The Ishtar family paced across their stone floor, while their frightened guests did the same. The night was waning like the moon outside, and the candles were starting to snuff themselves out. All through the night, Ryou Bakura remained unconscious on that cold stone slab. But his condition had changed greatly over the last couple of hours.
"I don't get it." Jonouchi added, looking back at Isis again. "Are you trying to tell us he's fighting one of the gods?"
"That is the only reason I can believe this red tint should cover his body."
She looked back at the lifeless boy. Early in the night, it was just his feet that were covered with red light. Now, the light had stretched to cover his fingertips as well as his waist.
"You mean, like in Duel Monsters?" Yugi asked, worriedly. "With life points?"
"That might be the case." Malik answered. "The ancients dueled with spirit beasts, much like we do today. But you already know that, Yugi."
"Of course. We all saw it inside the pharaoh's memory. They called it a Diaha."
"The ancient Egyptian word for duel." Rishid commented, carrying a new torch to replace the one that had since burned out. "And if such duels were conducted by the great pharaoh, incarnate of Horus, it is likely that the other gods fought in similar battles."
"Which means your friend Ryou is in grave danger." Isis added. "Should his entire body become red, it will mean that he has lost this challenge."
"But how'd he get into a challenge in the first place?" Honda asked. "I know Ryou. He's too shy to even speak up in class if there's a math problem on the board. He wouldn't confront a God."
"Given the fact that this is occurring, we know he has already spoken the name of a God. So he is visible in their realm." Isis added.
"Yeah, maybe the gods challenged him!"
"Okay, now that, I can believe." Honda nodded.
"Still, I don't like it, you guys." Anzu interrupted. "Regardless of how he ended up in this challenge, he's fighting for his life somewhere, and we can't do anything about it. What kind of friends are we?"
"The kind who will sit here, and greet him when he comes to." Yugi answered with a smile. "It's all we can do, right Isis?"
"For now, yes."
"Then we'll just have to do that." Yugi smiled, resolving to keep a vigil over the white-haired boy.
"What kind of challenge do you think he's fighting, Isis?" Anzu asked gently, looking at Ryou with a gaze of genuine concern.
"From what we know, it could be anything." Isis answered.
"But the scrolls do say that anything you take into the afterlife with you remains yours." Malik answered. "Just as the pharaoh would have his tomb filled with the provisions we need, Ryou could have taken what he would need into the judgment hall of Osiris."
Jonouchi cocked an eyebrow, and started feeling down Ryou's pockets.
"What are you doing!" Anzu shrieked.
"Yup. Just as I figured. He's got stuff in his pockets."
"Really, Jou. That's sort of mean to go through someone's pockets while they're out cold." Honda added. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, and just shook his head.
He thought silently about it for another couple of moments.
"So, what's in them?"
He reached into one pocket, and pulled out a small green stone, attached to a thin chain.
"It looks like a necklace." He answered curiously.
"Let me see that!" Isis immediately snatched the necklace from Jonouchi's hands. "Do you know what this is?"
The four friends shook their heads.
"It is a heart scarab." Isis smiled. "It is a necklace often found on the body of mummified pharaohs, to aid them in the judgment. It is said that he who wears one of these will not have their hearts devoured by Ammut. And that Osiris will look upon them favorably."
"So he's not going to die!" Anzu sighed with relief. "Isis, that's the best news I've heard all night… Thank goodness."
"But if he's protected, why is his body half red?" Jonouchi butted in once more.
"Please, calm down." Isis put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "When I spoke with him, he made no mention of the scarab, but he must have known something like this could happen. Clearly, he is prepared…"
"And his life is not in critical danger yet." Rishid added. "It is possible that the gods do not know of this charm's existence either. It is only upon facing Ammut that such an amulet gains its full power."
"Okay…" Jonouchi quieted down, and Yugi breathed a sigh of relief.
"What else is in there?" Honda whispered to Jonouchi, who quickly put his hand in Ryou's other pocket.
"Oh man." He answered, and a worried look came over his face. Generally, Jonouchi wasn't the brightest of the group, but even he couldn't side-step around this deduction.
"What is it?" everyone asked.
He pulled out a deck of Duel Monster cards.
"I know what he's doing in there."
They all looked at the cards.
"You mean, he's dueling his yami? Like I did mine?" Yugi asked with a sudden gasp. Ryou was not the type who often dueled. In fact, it was his yami that was always seen dueling, not him.
"He did mention a need to determine if he and the spirit of the millennium ring were ready to separate." Malik answered.
"No. Yugi, look." Jonouchi flipped through the deck. "These cards' have got to belong to the spirit. They're the same deck you faced in Battle City. I'd remember that crazy blue chick with the baby, and that creepy Ouija board anywhere."
"So if that's the only deck he has…" Yugi gasped.
Isis lowered her head. She knew exactly what he would say.
"Then he's not dueling his former yami. He's dueling… a god!"
"Osiris." Malik whispered, holding his hand over his heart. "The lord of the dead. There is no other alternative. Osiris is the only deity in the underworld capable of making or accepting such a challenge."
"A god! And if he looses?" Anzu gasped.
"He'd die." Isis answered, and they all turned back to the lifeless boy on the slab.
Ryou Bakura was fighting the most important duel of his life, and all they could do was watch the red light appear on his fragile body.