Oh, a long chapter for everybody! (dances happily) The plot is back on track, I'm updating, and it's all pretty good! Enjoy!

Note: Marik is the hikari and Malik is the yami, okay? Okay. And sanbusa is a Middle Eastern dessert, apparently.

On With The Fic Already:

Last time…

Somehow, Auru had known.

Auru had remembered what he had done, completely out of the blue, and had taken action to stop his friends from doing something that would seriously hurt their future.

My respect for Auru, who was not the sex-crazed simpleton he seemed, went up several notches.

Dead & Dying

Fourteenth

Yami's View

I pushed for speed, hurtling through the sky. Kaiba's mansion was on the edge of a city, so it wasn't long before the only thing spread out below me was forested hills. The hills gave way to mountains, and I started looking for a red roof.

My jacket snapped in the wind as I turned west. The landscape was rockier now, and less friendly. I sniffed a rising updraft—sulfur and water. There must be a hot springs nearby. I followed the scent a ways, figuring the only reason someone would choose to live up in the mountainous terrain would be a hot spring.

Sure enough, a red roof came into view around a sand-colored mountain peak. Steam rose from a set of pools in a rocky enclosure. I caught another warm updraft and rose about a hundred feet, then dropped like a stone.

Freefall's exhilaration flooded adrenaline through me. I snapped out my darkened wings and leveled out, shooting over the red-roofed house and circling back.

I felt Rino's invisibility charm around my neck, still active. Flying low to the ground, I inspected the house more closely. It was a small, one-story affair, made with stone that looked like it had come from the surrounding area. The red roof was made of rounded clay tiles. The glass windows were covered with rice-paper screens. It would have looked very quaint, except for the satellite antenna bristling on the rooftop. The dish was huge, and looked like it could pick up stations from the other side of the world.

The scent of human inhabitants hovered lightly over the house and nearby hot springs. Coasting over the sulfuric pools, I dropped down lightly on the northeastern side of the hot springs, using the monolithic stones to block my landing from view. Even though I was invisible, I still displaced air and made footprints. People freak out when skid marks suddenly appear in the ground.

I let my wings evaporate, my shadows chattering to me a bit. Still invisible, I walked around the hot springs. The scent of sulfur was masking everything else. Looking around carefully, I took in the front of the house before me, the steaming pools to my right, and the beginning of the mountain's forest on my left and behind me. The ground between me and the house was sandy, with small pebbles.

I untied Rino's necklace, feeling the invisibility leave me. Sneaking up on the house would be foolish, since I was here on a peaceful mission. I was barefoot, having left my boots at Kaiba's mansion. That was a little suspicious, so I conjured a basic pair of hiking shoes.

Pebbles crunched beneath my feet as I walked confidently up to the house. Voices came through the slightly open door.

A large slab of sandstone made up the porch. I stepped up to it, and the door opened for me.

The Eye of Horus stared back at me from the door.

The tiniest shiver of fear ran through me. Then I squared my shoulders. Panicking was dumb. No one was old enough to remember my reign in Egypt. No one.

Yugi's View

Leaving Kaiba's office, I walked down the stairs and across the calm sea of navy blue carpet. The elevator opened for me. I stepped inside, and the doors closed with a small puff of air.

What should I do?

I didn't know. I was waiting for Yami. Just waiting.

"Sir? Where would you like to go?" The small boy's voice again.

"Who are you?" I asked, curious.

"I am MOKI, the Mansion Operator/Keeper Intelligence. I am an artificially intelligent being designed by Kaiba-san. I interact with the people here. One of my jobs is to manage the elevator system."

"Could you take me to—to a balcony or something? Somewhere not a lot of people go?"

"Sure." The elevator smoothly rolled into motion. "The South Rooftop is one of my favorite places." I leaned against the glass wall and checked my watch—1:04.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal a dimly lit set of stairs. "Will you need anything else?" MOKI asked.

"…no. Not right now. But thanks," I replied.

"It's my pleasure." The elevator doors slid shut, and the glass box swooshed away. I mounted the stairs, which seemed dusty and unused. That was odd; everything else in Kaiba's mansion was impeccable.

A trapdoor opened slowly as I reached the top of the stairs. Climbing out of it, I was presented with an uninterrupted view of the deep blue sky, dotted with puffy clouds.

The South Rooftop, upon inspection, had probably been a wonderful place to be at one time. It was rectangular, with flower beds running from end to end and lining the perimeter. A fountain of white marble stood in the middle of it all. A couple benches ringed the fountain. The spaces between the flower beds were filled with grass.

