Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or anything related to it what-so-ever. The only characters in this fic that are truly mine are:

Lady Aurora Phoenix

Lady Natara Fear

Lady Sapphira Star

Dorian "Chaos"

Bryant "Havoc"

Sanura

Zahara

Adais

A/N: This is a fantasy as you can tell. It is part 2 to the Eternal Love fanfic that I ended a little while ago as it was getting to be too long. The story of the Pharaoh and his family is far from over however. His children are still around and they will incorporate themselves in the lives of little Yugi and his friends in one way or another. Fair warning, I am not one for writing out duels so you may not see a lot of them- barely any actually, as the fic is about the events that happened outside the duel arena. There will be some familiar scenes to fans of the show but most of those scenes will have a small twist or two in order for it to fit with the plot being laid out.

I understand many will not agree with a lot of what is written but that is why this is in the fantasy genera and not in just the general one. This is purely a concoction out of my own head and I am just going where the ideas lead me.

Just want to thank my faithful readers and reviewers again for continuing along on this little journey. DDCfreak, Atemu Fangurl, and Ishizusan, thank you all!

Soul Cards

Zahara sat a short distance from the two rivals as they sat down at their respective sides of the duel mat. She heard the confusion in Yami's voice as he asked Ryou why he had taken them to the Shadow realm. Ryou's face smirked back at him, but the cruel voice answered. The answer was so chilling Zahara gasped.

"Bakura… Bakura is no longer here," the darker spirit replied.

"If you're not Bakura, then who are you?" Yami demanded. Zahara's heart sank. So it is true. The spirit really does have Ryou trapped within his own body. Tears filled her eyes.

"I am a thief and a stealer of souls," the spirit told him.

"You monster," Zahara choked out. He glanced over at her, amused by her response to his answer.

"Perhaps, but I had you fooled now, didn't I?" Zahara looked away as Yami watched the two carefully. He was still trying to piece everything together. With his memories lost to him, he could not be sure what the connection was between this girl and the thief. "You know very well I have done terrible things in my quest to possess the Millennium Items. I am certain your mother has warned you about me. Warned you about the lengths I would strive to make the Items mine. No matter the cost. You do remember the legends don't you?" He asked suddenly, turning from Zahara to Yami. Yami's eyes widened as the Millennium Ring flashed. "He who holds all seven Millennium Items shall possess Power unimaginable. And before I am done with you, your Millennium Puzzle will be mine!" he vowed. Yami gripped his puzzle with possessive determination.

"That's not going to happen," he told the spirit.

"Then let the shadow game begin." Zahara watched her father's face as he studied the playing field and mentally prepared himself for this match. It was not his most important match, but it was very close to it. She knew he could not lose the puzzle to the spirit of the Ring. She prayed to whatever gods happened to be listening that Ra was looking down on her father, helping him.

You have to win, Father. You just have to. She saw him glance over at her again and wondered if he too had access to her thoughts. If he did, she just realized the hole she had dug herself into. I have got to be more careful, she sighed.

Yami played first, bringing out the Cyber Commander. Both he and Zahara gasped when Tristan appeared on the field dressed as the card he claimed was his favorite. Tristan looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It was then that Yami realized what the Spirit had done to his friends.

"Bakura used his powers to trap their souls within their favorite cards!" Ryou chuckled in amusement again.

"Who's your little friend, Yugi?" he asked, toying with him. "He looks pretty tough, but can he deal with this!" He threw down his first card, the White Magical Hat. He ordered the monster to attack Tristan and as Yami and Zahara watched, Tristan cried out and vanished from the field. Ryou laughed again. "Looks like that card was defeated. And your friend's soul was trapped within it."

"Where is he?" Yami growled at the spirit.

"You're friend is gone. On his way to the discard pile, or the graveyard as we call it in Duel Monsters." Ryou explained.

"No!" Zahara gasped, new tears in her eyes. She stood and moved to Tristan's body, gently shaking it.

"It's no use, child," The spirit told her coldly. "He can't hear your cries."

"It can't be," Yami said in disbelief. "He can't be… Gone."

