I don't own Yugioh. I do own Maria, Gold, silver, and this plot… which is co-owned by Rei…figures, but nothing more,
Woot! Long, last chapter.
'Blah' mental/spirit dialogue or whatever the hell you want to call it
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"There's nothing left for me here," Rei started, and then trailed off when she saw Maria's face. "I'm going to wander and explore Egypt. I'll return to visit someday," Rei promised, clasping Maria on the shoulder before getting on Anubis and riding out, Sekhmet following close behind.
…
"Bakura, do you know where we are?" Rei asked, looking at the wind-swept sand dunes around her. It was fifty years later, and Rei was heading back to Thebes to see if anyone she knew was still alive.
The Millennium Ring pulsed and then glowed, Bakura appearing wearily. 'I thought Ishtar was the direction determiner,' he wondered with a yawn.
"Well he was," Rei admitted, "But he lapsed into another of those hibernations a year ago."
Bakura sighed, and stifling another yawn, floated up and looked around. 'Well there's a sight I never thought I'd see again,' he said.
"What is it?" Rei called.
'We're north of Thebes,' Bakura called back down and then sank back down to the ground. 'It's weird though,' he admitted, 'unless my memory is fuzzy, which I highly doubt, we should be on Kuru Eruna's main street right where we're standing.'
Rei sighed and ran a hand through her bangs. "It makes sense though," she said, "I can't remember if you were in hibernation or not, but when we were in the Delta several years back, there was a horrible sandstorm. From what I had heard, most of Thebes was buried, but they managed to clear out all of the sand."
Bakura nodded wearily, remembering that event. When Bakura nodded, Rei noticed something strange about Bakura. "Kura, are you okay?" she asked the spirit.
'It's the Millennium Ring. It's pulling me into an enchanted sleep, and I'm afraid that I won't wake up after this. Its pull is stronger than those normal "naps" that me and Ishtar normally lapse into. There's something else you should know…' Bakura trailed off as his eyes closed and he vanished.
"Bakura? What were you going to tell me?" Rei pressed. When she didn't get an answer from him, she jumped when she heard Ishtar speak up.
'Sandstorm,' Ishtar warned just as it hit.
Rei hissed and covered her mouth and nose with the sleeve of Bakura's old coat. At least it was a normal storm. As Rei tried to find shelter of some kind, she never noticed the slight pull around her neck as the rope of the Millennium Ring, weakened with years of wear, snapped, and the Millennium Ring fell into the sand, to be immediately covered.
When the storm finally died down, Rei fought her way to the surface of the sand dune she had burrowed into and felt a pair of strong hands half lift her out of the dune. Looking up, Rei gazed into amused lavender eyes and growled. "It's not funny. You two should have told me that a storm was approaching…weren't you asleep?" she demanded.
Ishtar shook his head. 'I've been awake for about an hour,' he replied and then frowned. 'Hey Rei, where's the Millennium Ring?' he asked.
Rei's eyes widened and she felt her neck for the rope. Looking around, all she could see was where she had burrowed into the dune and her and Ishtar's footprints. "Shit," she swore.
'The storm erased all of your tracks. There's no way we can find the Ring now, the rope must have snapped,' Ishtar mused, but was cut off by Rei punching him across the face. 'What the hell was that for?' he demanded angrily.
"You're an inconsiderate bastard!" Rei snapped, losing her temper and all control completely, "There has to be a way to find Bakura, so shut up and start looking! Can't you pinpoint him or something?"
'You forget, I wasn't sealed away in the Item that can pinpoint others!' Ishtar growled and then was sent to the ground due to Rei's next punch. 'Calm down,' he commanded, scooping the Millennium Rod up, and activating the Mind control power, his third eye glowing.
Rei growled and then sulked. She may be able to throw off the action and speech parts of the mind control, but Ishtar had a better grip on the subconscious part of her mind than she herself did.
Ishtar, seeing that Rei had cooled down, deactivated his control and stood. 'Look,' he sighed pulling Rei into a hug and rubbing her back, 'I know you don't want to lose Bakura, but there's nothing we can do. Neither of us know how far you staggered before burrowing, nor how much sand covered this place. It would take us years to find him.'
Rei pulled away from Ishtar and rubbed some sand from her eyes that had worked their way from Ishtar's cloak into her eyes. 'Just think,' Ishtar continued, 'he's sleeping with his biological family now and won't hear us bickering. You'll see him again one day.'