But the flower beds contained only dead stalks, and the grass was all yellowed and wilted. The fountain was clogged with brown leaves and was broken, parts of the stone broken off and cracked. The benches were worn, but not from frequent use. Rain and wind had pounded their sturdy construction into submission. One lay in pieces on the ground.

I sat in the middle of it all, my back resting against the fountain, invisible from the ground and the trapdoor leading up here. I hugged myself, a chill breeze catching the cuffs of my sleeves and pant legs.

/ee!/

I'd completely forgotten about the shadow Yami gave me. Now curled up in my pocket, it had apparently fallen asleep. It shifted and gave a contented noise, returning to its dreams.

Another breeze flew through and I shivered again. The South Rooftop was colder than I thought it would be.

"Would you like me to get someone to bring you a blanket?"

I was startled. MOKI's voice seemed to come from right beside me—apparently there were speakers hidden all over the mansion. "No, thanks, MOKI. I'm all right. I'd really rather be alone right now."

"Okay…." The voice was followed by a pause and a short click. I hugged myself a little tighter.

It was creepy how human MOKI seemed to be.

Auru's View

"We'll be making three measures of barrier potion, six of magical grounding potion, and four of healing oil," said Kaiba, holstering his handgun and standing up. "Let's go."

I walked back out the door to Kaiba's office and jogged down the stairs. Kaiba followed more sedately, but with longer strides. We reached the elevator and waited for it to return.

"So where're we going?" I stuck my hands in my pockets.

"The alchemy lab," replied Kaiba, as if that was obvious. I was hoping for something a little more descriptive, but I shut my mouth. I had something that would make Kaiba's little iceberg melt like ice cream in an oven.

We stood in silence until the elevator dinged. Hydraulics managed the doors and we stepped inside. The doors hissed shut.

"Alchemist's Hall," said Kaiba. The elevator whisked us away, plunging down from the height of the North Tower and into a well-hidden tunnel.

"No parading your alchemical powers?" I asked.

"What do you think?" Kaiba's words filled with sarcasm. "I'm sure all your associates know your preferred beverage."

"Touché," I acknowledged amiably. Kaiba was a tough icicle to crack. I didn't like how Kaiba had almost killed us and then turned around and started using us. It bothered me. So I was going to bother Kaiba.

A little voice that strongly resembled Rino told me that I was taking unnecessary risks again. Come on…it's just a little fun.

The elevator changed directions abruptly, moving east. It was pitch dark inside the tunnel, except for the glow of Kaiba's digital watch.

The elevator dinged, but didn't open. "Please identify yourself."

"Kaiba Seto." Kaiba enunciated clearly. "And guest."

"What is blue?"

"My brother's eyes," answered Kaiba. The elevator doors slid open.

"What was that all about?"

"Depending on what answer I give, you will be annihilated on the spot, captured and removed for dealing with later, or admitted," Kaiba informed me.

"I got the message—I won't come back and try to break in," I joked. Kaiba remained glacial.

Kaiba clapped once, and the darkened room before us lit up. Torches flared to life. The walls were interrupted by columns, on which the torches were mounted. Every other bit of wall space was covered by countless shelves of carefully contained ingredients. Glass bottles, antique boxes, stoppered vials, and wax-sealed jars were arranged in neat rows.

"Whoa. Quite the collector, aren't you?"

"My collection is unrivaled in the modern world," said Kaiba curtly. "Wash your hands." He pointed to a sink on a counter island. The faucet hung down from the ceiling. I walked over to it and picked up the soap, an herbal mix. I washed thoroughly, taking the time to observe the hall. The sink was at one end of the rectangular room, which was encased in heavy sandstone blocks. The only door was that of the elevator. A large area in the middle was left clear, for drawing charm circles and runes. Several worktables with organized equipment were the only furniture, except for a couple stools in the corner.

"Pretty low-tech for the president of gaming company, isn't it?"

"The strength of my alchemical spells would disrupt any technology down here, with disastrous results," said Kaiba patronizingly, tossing his watch in a box labeled "Technology". I felt another shield on the box.

"I know that," I said. "Just kidding around."

"Well, don't," Kaiba replied, opening a drawer and unfolding a white, rune-covered smock. He slipped it over his head and tossed another to me. Starting a conversation with Kaiba seemed about as easy as moving an elephant.

"Ingredients for a barrier potion," Kaiba said, snapping his fingers. Sparks flared from his fingers and several jars and boxes flew onto the counter before him, one of them narrowly missing my nose.

