- - -

- - -

Chapter Seventeen: Conjunction Point…

Valon didn't like his room.

It wasn't that it wasn't a nice room; was incredibly lavish, more than he had ever hoped to have in his nineteen years. It was that it lacked warmth.

The truth was the entire place lacked warmth, to the point that any bared skin felt burned from the cold. The cold only abated when he was in the presence of the other swordsmen, and thus he constantly left his own quarters to take refuge in Rafael's or Amelda's.

Valon stood outside the curtain in doorway, waiting a moment before pulling the cloth aside to look within. He caught the smell of incense and saw various lit candles placed throughout the room. "Raf?"

The blond man sat on the floor, with his back to the doorway. "You can come in, Valon."

Not hesitating to accept the offer, Valon plopped himself on the mat beside his comrade, his own blue pillow tucked under one arm. "What'cha doin'?"

"Master Akunadin sent out some Others to deal with some sort of problem," Rafael replied without taking his eyes from the object before him on the mantle. "He wanted me to look into it."

"Hmm…" Valon fought to suppress a shiver.

The Others were bizarre, horrifying monsters that Akunadin made deep in the bowels of the citadel or whatever dark place he chose to work. Valon had only had the nightmarish experience of seeing only one type of Other once before, and he had no desire to see any more if he could help it.

To relieve himself of the grotesque images that fought to break the surface of his mind, the spiky-haired youth turned his blue eyes to the object on the mantle. It looked like a mirror, but the glass was pitch black and reflected nothing; he had seen it before, but had never bothered to ask about it.

"It's called Icarus' Mirror," Rafael said, making his guest jump. "I use it to amplify powers of sight and hearing."

"Like…mind-reading?" Valon asked.

"Yes."

"Oh. Well…don't do it to me!" He said. "It's creepy."

The barest hint of a smile tugged at the blond's mouth. "My apologies."

The chestnut-brown-haired youth turned his attention back to the mirror. "How come it's all black like that?"

"It's been passed down through my tribe for generations, but I was told it's never reflected anything since it was made three thousand years ago," Valon's host said. "I'm not sure as to why they call it a mirror… But…"

"But?" Valon prompted.

"I keep seeing small flashes of light every once in a while," Rafael replied. "Just small star-like glimmers…" He put his hand to the pitch black glass. "That's never happened before."

- - - -

"Finally!" Mokuba collapsed onto his rented bed with a content sigh. "I never want to go through that ever again."

Two more days of wandering through the woods had followed their victory over that monster, and they had at long last arrived in Dora. Naturally, the first thing they sought was to find a place to stay at the nearest inn.

Seto looked into the bedroom mirror and scratched at some dried mud clinging to his face. "Well, feel free to sleep once you've taken a bath," he told his brother. "You and I both need it."

"You can go first…" Mokuba mumbled as he rolled over so that his back was to the door, obviously with the intent to sleep.

"Don't make me dump you in a tub of ice, Mokuba," Seto said firmly. "Who knows what decided to crawl into your hair and die while we were in those woods."

"You're making fun of my hair again…" The boy glared sleepily before rising up. "Fine, I'm coming."

"Good."

Gathering fresh clothes, they both headed down the hall towards the bath together.

"Ne, Nii-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Did you really get some girl in the woods pregnant?"

Seto nearly fell over from the shock and pure absurdity of the inquiry, and doing his best to fight the rising heat to his face, he looked back at his brother. "What!"

"You acted funny when I asked you the last time, so I was just wondering—"

"Of course I didn't!" The elder of the two exclaimed incredulously. "Don't be ridiculous!"

One of the doors they passed opened and Malik poked his head out. "Why yelling?" He asked. "Trouble?"

"No, it's nothing," Seto replied shortly and continued down the hall.

His brother, however, turned around to face the desert youth that had traveled with them for the past couple of days. "Ne, Malik, you went with Seto when he went to get Alumiss," he said. "Did he get involved with any girl out there?"

"Girl?" Malik quirked a sandy-colored eyebrow. "I no see girl. But Kaiba and I…separate. Why?"

"I want to know if he got someone pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Malik clearly didn't understand the word. "What pregnant?"

"Mokuba!" Seto barked across the hall, causing his little brother to dash after him.

"Bye, Malik!"

The desert-youth waved after the energetic boy before turning back into his room and closing the door as he returned to his sister and Rishid.

