Meanwhile, the clan of tomb keepers kept a watch on Ryou's unconscious body, awaiting the arrival of Yugi Muoto. They had taken turns holding vigil during the strange ceremony. While Isis and Malik waited for Yugi outside their underground home, Rishid was standing guard over Ryou.

However, unbeknownst to the tomb keeper clan, everything was about to change.

"Malik, Isis!" Rishid's deep voice echoed against the rocks. "Come quickly!"

Isis and Malik exchanged a worried glance before racing down the stairs.

"Brother, what is it?" Malik shouted as he ran.

"What has happened?" Isis added.

"I am not sure!" He met them at the door to the smaller room.

Ryou was still unconscious, lying on the stone slab where the youngest Ishtar had received a bloody and painful initiation. A torch on the wall and a standing collection of ritual candles lit the otherwise dark room.

The boy was still breathing, albeit weakly. But something had changed. Instead of his normal color, a faint red light covered his entire body.

Rishid had studied it for several minutes before calling for Malik and Isis. But he couldn't find a single physical source for the light. He concluded, and perhaps rightfully so, that something had happened in the afterworld.

"What's going on?" Malik studied the strange sight, and then turned to his elder sister.

"It is what I most feared, brother." She lowered her head.

"What?"

"Ryou Bakura has spoken those words which I warned him were forbidden." She answered. "He has said the name of a god."

"You don't mean…"

"Yes. His life is in grave danger. And for breaching the great gateway, his soul will be severely punished." She lowered her head, drawing a deep silent breath.

That silence was soon broken, however, by several rounds of heavy footsteps on the stairs.

"That must be Yugi!" Malik shouted, taking his eyes off Ryou for a moment.

"And he did not arrive alone." Rishid added.

"No, it appears not." Isis nodded as well.

"Malik? Isis? Are you here?" Yugi called out from the stairs. The rustling of several other voices echoed behind him.

"We're down here!" Malik called out, rushing forward to greet Yugi. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Of course." Yugi answered, with his friends following quickly behind him. Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda had all insisted on returning with Yugi to Egypt as soon as he made the slightest mention of the trip.

"Isis, what's going on?" Anzu whispered.

"Yeah, what's this I heard about Ryou trying to dig up that evil ring of his?" Honda asked as well, remembering how many times he helped throw the golden pendant away.

"So where is he, already?" Jou shouted. "Yugi, I hope you're ready to kick some ass just like the pharaoh always did."

"That won't be necessary, Jonouchi." Malik put a worried hand on the other boy's shoulder. He gestured to the unconscious boy. The red light had neither changed nor faded.

"Oh." He answered, looking over at Ryou. "So he fainted again, how's that new?"

"Jou!" Anzu elbowed him.

"What's wrong with him?" Yugi interrupted them both. "Isis? What did he do? Is this part of the ritual Malik told me about?"

"Not entirely, Yugi." She sighed. "Something has gone wrong. Very wrong. I asked Malik to invite you here to assist Ryou when he woke up. But now…"

Her voice grew very quiet. The light started to fade a little, moving down to the bottom of his feet. The faint crimson hue looked as though it was supposed to be measuring something.

"I don't know if he will be waking up at all."