"Chop about a cup of those," instructed Kaiba, handing me a knife and a box. He went to another worktable. "Cauldron," he said, and snapped his fingers again, sparking just the same way. The worktable shifted, boards moving and reattaching themselves, and revealed a cauldron, which hooked itself above a fiery pit in the floor.

"Smoke vent." Kaiba snapped his fingers at the ceiling, which didn't react. "I said smoke vent," Kaiba ground out, with another snap of his fingers. The ceiling grudgingly opened a vent and I contained a snort of laughter.

Kaiba put things in the cauldron one by one, keeping me busy chopping, stirring, unsealing, and carrying. The three measures of barrier potion, which we would use tomorrow to make the double-circle shields, were finished quickly. I put them in charmed glass flasks while Kaiba cleaned out the cauldron with a snap of his fingers and poured a jug of water into it for the next batch of potion, the six measures of magical grounding potion.

"Ingredients for a magical grounding potion," said Kaiba, snapping and sparking. Several glass jars and a wooden box flew towards me, skidding onto the table.

"Chop up the—."

"—root of mandrake and mix it with the cranen juice, yeah, yeah, I know."

Kaiba glared at me, but didn't say anything. He snapped his fingers and the fire flared. I was pretty good at alchemy and I knew it. Kaiba knew it too. That's one point for me, making the score even. I smirked to myself. How I loved to play this game. It didn't matter who I played with, but Kaiba was a tough—and therefore fun—opponent.

"So, Kaiba." I paused in my rapid chopping to look at said CEO. He glanced at me noncommittally. I continued. "Tell me about Katsuya-san."

Kaiba was so hard to read, but I knew I'd struck gold when his left hand twitched ever so slightly.

"Katsuya-san?" Kaiba responded, voice masking whatever he felt exceptionally well. "What about him?"

"Anything," I said casually.

"He is a security guard for my grounds," returned Kaiba, stirring the new mix with a long silver rod.

"How long has he worked for you?"

There was pause, as if Kaiba was calculating it, but it seemed a little fake. "About five years."

"That's a long time to be a security guard," I commented conversationally, swirling the bottle of cranen juice around.

"Katsuya-san has not asked to be promoted." Kaiba bounced the ball back to me.

"Kind of cold not to promote him," I said, keeping it casual. I combined the mandrake root and the cranen juice into one glass jar. It let out a puff of yellowish smoke, which I waved away. "Well, unless he's been slacking," I continued carefully.

Oh, what a difficult ball to catch that was. Kaiba's face still held its unreadable mask, but I could see a few cracks. "He has not been slacking," Kaiba said curtly.

"Well, I didn't think so," I returned, walking over to the cauldron. "I mean, he seemed pretty darn protective of you last night at dinner. Helpful, loyal..." I let that hang and poured the glass jar's contents into the steaming cauldron. The fire's light flickered irregularly on Kaiba's face.

Kaiba didn't respond. "Sigil water," he said, snapping his fingers in a businesslike manner. That's right, Kaiba, go back to where you're safe, to where you know how to act. I went along with it briefly, catching the sigil water and dumping it into the cauldron. The grounding potion hissed and spat, turning a translucent orange color.

Wordlessly, Kaiba snapped his fingers again, the cauldron pouring its contents into four jars by itself. A spray of normal water cleansed the inside of the cauldron, and it was ready for the last mix.

"Ingredients for healing oil." Kaiba snapped his fingers, sparks flew, and the various jars and boxes slid onto my table without many in-flight hazards, like hitting my head.

"Married? Single? Dating?" I opened a box of a rather pungent herb and took my knife to it.

"Single," said Kaiba. "And planning to stay that way for quite some time."

"Really." That wasn't really an answer, but it conveyed the not-quite-believability of Kaiba's statement.

I finished chopping and shook out the jar of herbs into Kaiba's cauldron. "C'mon. Isn't there a special someone?"

"I happen to function much better alone," retorted Kaiba coolly.

"Function, maybe, but enjoy yourself? I don't think so." I poured another two vials together, and dumped the mix into Kaiba's cauldron. He was adding other ingredients, including a rather volatile set of crystallized minerals. The cauldron spat and hissed.

"Enjoyment is certainly not my priority right now," Kaiba said, with a finality I didn't agree with. He snapped his fingers and the cauldron emptied its contents into another four jars.

"Hey, I didn't say it should be," I said, putting up my hands in mock surrender. "I was just wondering if you knew what this was," I finished, playing my trump card.

I drew out a black book from one of the larger cargo pockets in my pants. I held it between my fingers innocently.

Kaiba's eyes instantly narrowed. "Where did you get that?" He seethed.