Rei couldn't help but laugh at the bickering part. Still snickering, Rei took the Millennium Rod from Ishtar and slipped it safely into her pack. "Come on Spikey," she said, turning south, "Let's go to Thebes."
Ishtar growled and fell into step beside her. "Don't call me that!" he hissed as the two walked to Thebes. It was evening when they reached the city, and Ishtar was forced to return to the Millennium Rod even though no one would recognize him. Gazing around the city, Rei noted that nothing had changed structure wise, and that the townsfolk were preparing for a festival.
Not wanting to draw attention to herself by going to a previously abandoned house that had tons of treasure buried below it, Rei went to the nearest inn and rented a room for the night. Once she was settled, Ishtar appeared as a spirit and "sat" in the chair near the window.
'Do you think Maria is still around?' Ishtar wondered.
"I honestly don't know. We stayed in Egypt all these years, but we never heard news of her death. I heard of Atemu's maybe a year after we left Thebes, but not Maria's. We'll go tomorrow and see. Now get some rest, or play watchdog. It's your choice," Rei figured before curling up on the bed and falling asleep.
Ishtar remained awake and watchful. Something about this night made him wary, and he had long ago learned to trust those instincts. Looking around maybe three hours later, Ishtar noticed the door to his and Rei's room opening really slowly. Silently solidifying, Ishtar got up and wrapped his cloak around him and pulled up his hood to blend into the shadows.
Watching carefully, Ishtar made out the shape of a child, about the age of ten, sneak into the room and to Rei's pack. Just a minute after the child started rummaging, his hand closed around the Millennium Rod. Ishtar gasped silently at the pain of an unfamiliar grip on his item as the child pulled it out and inspected the gold item.
'I'd put that down if I were you,' Ishtar growled softly after sneaking behind the boy, and picking up the boy by the back of his shirt, glared at the frightened child.
"I-I was just looking," the boy stammered, causing Ishtar to snort.
'Just looking?' Ishtar mocked softly, bringing the boy closer so that they were nose to nose, 'You're going to have to think up of a better lie than "just looking," especially when you were going to steal from an ex-tomb robber.'
When the boy squeaked in fear, Ishtar snatched the Millennium Rod from the boy's hand, and walking to the door, dumped the kid unceremoniously out in the hall and slammed the door shut.
"Ishtar, what's going on?" Rei asked sleepily from where she had woken up from the slam.
Ishtar turned and mildly glared at Rei who flinched. 'I would secure this in a better place than your pack. It was almost stolen,' Ishtar hissed, tossing the Millennium Rod to Rei, who caught it before he disappeared into the Item.
Rei shuddered at the snap and putting the Millennium Rod into a pocket in Bakura's old coat, fell back asleep.
The next morning, Rei walked along the main street, glaring in annoyance at the crowds of people, heading towards the palace when one of the festival attractions caught her attention. Looking closer, Rei saw it was a bunch of street kids dressed as her, Bakura, Ishtar, the pharaoh, and the priests commanding more kids dressed as the kas.
'Oh my fucking Ra. What exactly is the blue thing supposed to be?' Ishtar asked in the back of Rei's mind.
'It's supposed to be your ka stupid,' Rei replied mentally.
Ishtar made an indignant sound. 'Humanoid Slime didn't look like that,' he complained, 'He had a gold vest.'
'Yeah, well they don't know that. You forget it was fifty years ago when that happened. Ra, I sort of wish that I lost your Millennium Rod in the sandstorm instead of the Millennium Ring. Then I'd be at least stuck with Bakura, who by the way has more sense than you ever will,' Rei replied sarcastically before throwing down a huge handful of gold coins for the street children, and the children duelists forgot about finishing the battle and scrambled for the coins. Continuing on to the palace, Rei started to pass through the open gates, but was stopped by the guards.
"Hold on, you can't go in there, you don't have an appointment," a guard said. Rei just looked at him breezily and kept walking.
The other guard grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back. "Let me go you imbecile! I'm going to see Queen Maria, and you can't stop me!" Rei snarled, but was smacked across the face.
"There's no way the queen would know you, now shove off…"
"What's going on here?" a voice demanded, which made the guards stop and bow, thus dragging Rei onto her knees as well.
"Great pharaoh, this street girl claims that she knows Queen Maria," the first guard replied.
"Is that so?" the pharaoh asked in an amused manner and then kneeled and raised Rei's chin with a hand so he could look into her eyes.