"Wake up Tristan, come on. You have to wake up," Zahara pleaded with the soulless body in her arms. "Please wake up." She cringed as the cold laughter reached her. Ryou had his head lowered, his shoulders shaking as he enjoyed the scene playing out in front of him.

"How pathetic, just like your mother."

"Leave my mother out of this, Bakura!" She snarled back. "You know very well you would not be getting away with this if she were here."

"Unlikely; times have changed. I have grown stronger while she has succumbed to the daily life of the average mortal."

"You have no idea what she has done, or has been doing since your capture in the Ring!" Again, Yami found himself watching the two as they battled their words against each other. The spirit he sensed in Zahara reminded him of someone, but he was not sure whom. He knew her mother was the woman he had met at the club the night Yugi had to go to that dreaded karaoke session. He sensed power in her. He felt like he knew her, but he could not figure out why, or where he knew her from.

Ryou tired of fighting with the girl and turned his attention back to the duel and Yami. "You made a sloppy move and your friend paid dearly for it. Now which of your friends will you sacrifice next?" Yami pulled a card from his hand.

"Joey's favorite card; The Flamed Swordsman!" Zahara watched as Joey appeared on the field like Tristan had, only dressed as the Flamed Swordsman. Joey looked around.

"Hey, what gives?" he asked as he looked down at the sword in his hand. He turned to face is friend and got the shock of his life. "Hey Yugi, AHHH!" He paused a moment, taking in the fact that his friend stood several feet above him. "Oh man, I finally cracked," he sighed.

"Joey, listen to me," Yami pleaded with him. "Your soul has been sealed inside your favorite card. You have become the Flame Swordsman."

"I'm the who?" Joey shouted.

"I have to win this duel in order to return you to normal," Yami explained to his friend. "But if you are defeated in this battle, you will be carried off to the card graveyard just like Tristan was." Joey flipped for a moment before Yami continued. "If I am to win this duel, and return your souls to your bodies, and get us out of the Shadow Realm, I am going to need your help." A look of pride came over Joey's face.

"You want my help, you got my help!" he told his friend. Yami blinked.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Okay? I figure I lost my mind, but I'm gonna go wit it." Zahara felt a small smile tug at her lips despite the situation they were in. Leave it to Joey to find a way to make a joke out of his predicament. "Now, who wants a beatin', eh?" He turned around and faced the other side of the field to receive yet another shock as Ryou looked down at him. He screamed out again. "Giant Bakura? Now I know I'm nuts!" He looked back at Yami. "You mean to tell me I'm fightin' my friend?" Yami looked over at the smirking face across from him as he explained.

"That's not really Bakura, Joey. There was an evil spirit in his Millennium Ring who has taken him over." Joey was still obviously confused, but he readied his sword anyway. He raced forward and sliced the magician opposing him.

"Say good bye to the Cat in the Hat," he announced proudly as he stood. Zahara watched as the sneer on Ryou's face turned to a scowl.

"Not as easy as you thought it would be, is it Bakura," she hissed at him.

"Quiet, child!" he warned. She glared back her response and Joey turned to see who Ryou was talking to.

"Zahara? You're a giant, too?"

"I suppose to anyone merely six inches tall and thrown in the middle of a Duel Monsters game would think I was a giant, wouldn't they?" she responded, keeping her eyes trained on Ryou. Joey stood even more confused but he was not given time to ask any more questions as Ryou made his next play. He placed a card in face down defense position, surprising Yami. Joey readied for another attack.

"Hang on, Joey, don't attack just yet, it could be a trap," Yami tried to warn him. But Joey wasn't listening. He plunged ahead, springing the face down card. A Morphing Jar.

"What a dolt," Ryou sneered again. He knew Joey would go in for the kill. He banked on it and won. Yami growled in frustration. Joey cringed and turned around.

"I screwed up, didn't I?" he asked meekly. Yami explained that the effect of the morphing jar forced all the cards in each player's hands to be sent to the graveyard. He was only glad the Téa's soul card had not been in his hand at the time. Joey fell to his knees on the field.

