, stop and argue, and disappear. The great lioness picked up the gazelle it had dropped in amazement and continued towards home. Meh, stupid gods and their stupid tricks…

Achet-yw-Benu- 'Horizon the Phoenix', the benu bird was the Egyptian version of the phoenix and the soul of a powerful god. The god in question differs depending on what part of Egypt the story was being told in.