Rei gasped. "Yugi?" she asked.
The pharaoh looked surprised and signaled for the guards to let her go. "Wait a second," he murmured observing Rei, and flinched a little when he recognized the coat. "You do know Mother, don't you? May I ask your name?" Yugi asked.
"I guess, my name is Rei," Rei replied, standing and brushing off her coat.
"It's all right," Yugi said, turning to the guards, "Rei is one of my mother's friends." The guards nodded and returned to their posts. Once that was settled, Yugi motioned for Rei to follow him.
"I'm surprised at how much you grew," Rei mused as they walked down the still splendid halls of the palace, "You were so tiny at the age of five."
Yugi laughed lightly. "I've heard that from just about everyone before they passed on. You and Mother are the only ones left from those times," he explained, "I'm taking you to see her, but I warn you, try not to mention Uncle Seto. His death was the most recent, and she still grieves every so often."
Rei nodded, and Yugi stopped outside of the door that Rei remembered led to Maria's private chambers. Knocking, Yugi entered. "Mother? I brought you a visitor," Yugi said softly and then exited the room and Rei entered.
Maria looked up, and smiled when she saw Rei. "Is that really you Rei? Either it's my eyes playing tricks on me, or you don't look a day over 18," she said from where she was sitting on her balcony.
"Hey, you don't look so bad yourself," Rei chided, going and sitting in a chair near Maria's.
"Are you kidding?" Maria laughed, "I'm in my seventies Rei. My body is weakened, my eyes are shot from constantly being in the bright sun, and I don't think I'll be around much longer."
"Why didn't you just let go?" Rei asked.
"Because, you made a promise, and I wanted to see it through."
"Spoiled," Rei muttered, causing Maria to laugh lightly.
"How is Bakura and Ishtar?" Maria asked.
"Ishtar's right here," Rei replied, pulling the Millennium Rod out of her pocket and giving it a slight shake.
Ishtar appeared, solidified, and growled at Rei's actions before turning and grinning mischievously at Maria.
Maria grinned back and then turned to Rei again. "That answers half of my question. What about Bakura?"
"Eh," Rei started hesitantly, "I'll get to him in a bit. First of all, tell me about life after our split."
The two spent a few hours telling about how the past 50 years have been. Maria told about being a grandmother and Yugi thinking about handing the throne to his oldest son since Yugi was kind of old himself, and Rei told about her adventures with Ishtar and Bakura, and then she confessed to losing the Millennium Ring the day before.
'Maria, what's that festival in the town about?' Ishtar asked, having remained quiet while sitting at Rei's feet for long enough, and also to divert Maria's thoughts away from her sadness at not being able to see Bakura.
"Well, today is the fiftieth anniversary of the shadow war," Maria replied and then laughed. "I never get tired of watching the play that the street children put on, especially since I told them that story," she admitted as Yugi appeared in the doorway that led from the balcony.
"Mother, are your friends joining us for dinner?" Yugi asked.
'Friend,' Ishtar corrected, 'I don't eat.'
Yugi blinked in confusion and then smacked himself in the forehead. "Oh yeah, you're a spirit. You're welcome to at least sit and chat," Yugi pointed out.
Ishtar thought about it and then agreed. As the four entered the dining room, Rei and Ishtar got to observe Yugi's children. There were two boys and a girl, the girl being the youngest. Rei noticed, with a flair of annoyance, that the little girl was being picked on by her brothers.
"Daddy!" the little girl cried, running to Yugi, who picked her up, "Daddy, Horus and Kuran are being mean to me!"
Maria rolled her eyes and took the seven-year-old from Yugi. "Boys," Yugi warned, "How many times have I told you to leave your sister alone?"
The younger of the two cringed and shrunk back with a murmured apology. "Kuran, do you have anything to add?" Maria asked.
Kuran stood his ground, and Rei and Ishtar could tell he was defiant. In fact, Ishtar could catch glimpses of Atemu in the boy's stance, not to mention the hereditary golden bangs. "Not really," Kuran replied.
"Kuran," Yugi warned again, "you better drop that tone and apologize to Nef."
"That brat is the one who started it!" Kuran protested, "Nef was being a little baby. She's scared of everything!"
"Kuran, at least behave at dinner. That goes for you two as well," Maria sighed, addressing the siblings, "We have guests tonight."
Kuran relaxed at her tone, "Yes Grandma," the three chorused. Maria's eye twitched, but she ignored it.