"What was that about?" Isis asked.

Malik shrugged. "What does 'pregnant' mean?"

The former priestess' eyes widened. "Why?"

"It was something Mokuba was asking me about," he shrugged again. "I didn't understand the word."

Rishid sighed. "It is troublesome, I don't know this language at all."

"You just have to practice," Malik smiled. "You'll get it. I'm sure I sound a total idiot compared to Isis' grasp of it all."

Isis placed her hand on her blood brother's shoulder. "Malik, there was a reason you wanted to speak to us."

Falling back into the serious demeanor he had worn before he had caught Seto's yelling, Malik told of his strange experiences of light and sound.

- - - -

Dora was a rather strange settlement compared to other places Shizuka and the others had come to. It was large and crowded, filled with an assortment of sights, sounds and smells. Also, unlike most towns, there was a myriad of people dwelling there, people from the desert, from every region and even from across the sea.

It would have been quite the sight to behold, had the group not been extremely exhausted.

"I don't think I ever want to go through that ever again…" Ryou panted, clearly tired from the two days' ride.

"I agree," Atem sighed from his place on the stone bench. "Jounouchi, your directional skills…" He faded out as he searched his vocabulary for a word.

"I believe 'suck' in the word you're groping for, Yuugi-boy," Pegasus groaned from his place next to the Pharaoh, leaning his head back to take in the sunlight gratefully.

"Hey!" Katsuya stomped his foot.

"Onii-chan, we should have been here day before yesterday," Shizuka said as she stood holding the reins of her horse, despite her exhaustion.

"Heaven knows that you probably have worse navigational skills after running into that tree," the silver-haired sorcerer murmured.

"I keep telling you guys, I did not run into a tree!" Katsuya exclaimed. "Some guy flew down from a tree and kicked me in the face!"

"Yes, yes, of course…"

Katsuya was clearly ready to wring the man's neck, when his sister jumped between him. "Can we not fight? Let's just get to an inn and get some rest."

All of them agreed at that, when yet another problem arose.

Ryou held his and Pegasus' money pouch, shaking it slightly to measure the amount of money inside. "I'm sorry to say that we don't have much…" he concluded with a sigh. "We might have to combine our money to get by."

Katsuya withdrew his own money bag and his expression was that of horror. "We have next to nothing…"

Pegasus groaned. "Our luck seems to be running thin today!"

Atem sighed. "We can't even rent just one room and all sleep in it?"

Shizuka took her brother's purse and then looked at Ryou's, sighing. "We might be able to for one night, but there's still the problem of supplies we need to restock on."

Atem sighed again. "Then what do we do?"

"I guess we'll have to find work," the fiery-haired girl replied. "Or find some way to raise money."

At this, Pegasus sat up straight with a smile. "This should be fun. I haven't done dealing for some time; maybe we could trade some of our things in for money."

"What things?" Katsuya asked skeptically. "We only brought what we were sure we'd need when we left. Unless you…"

"I have next to nothing valuable on my person," the man replied with bright smile.

"Then don't act like you do!" The blond exclaimed, but the wind was instantly out of his sails before he could yell more and sat on the ground. "I'm so hungry…"

Shizuka sighed and looked down the street they had yet to walk down that entered the town. "Come on. We had better see what can be done."

"Hai, hai…" With a large amount of reluctance, they all rose up.

- - - -

Isis contemplated what her brother had told her about the bizarre trances, but had no knowledge of such occurrences. "This is most strange…"

"You don't have any idea what it could mean?" Malik asked. "I feel that it means something important, but it's like a vague dream and I can't grasp it."

The woman sighed as she shook her head. "I am sorry, Malik, but I know nothing of such things."

The youth sighed and scooted back on his bed to look out the window. So many strange things, and yet he had no answers for any of them. 'It's so frustrating!'

Looking down to the street below, Malik watched the people pass without care…

Until he caught sight of a head of fiery-red hair. Looking closer, he found it was none other than the girl he had first heard the bells with.

"That's her!"

"Who?" Isis stood.

"She's down there!" Malik dashed for the door and was almost instantly down the hall. He looked back to make sure his brother and sister were following him, and collided with someone as they turned the corner.

Recovering, Malik found himself face to face with Seto. "Malik?"

"She's here!" He said. "You, she, I all here!" He moved around the two brothers before continuing down the hall at a faster pace, perhaps to make up for the time he had spent to speak with the elder brother.