"Whoa, sorry, Yug," he said softly. Yami said nothing as he discarded his hand and picked up five more cards. Zahara caught the shocked look that appeared in Yami's eyes as he looked hard at his hand. An unsettling feeling returned to her stomach and she replaced Tristan's body gently on the ground so she could move to better see the game. Ryou's evil laughter caught her attention again and she watched him make his play.

"A new hand equals a bold new perspective, doesn't it, Yugi?" he asked mildly, not expecting any real answer as he laid one card face down and a monster card in face down defense mode. "The game, ever shifting, new dangers surround every turn." The voice sent shivers down Zahara's spine. She was only glad Yami was dueling and not her. His look alone would have been enough to throw her off her game. His words would have frozen her in place. Yami laid down his next card.

"The Dark Magician!" There was a flash of colored lights and Zahara's eyes snapped wide open as the small form of Yugi appeared on the field in the outfit of the master magician her mother praised often in her tales of the past. Yugi looked around, confused for a moment as Yami played yet another card. The card, Reborn the Monster. Using it, he called Tristan's card back from the graveyard, assembling the friends back together on the field. Tristan took in his surroundings again, realizing he had made his way back to the field. He saw Joey and Yugi and asked them if they were having the same dream.

"This ain't no dream, Tristan," Joey told him with a shrug. "This is just me goin' insane." Yugi frowned slightly, still trying to figure something out. With his next words, Zahara understood why he was so much more confused.

"But just one second ago I was up there."

"Yeah?" Tristan asked. He turned to face Yami. "If you're down here, then who's that up there?" Zahara looked up at her father again. He stared hard at Yugi from where he sat near the field.

"I don't know," Yugi said softly.

"Don't you?" Yami asked him. Yugi explained then that sometimes when he dueled he felt like someone was guiding him through his plays. Yami nodded with a smile down at his Hikari. Yugi added that sometimes he heard a voice calling out to him from his Millennium Puzzle. A voice he could only describe as ancient and powerful. Yugi sighed and looked up at Yami.

"I'm not sure yet what it is all about, but I am pretty sure we can trust him, whoever he is" he told the others." Joey and Tristan nodded.

"If the big guy is ok with you , then he is ok by me," Joey told him with a smile of his own. Tristan nodded in agreement. The next agreement was ending the duel before Téa's soul card was picked up. Joey lifted his sword again. "I'm gonna bash me some Bakura," he informed them. Yugi raised his arm.

"Wait, Joey, I was just played so I have to move." Yugi raised his staff and called out his Dark Magic Attack on Ryou's face down card. He gasped at the realization that it was yet again, another Morphing Jar. Ryou laughed.

"And we send our hands to the graveyard again," he said smugly. Yugi turned and apologized to Yami and the others. Joey told him not to worry and that he had done the same thing. Yami was concentrating on his new hand and said nothing. But when he drew for his turn, he couldn't help the shock that went through him.

"No! The Magician of Faith!"

"Hmm… Isn't that Téa's favorite card," Ryou grinned, the darkness flashing in his eyes as he watched Yami struggle with his options. "You don't suppose her mortal soul would be trapped within it now, would it? I wonder… Maybe you should play it and find out," the spirit tempted. "But then again," he added as he placed a new card face down on the field. "You don't know what I am putting here. And while you decide, I'll just activate this trap card." He flipped over a different card he had placed on the field. A ghost like hand drifted from the card and grabbed Yami around his face causing him to growl as he fought the pain. Ryou explained the card took five hundred life points away from Yami for every monster he had on the field. Zahara did the math in her head. Yami lost fifteen hundred Life Points. He was still cringing near the dueling matt as he recovered from the attack.

"Big Yugi! Are you okay?" Tristan called up to him.

"Yes," Yami managed to get out as his body shook from the pain. "But one more attack like that… and it's over!" Zahara made a feeble attempt to step forward but stopped, unsure if she should. This was not her duel. But it was her father who was hurting. Ryou laughed suddenly, sensing her thoughts.

"Heart breaking isn't it, child," he sneered at her. "You want to save him, help him, yet you can do nothing while this duel is in progress. Dare to interfere and he forfeits leaving the Puzzle to me!" His laughter grew louder and Zahara glared at him.