…
Ishtar grumbled a little during dinner. Since Nef was watching him curiously, Ishtar forced himself to eat, even though food made the spirit nauseous. While Ishtar was struggling with his food, Rei was watching Kuran without him knowing. Kuran seemed like he was a mix of Bakura and Atemu, both defiant and stubborn. Studying Kuran's face, Rei noticed a decent-sized scar under Kuran's right eye.
"Kuran is it?" she asked. When Kuran turned his head to look at her and nodded, Rei continued. "How did you get that scar?" she asked.
Kuran blinked in surprise and brushed his bangs away from the scar so Rei could get a better look. "I got it in a knife fight with some scum in Thebes. I'm surprised that you noticed it. Usually it takes people a while to notice it from a profile view because of my bangs," he admitted.
"I notice things faster that most do, and judging by the size of the scar, you were turning as the knife slashed you," Rei said calmly before going back to eating.
Maria laughed softly at Kuran's surprised expression. "Her brother was Thief King Bakura. She knows a ton about wounds since Bakura used to get himself into tons of trouble," she explained.
Kuran turned towards Maria. "She can't be that old," he scoffed.
'Looks can be deceiving,' Ishtar replied, looking up.
"What would you know about that?" Kuran shot back.
"Kuran…" Yugi started to warn, but was cut off by Maria laying a hand on his arm, "…Mother?"
"Let them be," she said gently, "I have a feeling that Kuran will get a lesson in knowing when to keep his mouth shut."
Ishtar bit back a growl and then thought of a good way to get even. Looking at Rei, he saw she was thinking along the same lines. Both smirking, they turned back to Kuran. 'Let me give you a little bit of insight on appearances,' Ishtar said smoothly before holding out his hand. 'Touch my hand.'
Kuran looked at him suspiciously and then outstretching his hand, reached over Rei and touched Ishtar's hand…if he could. Instead, his hand passed right through Ishtar's. With a yelp, Kuran jumped up, holding his hand. "Ra, your hand is as cold as…"
'Death perhaps?' Ishtar suggested, standing and walking through Rei's chair, Rei giving a slight shudder at the cold. 'Perhaps I am dead.'
"If you're dead, then why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the afterlife or underworld?" Kuran demanded while rubbing his hand, trying to warm it back up. By this time, Ishtar and Kuran had Horus' and Nef's attention.
'Considering that you're talking to my sprit, no,' Ishtar replied, bringing out the Millennium Rod, causing Kuran's eyes to widen at the sight of the item. 'I was sealed in this item for all eternity as a punishment for the crimes I committed,' Ishtar explained.
"That's preposterous!"
"It's true," Maria interrupted, "You forget, Kuran, all of the stories that I told you about the shadow war. I was queen when I witnessed Ishtar's execution. It was so long ago, your father was only five years old."
"I-It's true then?" Kuran asked, and then, furious that he was proven wrong, stormed from the room.
"He'll cool down," Yugi commented with a light laugh.
…
Rei yawned in content as she wandered through Thebes, observing the festival that was still continuing even though it was nighttime. Walking down an alley, Rei grinned, knowing where she wanted to go, and took off in a sprint through the familiar labyrinth.
'Rei, where are you going? The inn is the other way,' Ishtar asked, appearing beside Rei and floating to keep up.
"I'm not going to the inn," Rei replied, slowing to a walk.
Ishtar was about to open his mouth to ask where, but shut it quickly when he saw a familiar sight. 'Oh.'
"I see your brain didn't die," Rei snorted, "Now, go make yourself useful and see if anyone is in there.
Ishtar snarled but did as 'asked.' Floating through the house, Ishtar checked every room and then returned to Rei.
'The only thing in there is spiders,' Ishtar reported, grinning at Rei's expression.
"You better be joking, I hate spiders!"
'Relax. Every single spider that I saw, I killed,' Ishtar replied.
Rei glared at Ishtar and entered the house after making sure that no one saw her. Ishtar, following, took a look around and sighed. 'Actually, the last time I saw this place was when I got captured for that torture,' he muttered as he became solid.
"I saw this place again after your execution. You were sleeping then, since it was immediately after, and I packed up all of our belongings and stored them in the second basement," Rei said, flopping on the couch that was miraculously still there.
'Do you think it is all still there?' Ishtar asked, sitting next to Rei. Both looked at each other and raced towards the door that led to the basement trapdoor, Ishtar reaching there first.
Rei let Ishtar open the trapdoor and flew down the steps. "I win," she panted.