Seto and Mokuba watched curiously as Rishid and Isis also dashed past them and down the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Mokuba blinked.

"I don't know," Seto replied as they continued toward their room.

"Who's 'she'?" The boy asked as he set his dirty clothes down.

"I don't know," his older brother said.

The young prince took his hairbrush from his bag and proceeded to use it. "Is it the girl you got pregnant?"

"Mokuba!"

The younger of the two decided it would probably be best if he let up a little on his joke and concentrated on brushing his hair out the rest of the way. "Ne, Nii-sama?"

"If this is about the—"

"It's not," he replied quickly, wincing when the teeth of his brush found a snag. "Do you want to look around town for a bit later?"

"I thought you were going to sleep for a while," Seto said. "You nearly passed out in the bathtub."

"That's why I said later," the boy replied as he proceeded to braid his long black hair. "You said you had to take care of something later, so why not take me with you and we'll take a look around afterwards."

"I have to find a blacksmith, Alumiss needs one of his shoes looked at," the older said and thought a moment before shrugging. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything."

Mokuba grinned. "Great!" He then rolled over and promptly fell asleep.

Seto smirked and shook his head, sure that his brother could probably sleep through an explosion now that he was out. Feeling some exhaustion weigh on his own body, he settled into a chair by the door and rested his eyes.

- - - -

Shizuka sighed when they again stopped to rest. So far, after about two hours of walking, they had found absolutely nothing to do to get any money. Katsuya had told her, Pegasus and Ryou to rest while he and Atem looked around a bit more.

"You would think there was some sort of work in a town like this," Pegasus sighed from his seat next to the girl.

"You'd think," she said, looking at the already sleeping Ryou on her left. "But I guess everybody here is doing pretty well, huh?"

The silver-haired sorcerer yawned and rubbed his eye. "I'm just going to fall asleep here…" He leaned back against the wall of the building.

Shizuka looked at him, about to stir him before he did fall asleep, but stopped when she saw his silver hair shift to reveal white bandages covering his left eye.

"Are you alright?"

"Hm?"

"Your eye…"

Pegasus quickly sat right so that his hair fell back into place. "Sorry. Didn't mean for anyone to see that…"

She watched him solemnly. "Did that happen when…when your wife was attacked?"

The man nodded wordlessly.

"Couldn't you have it healed it?"

Pegasus, for the first time since Shizuka had met him, turned his already concealed face away. "I could," he sighed. "But I prefer not to." He brushed his fingers across the bandages. "I want to keep this, as a sign of my failure…"

The girl put her hand on the man's shoulder, making him look back at her. "Would your Cyndia-sama want that?"

Pausing to consider that, the sorcerer almost chuckled as he imagined how his beloved wife would playfully hit him with a document of some sort to get him out of his slump. "No. No, she definitely would not."

"Then why do it?"

Pegasus stared back into the young woman's brown eyes before smiling and covering her hand with his own. Shizuka smiled back warmly.

"Oi."

The two turned to the returned Katsuya and Atem.

"You keep using the fact that you're married as an excuse, but here I am, finding you fondling my sister when I'm not around," the blond Slayer glared.

Shizuka returned her brother's glare. "He isn't fondling me!"

"Uh huh, right, sure," Katsuya rolled his tired eyes. "The next time I catch you in the act, I'll break your fingers off," he pointed to the sorcerer.

Pegasus rewarded him with a bright smile as he raised his fist to his brow in salute. "Yes, sir. Lose my fingers, sir."

The blond sighed. "Anyway, we found something we might be able to do for money."

"A job?"

"Not exactly."

Atem pulled a neatly folded flier out of his pocket and handed it to the red-haired Slayer. Unfolding it, Shizuka and Pegasus read:

Test your strength in the arena!

Prove you're the best, win big!

2,000 gold to the First Place Winner!

The young Slayer and the Sorcerer looked back up. "A tournament?"

"Somethin' of the sort," Katsuya shrugged with a small smile as he pointed back to the estranged Pharaoh. "Atem found it."

Shizuka's eyes widened as she met the youth's ruby red gaze. "Honto?"

Atem nodded. "I found it and we went down to the…fair grounds where the tournament is being held. It turns out they don't use actual weapons, just wooden ones. I felt that would be fine."

The girl smiled. "Then you wouldn't mind if I took part in it?"