"I would never do anything to put that Puzzle in your hands. Otherwise, I would have interceded a long time ago. My family has worked too hard to protect that Puzzle as well as other Millennium Items. I'll not allow you to take the Puzzle from the chosen one now!"

"Chosen one, bah!"

"Only one person was to be chosen to put that Puzzle together after three thousand years. The Puzzle chose Yugi. The Puzzle stays with Yugi. I will not help you take it from him." Ryou sneered at her again.

"Foolish child, family honor only runs so deep. Eventually one always turns on another."

"Not my family, now return to the duel at hand, spirit."

"I am not finished with you. You will suffer for your insolence!" Her gaze never wavered as he spoke his vow. The silence on the field told her they had all been listening. The time that passed as they fought gave Yami time to recover enough to play which was all she truly wanted to do for him. Yami scowled and pulled a card from his hand laying it on the field in face down defense mode. There was a brief flash of light under the card and Zahara watched as the card began to lift. The others noticed it as well and jumped to cover Téa as she peeked her head out from under it. She tried to call out to them and they shushed her.

"Bakura and Yugi are big fighting giants and are fighting for our souls," Joey explained quickly.

"But Yugi's right here," Téa said in confusion. Yugi made an attempt to explain the difference but only succeeded in making her confusion worse.

"I know it's complicated, but it has something to do with the Millennium items, Bakura and I have," Yugi tried to explain again. "It's some kind of magic."

"Magic? So I'm not crazy."

"Not unless we're all going crazy," he agreed with a smile. Joey smirked back at her as well.

"Just think of it dis way, Téa, there's two Yugi's; the cool one up there and the puny one down here." Zahara breathed in sharply as Yugi reacted violently to the remark. She groaned as she watched him decide to step forward to show them how not puny he really was. Yami shouted for Yugi to stop, but it was too late. Yugi called his Dark Magic Attack on Ryou's face down card. The card was destroyed, but the shock effect left Yugi on his knees and crying out in pain. Zahara whimpered and turned away, unable to watch her nephew undergo such pain. Yami felt the same and decided to hurry on with his next move. He placed one card face down and ended his turn. Joey and Tristan turned to try and bury Téa back under her card. This brought another amused laugh from Ryou's lips.

"Don't even bother, fools, I can see her perfectly well. Now I have all four of you right where I want you. Helpless on the field and easy prey for my Man-Eater Bug!" He laid his card down.

"What does that card do?" Joey asked.

"It can destroy one card on the field as soon as it is flipped up," Yugi explained through his pain.

"I really don't wanna go back to the graveyard, guys," Tristan told them, hanging his head. Joey tried to calm his friend by saying they would attack before the spirit could play it but Yugi stopped him.

"It activates as soon as an attack is made," he told them.

"You mean one of us goes, no matter what?" Joey asked. Yugi could only think of one way out of their situation, but when he looked up at Yami, he knew the downside to using the last card that had been played by his counterpart.

"We have a shot, but the card requires a sacrifice in order to work," he sighed. Tristan stepped forward.

"Okay, then. I will go. I have already been there. I will go back," he started forward when he felt the handle of Joey's sword ram him in the stomach. "I am guessing you disagree," he groaned as he fell to his knees on the field, clutching his stomach.

"You just got back from the graveyard, if anyone goes, it will be me," Joey told him as he stood and turned a grim face at the face down monster. Yugi and Téa called out to him, but it was too late. Joey raced forward and began to bring his sword down on the card. The Man-Eater Bug appeared and Joey latched on its back, fighting it as he called out to Yami to sacrifice him. Yami hesitated a moment out of fear for his friend before doing as he was asked and sacrificed Joey to call up his trap.

"I activate The Horn of Heaven!" Yami called out as Joey faded from the field. The Horn took out the Man-Eater Bug and tears filled the eyes of Joey's friends.