"Oh, I picked it up when Katsuya-san dropped it." Of course Katsuya-san hadn't dropped it, but I was already skating on thin ice as it was.

Kaiba exercised his intimidation rights, being taller than I was and on his home ground. Standing over me, he held out his hand, demanding the book.

"Hey, hey, hey! No violence now; I just thought you might want to know what's in it."

"That's obviously his diary, you bastard." Kaiba's words lowered the temperature in the room by at least ten degrees.

"Well," I said, casualness returning to my posture and voice, "it does involve you quite a bit."

"I am his employer; of course he writes about me," said Kaiba frigidly. There was a touch of curiosity and uncertainty in his voice, though.

I ran a hand through my black curls lazily. I was now winning this game. "No…he doesn't write about you that way." I flipped through the pages. "In fact…it's pretty…mmm…graphic what Katsuya-san wrote."

I held the diary loosely in my hand. "Well, I've been enough of a bastard, haven't I? I'll go return this to him," I said, making towards the elevator doors. They opened.

"No!" Kaiba snatched the black book away from me. "I will return it. Get out."

"Okay, okay! Chill, man. I'm going." I slipped off my white smock and tossed it back to Kaiba.

"Take him back to his room," said Kaiba coldly, addressing the elevator. It dinged and I meekly stepped inside. The doors whooshed closed and the elevator swung into motion.

In the dark, I grinned. Really, there were no losers in this game. Ahhh…how I loved playing matchmaker.

Yami's View

I walked through the door of the red-roofed house. The entry hall was made of the same sandy stone as the outside, with hooks embedded in the wall. Several fluffy white towels, some damp, hung from them. Two coats hung on the opposite wall, and an antique map of the world framed in a reddish wood hung next to them. On the far wall, next to another open door, was a mirror.

"Hello?"

A young man, taller than me, stepped through the open door into the entrance hall. His light blond hair was spiked up at odd angles. His eyes were lavender purple. He was wearing khaki cargo pants, a lilac top, and a dark purple apron. Carrying a spatula and a bowl of something that smelled like chocolate and sugar, he had apparently just come from the kitchen. He was barefoot and had very tanned skin. He looked a lot like someone I'd known a long time ago, but whom I couldn't quite place.

"Hello," I answered. "The door opened for me—."

"What's going on, Marik?" Another voice came from deeper in the house, getting closer.

"We've got a guest!" Marik said happily. Apparently, my intrusion wasn't a big deal. "Come in, come in," continued Marik. "I'll go finish making the sanbusa; they take about half an hour to bake and then you can have some!" He dashed away, back to the kitchen, accidentally banging the door as he went.

"Thanks," I said, moving towards the door that Marik disappeared through.

Footsteps padded towards me. "Marik, I told you not to—." Suddenly my path was blocked by another person.

He was taller than me by at least half a foot, with tanned skin and spiky blond hair. A sleeveless, deep purple turtleneck and another pair of khaki cargo pants clothed him. He stopped mid-sentence upon seeing me, and his dark purple eyes narrowed to slits.

He's just mad because I'm in his house, right? He doesn't remember me. Of course not. That would be just—

"Pharaoh." It came out a low hiss, filled with barely-controlled anger. "How nice of you to drop by."

"Malik," I said, managing to hide my surprise.

"So. The fallen king is free once more," he spat. "Sucked all the easy, mentally-retarded victims dry? Thirsty again?"

"You need to eat to live," I said curtly. "I need to drink. Five thousand years is a long time to hold a grudge, Malik."

"I wouldn't call it a grudge." Malik took a step towards me. "I'd call it…revenge."

"Malik—."

"Trapped underground, unseen and unheard, for generations. Caring for your tomb, my ass. I was your prey!" Malik took another step forward. "Living in absolute isolation—until you got thirsty. Only your most trusted priests and advisors knew—only they knew where you went at night. Riding out across the sands of the desert cradling Cairo, hiding from Ra's face like a coward. The people hailed you as the Son of Ra! What fools!" Malik's fists clenched, he stepped forward once more. I stood my ground.

"You hid from the sun; you came at night; you came to play a twisted game of cat and mouse, where the cat always won! You caught me and sunk your filthy fangs into my neck, draining me into unconsciousness, ignoring the screams, selfish need the first thing on your mind!"

"Malik, I—."

"Shut up, Pharaoh. It's payback time." Malik lunged towards me, feral anger in his eyes and a sharpened dagger in his hand.

O.o Well. Doesn't that create problems...

(snaps pointers against computer screen) This is the purple button and everybody needs to click it? Right? Right. Okay. XD