Ah, so good to be back! I apologize, especially to Silver Fantasy, for not updating. Something happened with the updating process. Anyway, thanks to Yami-AJ Yu-Yu-InuCaptor, Silver Fantasy, and Leona Saclat (1234567 L).

Chapter 9- A Strange Meeting

Selket opened her eyes slowly. She was sitting in the library, the same room where she had last seen Mana and Deshret last week. She looked down to see a book in her lap, and with a start noticed she had fallen asleep while reading again. Selket sighed at herself, telling herself she had been doing so for five nights straight now, and she'd probably get sick or something.

But, how she loved to read! Hidden worlds revealed themselves at the turn of a page, a sanctuary that she could immerse herself in. Simple things she never knew existed, things from real, foreign lands that seemed like fantasies, like majestic mountains or grass fields or waterfalls. She loved the strange new creatures that materialized before her mind's eye, and where and how they lived. Old civilizations. New ones. Lost ones. She also read about their Gods as well as more about her own. Their ways, her ways. Stories, poems, anything! She adored it so with a passion.

The book she had been reading was about a girl in some sort of a cult (which had disbanded quite some time ago) where she would be sacrificed to a god of the Underworld. It was decided at her birth she would only live to sixteen. The girl finds this out when she is young, and vows to relieve herself of her fate. But she cannot leave, for her sister relies heavily on her because of an illness that leaves her bed-ridden. The two love each other, and cannot be separated. The girl grows to become fearless, independent, clever, and even a little crazy, unlike the "place" of the other women who are fragile and empty as glass dolls. It reminded Selket of herself a little.

Unfortunately, the rest of the pages were missing, to Selket's disappointment. She wondered why, and it occurred to her that the dismantler had thought it was not appropriate for women. /But how many have the pleasure of reading?/ Selket mused. /Of course, Bakura let me read, wanted me to read. There wasn't much we could get, but we would read to each other when we could. That was so special, I... Ra, I miss Bakura…/

Even though she was thinking about Bakura a lot, she really was happy there, surrounded by books. By staying in the library, she had managed to avoid both Mana and Seto. For some reason Mana avoided the room as Selket avoided her, preferring to be outside doing Ra-knows-what. Selket had no idea what Seto was doing, and couldn't care less as long as it didn't involve her. Come to think, she hadn't seen Mahaado or Deshret since her first day. The two of them, she had heard, where building the current Pharaoh's tomb. /Better hurry, you two. The Pharaoh may be needing it soon…but, come to think, I haven't even actually seen the Pharaoh Atemu. Perhaps it is for the better./

Selket peered into the hallway, and confirming it was empty, walked to her room. She had learned to navigate the hallways of the palace, to her it was like the hallways of a tomb; in a tomb, getting to your destination is hard enough, but getting back was harder. Keep your eyes open or they will be closed for good.

She thought about this as she took a long bath. As she stepped out, he eyes caught herself in the mirror and was transfixed once again.

Selket was both tall and thin, but muscles could be seen along her arms and legs and stomach, destroying anyone's ideas of her being fragile. Brown-sugar skin peeked through the strands of her long, black hair that flowed down to her waist. Strong chin, average nose (A/N: ahem, noses all look the same in anime), small mouth and lips. She was slightly curvy, too, which didn't hurt. But Selket's favourite feature was her eyes. Amethyst coloured eyes looked back into hers, small irises barely visible. They were slightly narrowed giving her a near serious look. The kind of eyes that looked as though they could see right through you. She was a little curvy, too, which didn't hurt. What did Selket see in her reflection? A beautiful, strong 18-year-old woman that could take anyone down.

Of course, there where hidden features that she had. There were the scars on her face. It was hard to cover them, since there were three of them, two running horizontally under her left eye and one running right through it vertically. She was surprised she wasn't blind in her left eye. The other feature was on her left arm, where there was a winding black tattoo twisting its way along her forearm. Where had that come from? She shrugged it off as she applied the make-up to the scars and stepped into a clean robe. She tugged the long sleeves to cover the mark.

/About time I payed a visit to a friend/ she thought, stepping back into the hallway.