"Don't worry," Ryou consoled them. "You will soon be joining him in the graveyard. Then you can spend an eternity together." Zahara turned away again, Yami growled again in frustration. Téa lowered her head in silent prayer, her tears falling from her eyes and landing at her feet. A bright light caught the attention of everyone as the card beneath Téa began to glow. Yami smiled.

"The effect of the Magician of Faith allows me bring one magic card back from my graveyard and into may hand. And the card I choose is Reborn the Monster, which I play now!" Another flash of light found Joey cowering on the ground. He looked up when he realized he was no longer in the graveyard and everyone cheered his return. The dark spirit scoffed at Yami.

"You waste your time and your turns reviving these foolish mortals."

"My friends are never a waste of time," Yami informed him angrily. "Make your move."

"Oh, I'll move, and you will lose." He drew his next card. "This is the play that will win me the match and your Millennium Puzzle." He placed a card in attack mode. "First, I will place the Lady of Faith in attack mode, and then the card that will turn your friends against each other." Everyone stared at Ryou in confusion. No one could figure out how they could be turned against each other. He flipped a card from his hand around to show them all. "The Change of Heart!" Yugi gasped.

"Wait," Zahara started.

"Isn't that Bakura's favorite card?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, and a very magical card it is as well," the spirit told them. "With this card the very friends you sought to protect, you will now destroy!" Yugi stood strong.

"No, I refuse!"

"You won't have a choice," Ryou returned with that same cruel grin. "The change of Heart allows me to control any opposing monster. And I choose you, Yugi!"

"Leave the young one out of this!" Yami commanded in a dark voice.

"Why should I?" the spirit shot back. "By simply destroying him, I destroy you as well." The spirit reared back as he prepared to play his final move. "You're here to guide and protect him… Protect him from this!" Yugi cringed and shielded himself from the light, hoping against hope to avoid being controlled by the spirit. Hearing the gasps of his friends, he peered out from under his arm.

"It's Bakura!" Téa exclaimed.

"The real Bakura!" Tristan added.

"Ryou," Zahara whispered as she looked upon the sad face of the boy she had grown familiar with. Those eyes. She knew those eyes. Filled with warmth and kindness. The purity that was Ryou Bakura. Ryou blinked as he began to realize what was going on. He took a breath and darted forward, veering off sharply and combining himself with the spirit's Lady of Faith monster.

"I want to help, but we must act quickly, Yugi!" Ryou called out to him. The spirit growled in anger as he glared down at the boy whose body he possessed. "I'll control her while you attack me! You can win against the evil Bakura!"

"I can't!" Yugi protested. "I'd be destroying you, sending you to the graveyard!"

"I don't care!" Ryou returned forcefully. "Anything is better than being controlled by an evil spirit!" Zahara saw the thin stream of tears in his eyes as he glanced up at her for what he thought was to be the last time. "DO IT!" He commanded. The spirit could not hold back his fury.

"Be quiet!" he shouted. The golden eye blinked open on Yami's forehead.

"I have a better idea!" he interceded. The Millennium Puzzle became ablaze with power, and Yami opened himself up to it. "If the power of the Ring can pull souls from people, maybe my Millennium Puzzle can put them back !" The spirit groaned, his eyes closed as he attempted to fight off Yami's powers. When the eyes opened again, Yugi and his friends cheered as Zahara breathed a sigh of relief. It was all she could do to stop herself from running and hugging him. There was a cry on the field as the spirit fought against the robes of the Lady of Faith his Change of Heart card had taken over. Yami ordered Yugi's attack and Yugi did not hesitate this time. The spirit's screams echoed in the forest as the Dark Magic Attack sent him flying into the graveyard, ending the game, and breaking the spell for the Shadow Realm. Yami merged again with the puzzle letting Yugi take over again. Zahara looked down at Tristan and Joey, who looked as though they were sleeping, before carefully walking over to join Yugi and Ryou.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked him. Ryou breathed deeply and gave a grateful smile.

"I am now, thanks to you." Ryou turned and noticed Zahara rubbing her arm. "I'm sorry he hurt you. I tried to stop him." He hung his head and she shrugged it off.

"I will be fine. I am sure I will face much worse before this is all over with." Yugi looked at her.