'Yeah, and you're out of breath,' Ishtar pointed out.
"You try being over 60 and running like a teenager," Rei retorted, turning and going to where she remembered the second trapdoor was, thus missing the face Ishtar sent her way. Moving the concealing earth, Rei lifted the trapdoor and climbed down the ladder.
"Bring a torch with you! I can't see anything!" she called up to Ishtar. A minute later, Ishtar slid down the ladder with an extinguished torch in his hand. Handing it to Rei, she lit it, and the two stared around at the literal mountains of gold.
'Bakura's pride, joy, and legacy,' Ishtar muttered, 'No thief will ever come close to hoarding this much.'
Rei mutely nodded and rummaged around. "Ah, here it is," she sighed, sitting back with a gold box in her lap.
'What is it?' Ishtar asked.
"The greatest thing Bakura ever gave me," she said softly before removing a small golden key from around her neck and unlocking the box.
Ishtar leaned in and pulled out one of the objects, handling it carefully. 'Bakura carved these?'
"Yes, he started them when he was sick that one week, and finished them before he died" Rei explained pulling out another wooden carving. The carving that Ishtar held was one of himself. The figure even had the flowing cloak and a mini Millennium Rod…all carved out of wood with exceptional perfection and attention to detail.
'He didn't have to be a thief at all. Once your old master had let him go, Bakura could've been a woodworker,' Ishtar said softly.
"Feh, he would have gotten bored," Rei said with a scoff as she fingered one that was a mini replica of Bakura. The two sat for a long while, digging through the gold and jewels, reminiscing on much of the stuff that brought back memories. The next day, both slept in their old rooms.
In the evening, Rei woke up and thought that something was wrong. Going down to Ishtar's room, Rei slipped in and shook Ishtar awake.
'Wha? What's going on Rei?' Ishtar asked.
"Something doesn't feel right. Something happened while we were sleeping," Rei said.
'You're crazy.'
"No I'm not!" Rei growled, "It's a weird feeling that I get when something important happens."
Ishtar blinked at Rei and sat up. 'Alright, let's go see,' he said with a final yawn.
Minutes later, Rei reached the palace, a feeling of dread in her stomach. Ishtar had disappeared into the Rod a few minutes ago, when they had emerged into the marketplace so both could go faster and get through the guards easier. After getting past the guards, Rei looked up and saw Kuran and Horus watching her from the top of the Palace steps.
"We were wondering when you and Ishtar would show up," Kuran said, his bangs blowing in the breeze.
'Why?' Ishtar asked, reappearing.
"Father has been expecting you all day. He has to tell you something," Horus replied as the two turned, motioning for Rei and Ishtar to follow.
Entering the throne room, Rei spotted Yugi on his throne, head in his hands. "Father, Rei and Ishtar have arrived," Kuran called.
"Thank you boys. Please, take Nef and go keep her occupied. I wish to explain this to her later," Yugi said, looking up. Kuran and Horus nodded and taking their little sister's hand, left the throne room.
"Yugi, what's wrong?" Rei asked as she and Ishtar came closer, once they were sure Nef was out of range.
"Mother…Mother passed on to the afterlife this morning," Yugi said, letting his held back tears fall.
'We're so sorry,' Ishtar murmured.
"I chose the right time to come back then," Rei said, trying to cheer Yugi up a little.
It worked. Yugi smiled a little. "Actually, Mother told me not even a week ago that she wanted to rejoin Father and Uncle Seto in the afterlife, but wanted to see you one last time so she could say goodbye. Only then would she allow herself to die," he admitted.
Rei just blinked. 'Talk about devotion,' Ishtar murmured.
"I call it spoiled," Rei muttered, causing Yugi and Ishtar to chuckle.
"You're welcome to stay the night. Tomorrow, there's going to be a procession and/or reception so villagers can pay their respects," Yugi said. Rei and Ishtar looked at each other and nodded.
Later that night, Rei was roused from her sleep by a soft glow. Growling and thinking it was Ishtar leaving a candle burning again, Rei opened her eyes and saw Ishtar curled up on the couch where Rei had seen him before she fell asleep. By the looks of it, he hadn't moved.
Rei was about to go back to sleep when the soft glow caught her eye again. Turning to look at it, Rei suddenly smiled and quietly slid out of bed.
"Shouldn't you be in the afterlife by now?" Rei asked the figure who was standing by the window.