Atem smiled gently. "I have to learn to live with it…"

Pegasus took the flier. "Well, Shizuka, you and Jounouchi will have to be the ones to go in, because I won't be taking part. I don't exactly like beating people around; I'm a magic-user after all." He looked to his sleeping apprentice and nudged him. "Ryou. Ryou, wake up."

The white-haired youth started awake and rubbed his eyes sleepily as he stretched. "Yes, Master?"

"Do you want to enter a fighting tournament to raise money for us?"

Ryou blinked. "Not really, no…"

Pegasus looked back at Atem. "Yuugi-boy?"

The Pharaoh shook his spiky, tri-colored head. "I will pass."

"That's it then," the sorcerer smiled. "You two will enter, we three will watch from the sidelines."

The three stood up and Shizuka winced as the wood caught some strands of her hair and pulled it out, but took the reins of her horse and followed after her brother and Atem.

Seeing the still tired gait of the Pharaoh, she put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the contact, but upon seeing Shizuka's gentle smile directed at him he returned a small smile of his own.

- - - -

Malik stopped to catch his breath, his siblings following suit breathlessly.

He looked about the crowded street frantically, but found no sign of the redhead he had burst from the inn to pursue. "Oh, Hells…!" He panted. "How could I have lost her!"

Isis sat down on a nearby bench, her breath totally spent.

Rishid took several deep breaths of his own before speaking. "Are you sure it was the same girl as before?"

"Yes! I'm positive!" Malik said. "Hair as red as that couldn't possibly be duplicated!"

"Red hair…"

At Isis' breathless voice, the two turned to the former priestess to see her holding out her hand. Moving closer, Malik's lavender eyes widened at the sight of three strands of red hair held between his sister's thumb and index finger.

"I might be able to locate her with this…" Isis said. "But I cannot be sure that it will work; it might not even belong to the girl we are looking for."

"Please try, sister," the youth pleaded.

Taking a calming breath, Isis closed her eyes and held up the three strands of fire.

"Hear me, ancient ones who lie beyond the veil…touch this fragment and lead us to the one it was born from…"

Slowly, the strands of hair wrapped around the woman's hand and urged her up to her feet; once standing, the hair pulled her hand toward her left.

Continuing down to the end of the street, they took a right and continued down that way until they found themselves at the edge of town. There, the three were faced with a vast field of colorful tents and flags, countless sounds and smells filling the air.

"What is this?" Rishid inquired.

"It appears to be a festival of some sort," Isis replied simply. She returned her attention to the three strands of hair that tugged incessantly in her hold and they continued walking down the road, entering the colorful fair.

Malik was amazed and near overwhelmed at the amount of life and light mixing and moving all around him.

It reminded him strongly of that day long ago…

- - -

He looked up at the men and women that towered over his thirteen year-old form, passing him bay as if he were one of them and was nothing for him to be standing out in the sunlight.

"This is so amazing! There's so many people!"

"Be careful, Malik," his sister urged. "You mustn't touch anything."

- - -

Malik was now equal height with many of the people he passed, and could now carry himself without worry of touching objects of a world he had been denied for more than half his life.

"Malik."

At his sister's voice, he turned to meet her dove-blue gaze. "Yes?"

"We should continue on," she urged. "I feel we are close."

"Right," the sandy-blond youth nodded and followed his older sister while Rishid walked at his back protectively as they moved onward.

Making their way to the center of the festival, they found themselves before what appeared to be a coliseum below ground level.

"Very strange," Isis murmured as the hairs drew her in to the sign up and ticket table.

The large man at the table grinned. "G'day to ye! What can I do for ye?"

Even Isis stopped, barely able to understand the man's thick, slurred words and thought a moment before speaking. "Greetings…I am looking for someone." She held up the three red hairs in her hand. "A girl…red hair…"

The man tugged at his beard as he thought a moment before snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah! Purdy lil thing, came in here jus' a lil while ago. Signed up fer the fights."

"Battle?" Malik inquired.

"Nuttin' serious," the man assured. "Jus' a friendly tournament, tha's all."

Friendly or not, Isis could hardly believe the young woman they sought would participate in combat.

Malik stood in pensive silence before taking a decisive breath. "For battles…I write…can I?"

Isis turned to her brother with a start.

"An'one over fifteen can sign up," the man replied and pointed to the sheet of paper on his left.