"A lot of things were said between you and the spirit during that duel. As if you new each other. What was that about, Zahara?" She hung her head this time. "Just who are you?" She bit her lip and a small whimper escaped her throat. "Do you have a Millennium Item as well? Is that why you said your family protected them?" Ryou stopped Yugi's questions with a brief wave of his hand as she watched Zahara's reaction to them.

"It's ok, Zahara. Take your time." She looked up at him. A small part of her could see understanding in his eyes. He knew her secret. With the spirit a part of him, he knew everything the spirit did. The spirit remembered everything where as Yami did not. She understood then, why Ryou had covered for her earlier.

"I-I don't own a Millennium Item. I…" she sighed before continuing. "I only know of the story behind them." Okay, girl, think. How are you going to get yourself out of this one…

"You made it sound as if your mother knew the spirit." Yugi could not help but be concerned about her after what he had just been through.

"In all the years my family protected the tomb of the Pharaoh and all the treasures and Millennium Items, my mother has come across the spirit a few times as he tried to gain the Items. He always had a new host. She was able to retrieve it at one point from him, but then it was stolen from us. The last we had heard about it, the Ring had been sold by some trader to a tourist in Egypt. We had no idea who had it. Or where it would be taken. If I had known, Ryou, I swear I would have said something. I am so sorry this happened to all of you."

"Don't worry, Zahara-san," Yugi said softly, a small smile on his lips. She looked up at him in surprise that he would use that term with her. It meant she had officially joined his ranks as a friend. She had become a part of his group.

"Yes," Ryou added. "It wasn't like there was much you yourself could have done against that spirit. Even I couldn't control him." She sighed again, this time with a smile on her face. That went over better than she had thought. Ryou squeezed her shoulder lightly. She knew he knew more than he let on, but was grateful to him for keeping silent. She had not been untruthful in the least in her story. She had just omitted a few details, such as the fact she was three thousand years old and Yugi's aunt.

"Where did you get the Ring, Bakura?" Yugi decided to turn to Ryou in hopes of some more answers to his questions.

"My father found it on one of his trips. I am thinking he is the man you heard about who had purchased the Ring, Zahara. He told me it was from ancient Egypt. He said he was shopping in a merchant bazaar when the Millennium Ring caught his Eye. The man he bought it from said it had something to do with Duel Monsters. But that never made any sense to me as the game is so new and the Ring is clearly ancient."

"Is there a connection?" Yugi asked Zahara. She nodded.

"My mother knows the legends behind them better than I do. My brother is even studying them still in Egypt. She said it had something to do with dark magic and shadow monsters that priests used in games of power. The monsters of that time resemble the ones on the cards. She said Pegasus had his inspiration for the game from the stories of legend that my family has passed down for years," she explained softly. She found herself carefully choosing her words. She looked back up at Ryou waiting for him to finish telling his story.

"Anyway, when my father got back, he gave it to me. He said he felt I was destined to have it." Groaning and yawning caught their attention as Tristan, Joey, and Téa began to stir.

"I just dreamt Bakura went completely mental," Tristan said as he rubbed his eyes. Ryou walked over to them with a smirk on his face.

"Same here," Joey agreed. "Last time I snooze with dueling cards under my pillow." Téa looked around, confused, but said nothing. Ryou leaned over to them.

"Sleep well, guys?" He gave them his most innocent smile. Tristan and Joey shouted Ryou's name and grabbed each other for a moment before realizing what they had done. Téa had thrown herself out of the way and stood to join Yugi and Zahara who had begun to laugh when the two pushed each other way causing them to fall back onto the ground. Téa grew quiet for a moment and looked thoughtful.

"I dreamt that we were all dressed as duel monsters," she told them. "And that there were two Yugi's." Ryou, Yugi, and Zahara looked at each other nervously, not sure what to say. They were saved from explanation, however, when a piercing scream rang through the forest. Joey stood up quickly, looking in the main direction of the scream.

"That sounded like Mai," he told them.

"Come on, let's go!" Yugi said as he turned to run down the path. Everyone followed, not sure what they would find, but glad they were able to face it together.