The figure turned and grinned, blue eyes sparkling. 'Not yet. I don't know the rules of this, but I think that I have to be buried, and then I'm free to go,' she replied.
"Tsucci, since when have rules held you back?" Rei asked with a quiet snort, attention drifting to Ishtar as he shifted in his sleep.
'Umm, let's see…none that I can think of,' Maria replied shrugging, noticing that her spirit body had reverted to its young adult appearance of when she was 20.
'That's because you were a naughty girl,' Ishtar teased coming up and giving the other spirit a hug.
Maria returned the hug and then pulled back. 'Did we wake you?' she asked.
'No, you didn't,' Ishtar assured.
"Anyway, what are you doing here? If you haven't changed at all, I know you're eager to see Atemu again," Rei asked.
'Heh, I remember nothing on the funeral rites, and the spirit's journey. The last time I saw that, it was Atemu's funeral, which I presided over. As for your second comment, of course I want to see Atemu again,' Maria replied.
'You know,' a voice cut in, causing the three to turn, 'girls can be very chatty.'
'Seto!' Maria cried, running to the newly arrived spirit and hugging him, causing Seto to lift her and give her a little spin, 'What are you doing here?'
'I came to get you to take you to the afterlife,' Seto replied and then looked at Rei. 'You're still alive?' he wondered and saw Rei nod.
'The afterlife? Is everyone there?' Maria asked.
Seto hesitated. 'I'm not going to lie, especially to you. Atemu never appeared at the weighing of the heart. My guess is when he sealed the shadow games away by sacrificing himself, his soul must have went into the puzzle,' he explained.
Maria's expression saddened again. 'And here I thought the afterlife was perfect,' she murmured. Accepting Seto's hand, Maria turned and looked at Rei and Ishtar.
'Before I go, I want to make one last prediction,' she told Seto. Seto nodded and let her hand go.
'I see that your future is clouded with turmoil Rei. There will be many years of turmoil until you find a way to the place where you'll find us, and we will all be reunited once more,' Maria said.
Rei sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. "For once can you translate that into simple terms?" Rei asked with a sigh.
'No,' Seto answered for his sister with a small smile on his face. Seeing Ishtar trying not to laugh, Seto took Maria's hand again. 'Come on Maria, let's go. The gods are waiting,' he urged.
Maria nodded and waved to Rei and Ishtar before they disappeared in a flash of light.
When Yugi had meant the villagers, he had meant the villagers in Thebes. Yugi, Rei, and Ishtar were very surprised to see literally almost all of Egypt come and pay their respects.
"I did not expect this many people to come," Yugi groaned a week later as he slumped in his throne, allowing Kuran and Horus to shoo out the stragglers.
"Tell me about it," Kuran grumbled as he shut the throne room doors behind him and his brother, "We finally got all of them to leave."
"It just goes to show that Maria was well liked," Rei said with a shrug.
"At least Grandmother can be mummified now," Horus piped up as he sat on the arm of the throne.
"Yes, and that also means that we have to reopen Father's tomb and get us and the sarcophagus past all of those traps," Yugi groaned once more.
Kuran laughed at his father's expression. Rei shook her head. "Do you need anymore help?" she asked.
"No. You and Ishtar have helped enough. Go home," Yugi said with a wave of his hand.
'If only Bakura were still around, he'd get us through the traps,' Ishtar murmured as he and Rei walked the Nile a little later.
"Yeah," Rei agreed, "but sadly, he's not here, so they're going to have to make do on their own."
Ishtar nodded and the two continued strolling. Rei bit her lip in thought and finally spoke up. "Ishtar, do you want to leave Egypt? There's nothing left here."
Ishtar stooped and looked at Rei incredulously. 'Are you sure? Rei, Egypt is the only thing we've ever known,' he asked.
"I'm positive. I want to wander. Maybe we'll find everyone sooner than expected," Rei replied stubbornly.
Ishtar sighed and then nodded. 'Let's leave in a week or two, just so we can get food and necessary supplies, deal?'
"Deal."
…
A week later, Rei had everything she needed. Deciding to leave the next day, Rei decided to sleep in Ishtar's room, Ishtar sleeping in the Millennium Rod.
A few hours later, Rei was roused from her sleep by a shout either from Ishtar, or in her dreams. Looking around, Rei didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so she laid back down. As she was falling back asleep, the shout echoed through her head again, and Rei could hear what was being shouted.
'Rei! Help!'