/Damn, I didn't think the palace was this big/ Selket had been walking for a while, and still there was no sign of an exit. But she wasn't about to ask anyone the way, after all, thieves know their surroundings inside-out, right? Right?

She turned a corner and stopped short. Who else would be standing there but Priest Seto? His back was turned to Selket, so he didn't see her. However, he did see someone else.

Someone else sat on they're knees in front of the Priest, surrounded by water and broken glass. He appeared to be wimpering.

"…sorry, Master, I-I'm sorry…"

Selket heard Seto snort. "Sorry, is that all you are? Are you really? Know your place, freak. You are lucky the Pharaoh is kind enough to let a monster like you stay here…I, however, am not as kind. Watch yourself, you might get hurt." The Priest raised the back of his hand as if to slap the kneeling man, when someone brushed past Selket and caught his arm.

"You are mine…" /…Father/

"Mercy is not one of your virtues, is it, Priest Seto?"

"…Shada…" the man named Shada was glaring at his fellow Priest with blank, blue eyes. His bald and tattooed head and his serious expression made him look scary. The Millennium Key rested on his chest.

"You have taken your first step…" /Shada…/

Seto sneered at the man on his knees, "Later." He went back down the hall. Shada followed him, white robes swishing.

/That man, that Priest…Shada. Where…my Father? Why did I think of my Father, after so long? I feel…I have met him before./

Something growled. What was that? Selket looked over to see the man who had been on his knees. His face was contorted into a mask of hatred, but his eyes were covered by black hair…Deshret/How could that energetic person act like a wimp? Well sure, most people are probably intimidated by Seto, but…/

"Deshret!" Was that her calling out to him?

"'Ket! Er, where did you come from?" he said quickly, expression changing to surprise.

Selket knelt by him and picked up the shards of broken glass. "Ne, passing by. You alright?"

He continued to look surprised as she threw the shards into a large empty vase. "Fine," he answered. "Just dropped something. Damn that Priest!"

Selket looked at him. "Priest?"

"Yeah, I ran into…Never mind. I'm leaving." He stood up and walked in the direction Selket had come from.

"Wait!" she called, running after him. He stopped and turned his head to look at her (she thought so anyway). "I'm going to the training grounds," he answered the unspoken question, "I need to hit something. So leave me alone."

Selket's fighting spirit burned. "I will come with you, then."

He looked surprised again, before shifting to anger. "I said no. You're a girl, you wanna get hurt?"

Selket glared at him. Her, not fight? Don't think so. "You think a girl cannot fight, eh?"

"That's not what I said. But…face it, 'Ket. Think you can beat me?"

Selket smirked. "Like to see? Let's go, right here, right now."

Deshret expression became unreadable, then he smirked too. "Alright, then. Bring it on!" He charged at Selket. As he brought back his fist, Selket stepped aside. His punch missed and he went flying past her. "Hey!" he growled. He turned and came up with his left fist. Selket stepped aside again and caught his wrist. His shocked look lasted a second before she lifted up her knee hard and hit him square in the stomach. He doubled over, coughing. "How…did…you…do that?" he said between coughs.

Selket smiled. "Practice," she replied in a cheerful tone. "Yeah, well, next time I'll beat you," Deshret said, straightening up. She noticed his hair was awry, and for the first time she could see his eyes. They were blood-red orbs, surrounded by black where the whites should have been. They looked like…a monsters…

Deshret looked up and noticed what she was looking at. He turned on his heel had walked away from her quickly, covering his eyes again with his hair. His hunchback seemed to sway angrily. What had she just seen?

"Deshret!" No answer. He was gone. /Never mind him, now how do I get out/

"'Ket!" Mana?

"'Ket," Mana called from up the hall. The girl ran up to Selket. "I've been looking all over for you! Mahaado's back!"

Mahaado, back? Now we may begin. Wait, my friend, patience…

This chapter was meant to be longer, but it's best to wait until next chapter for that.

Yami-AJ Yu-Yu-InuCaptor- Thank you! Come to think, Deshret is shady…

Silver Fantasy- Yeah, Selket is fearless, but she's arrogant too. Bakura makes an appearance next chapter, too. Thanks!

1234567 L- Thanks. Why a change in name? And you don't have anything posted! Ah, well.