'Ishtar? Ishtar, what's wrong!' Rei called through the mind link.
'There was a burglar in the house, I don't know if he's gone now, but Rei, he has the Millennium Rod and I can't get out!' Ishtar called out in a panicked voice.
Rei leaped out of bed at that and sure enough, spotted her pack disturbed. Running out of the house, she saw a figure running away, arms bundled with items, Millennium Rod among them.
With a growl, Rei gave chase. Following the thief through the alleys, Rei noticed that the thief was getting slowly farther and farther away.
'Rei? Rei! Where are you? I sense you getting farther away!' Ishtar demanded, before reeling back and clutching his head in pain. It felt like something had snapped in his head.
Trying to contact Rei again, Ishtar's horror grew when he realized that the link between him and Rei had snapped completely in two. Pounding on his soulroom door, Ishtar tried to get out, but couldn't budge the handle.
Feeling something nudge the back of his mind, Ishtar felt more and more sleepy. Weakly calling Rei's name one final time, Ishtar fell into an enchanted sleep identical to Bakura's.
Rei gasped when she felt the link snap. Calling Ishtar's name repeatedly, Rei heard him call her name faintly and weakly before silence followed, and she lost sight of the thief that had the Rod.
Bending over and gasping for breath, Rei knew it was hopeless to find and catch the thief now, especially by herself. That's it! She'll get Yugi to help.
Scaling the palace wall a few minutes later, Rei climbed up to the grand balcony and vaulted over the railing. "Yugi, wake up," she whispered, shaking Yugi softly.
"R-Rei? What's wrong? You look pale," Yugi murmured as he sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Yugi, someone stole the Millennium Rod!" Rei said urgently.
"What!"
"You heard me, Ishtar called in alarm and I gave chase, but I lost them when the thief escaped into the market," Rei explained.
Yugi frowned and threw his cloak on. "I'll get Kuran and Horus and some guards. You stay here and rest a little, you look worn out. We'll find Ishtar, don't worry," Yugi promised before hurrying out.
Rei sat on a cushion for a few minutes before going to the balcony once she heard hoof beats. Looking down, Rei saw Kuran, Yugi, and Horus leading the way, guards and some other palace residents on horseback. The riders passed through the gate and dispersed into the city.
"Everything happens to me," Rei said to no one in particular. Looking down, rei noticed that the coast was clear, so she slid down the wall and darted to the shrine of Wedju.
Entering the shrine, she mounted the steps and stood looking at the tablets. Underneath the God tablets were ten tablets with inscriptions on them. Looking closer, Rei saw that they were as follows: Dreadscythe (Rei had given up her ka after Bakura's execution, but could probably still summon her), Humanoid Slime, Diabound, Gold and Silver sharing a tablet, Mahaado, Duos (Seto's ka), Spiria (Isis' ka), Bast (Karim's panther ka), Gadius (Akunadin's ka), and Zerua (Shaddah's ka).
Gazing at her, Ishtar's, and Bakura's kas, Rei felt tears well up in her eyes. Mentally bidding them goodbye, Rei turned and walked slowly out of the shrine. Slipping out of the palace grounds, she headed back to her home and repacked her pack. Going down into the second basement, Rei took the golden box containing the wooden figures, and taking a candle, sealed the box shut to lock out all air with the melted wax.
Burying it in the piles of gold, Rei then went up and did the same thing she did fifty years ago. Burying the trapdoor once more, she took a last look around and left the house.
Standing on the nearby rock bluffs minutes later, Rei took a final look at Thebes and bid her old life goodbye before turning and heading north towards the Delta, a look of determination on her face. After all, the Mediterranean area didn't sound half bad.
…
Yugi sighed as he rode into the palace grounds around the end of the night. He and Horus didn't have any luck finding the Millennium Rod.
"Father, do you think Kuran and Seth found it?" Horus asked.
"It's hard to say. Kuran seemed quite determined. I'm sure one of the two will find it," Yugi replied, petting his horse. Even though it was many years ago since the death of his beloved horse, Yugi still missed Amir, who was buried in the garden near Jasmine and Star.
Horus yawned and was about to reply when clattering hoof beats interrupted him. Turning, Yugi and Horus spotted Kuran and Seth riding towards them.
"What happened?" Yugi demanded, seeing Kuran cupping his arm, and Seth sporting a bloody nose.
Yugi's cousin's son spoke up. "We ran into some pretty rowdy scum. Kuran got slashed across the arm, and I got punched in the nose," Seth replied.
"Why would they attack you?" Horus asked, his curious nature taking over.
Kuran looked up and smiled in a tired manner. "One of them was gloating about stealing this," he explained, holding up the Millennium Rod, "He wasn't too keen on it being snatched out of his hand, so he and his friends went after us."
"Good job son. Horus, go get Rei, she is in my room," Yugi said. Horus nodded and dashed off. A few minutes later, Horus ran out of the palace alone.
"Father! Rei's gone, but she left this note," Horus panted, skidding to a stop and offering Yugi the note.
Yugi took the note and read it.
Yugi,
I'm sorry that I didn't wait for you to return. I just couldn't take it anymore. I've gone to explore the world and leave Egypt behind. I have a favor to ask of you. Please, if you find him, keep Ishtar safe for whoever is destined to own the Millennium Rod next. I will miss him terribly, but it's for the best.
Best Wishes,
Rei
Yugi sighed and looked up at the three boys around him. "Where are we going to store Ishtar? We can't risk having the Millennium Rod fall into the wrong hands." Yugi stated.
"Well, since my family took up the role of tomb keeper, I'll take it and keep it safe next to the Tauk," Seth offered.
"Are you sure it will be safe?" Yugi asked. When Seth nodded again, Yugi nodded and motioned for Kuran to hand the item over.
"Take good care of it. Remember, someone resides in there," Kuran said as he handed the Rod over.
Seth blinked in confusion and then realized what he was talking about. "Oh yeah, the stories that Grandmother Maria told us. How could I forget?" he said before turning his horse and trotting off to his family's dwelling.
…
Perhaps a century or so later, Rei sighed in annoyance. She had walked just about all of Europe and was heading back into Africa. "Why in Ra's name have I not died yet?" Rei growled as she entered Northwest Africa. She was in Egypt for about a week a long time ago before leaving quickly. Being in Egypt brought back painful memories.
"This is ridiculous! I am fucking sick of Maria's prediction of us meeting up. I'm never going to find her again, the world is too fucking big!" Rei growled. In truth it wasn't Tsucci's fault. Rei just kept getting enslaved before getting fed up with those masters and running away.
Sure enough, Rei saw some people eyeing her as a potential slave already. With a sigh, Rei didn't complain…too much…it gave her time to scope out that particular area and see if there was anyone familiar that she could sense.
"I should just go back to my roots and spend time with the gypsies," Rei sighed again. A long time ago, she had come across a band of gypsies, and they had recognized her bloodline. According to them, a certain bloodline of gypsies had natural blue in their hair and an eye color other than brown and black.
With a small smile, Rei recalled that the bloodline was in fact the leader bloodline of gypsies, a bloodline that was also cursed with an incredibly long life.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Rei noticed people approaching her and decided to get away. After all, except in Egypt with the help of a certain queen, different classes rarely mixed in a good way. With that thought in mind, Rei sped up, deciding to see if a different country would be better for her safety.
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YSF: little sniffle it's finally done! My last chapter. If anyone is remotely curious, the whole story, not including my authoress ramblings at the end and sometimes beginnings of chapters, is exactly 250 pages believe it or not. Thanks to all of my reviewers, whom i'm listing in most times reviewed to least times:
Louisinana-southern-belle- 3 times, but you're first because you gave me the title to the upcoming sequel.
Night Spirit1- 14 times. Rei, you need a hobby. sweatdrop And I must thank you for helping me in some of the tough spots.
Schala85- 6 times. I admit, your reviews entertained me to a great degree. And I must thank you for helping me in some of the tough spots.
Mariks1andonly- 6 times. It always gave me inspiration when I saw such enthusiasm in a review when I opened my mail.
Peachi goddess- 5 times. Same as Mariks1andonly, you made me smile and feel accomplished as a writer. Between you and me, Night Spirit1's reviews don't count in this category, she's my best friend almost sister.
Yamiace1321- 2 times. Your reviews made me look at my story in a different light. I actually stopped and tried to see the current chapter through another's eyes and decide if it had the right impact or not.
Mariku, Essence of light, tsuriai no hikari to yami- 1 time each. All I can say is that I hope you three continued to read this even though you may not have reviewed.
39 reviews from 9 reviewers… wow. I hope most of you will read the sequel, Becoming Equals. I will try to post it between now and Christmas. It's been actually almost done since maybe chapter 18 was not even half done, hehe. Thank you all and I hope you review a final time!