The youth moved to sign, when he felt his sister's hand on his arm and he turned to meet her worried gaze.

"Malik… Are you certain you want to do this?" She asked in their mother tongue.

"If this is the only chance we have to catch her, I have to take it," he replied. His sister opened her mouth to object, but he quickly smiled and covered her hand with his own. "Don't worry. I won't hurt her."

The former priestess sighed. "Very well…" she replied, and her blue eyes grew stern. "But I only ask that Rishid accompany you."

Rishid bowed. "As you wish it."

- - -

Atem lifted his paper cup, quirking an eyebrow at the clear objects that floated in the water. "What are those?"

"What?" Pegasus asked over the rim of his cup of juice.

"Those clear objects," he replied, holding out his cup in emphasis.

"That's called ice, Yuugi-boy."

"Eyesss…"

The silver-haired magic-user chuckled. "Ice. It's frozen water."

"Frozen?"

"That means the water became so cold it solidified," Ryou explained.

"Is that possible?" The estranged Pharaoh asked with wide eyes, making the two pale-haired sorcerers laugh.

The shrill call of a whistle made their eyes return to the arena floor where they saw the man from the sign up table standing at attention.

"Welcome to this year's festival tournament!" The crowds cheered like thunder at his announcement. "Now, this year, we got more fun, more food, more women in our festival, as well as some new faces in the fights! Le's give a warm welcome to our new competitors!"

Another cheer shook the stadium as the tournament participants lined up along the arena floor.

"There are Shizuka and Jounouchi!" Ryou pointed to the redhead and blond siblings standing to the far left of the arena and waved.

"It would seem they have quite the competition, though," sighed the youth's mentor as he looked down the line of fighters.

A cup of ice water hit the floor, startling the two magic-users and their attention shot to the tri-colored youth who rose from his seat to see better.

"Lord Pharaoh?"

"What is it, Yuugi-boy?"

Atem stood frozen, unable to hear his companions' questions as he stared at the pair of dester-skinned competitors standing at the right end of the long line. The first was taller and muscular compared to his smaller, sandy-haired charge who looked down to the left at another fighter.

"Rishid! Malik!"

Before Pegasus and Ryou could process his words, the Pharaoh charged down the row of seats to get to the stairs.

"Yuugi-boy!" Pegasus jumped up, but it was apparent his words would not stop him as he continued to push through the people. So he turned to his apprentice. "Ryou, go after him."

"Yes, sir!" The white-haired youth jumped up onto the railing behind the row of seats and walked along it to follow Atem.

Sighing, Pegasus took another drink of his juice and moved to sit back down, when another sound caught his attention.

"Please, just leave me alone!"

Looking to his left, toward another stairway, Pegasus saw a dark-skinned, dark-haired woman trying to pull her arm free of a man's grasp.

'The work of a gentleman is never done…'

- - -

Isis pulled back, while the man who had been following and bothering her since she left Malik and Rishid tightened his hold on her arm.

"C'mon! If yer lookin' for work, I can help ya."

"I am doing no such thing!" Isis pulled. "Release me!"

"Excuse me…"

Both the former priestess and her assailant turned, and the first thing the woman saw was shimmering silver. Her mind finally registered that the silver was in fact another man's hair blowing in the breeze, and she was curious how hair would be such a unique color.

"There does seem to be a problem here, yes?" The new man asked.

"It's no business o' yers!" Isis' captor spat, yanking her arm back.

The silver-haired man stared back at him, clearly disapproving of his attitude as well as his treatment of the woman. His rosewood gaze gradually chipping away the other man's high state of mind, making his sweat nervously, before he suddenly released Isis' arm and ran off.

Gently rubbing her sore wrist, Isis watched after the man until he disappeared into the crowds and released a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright, Miss?"

Turning back to the silver-haired man she nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"No need to thank me," he smiled warmly. "Are you here to watch the tournament as well?"

Isis hesitated in answering, but chose to nonetheless. "My brothers are participating, I am here to watch."

"Two of my friends are taking part as well," the man said. "And my apprentice and another companion were with me, but they wanted to get a closer look, and now I'm all alone. Would you care to sit with me?"

Again, Isis was hesitant; this stranger was being uncharacteristically friendly.

But as if sensing her confusion and reluctance, the man laughed. "I'm sorry! I'm probably being too forward, and I haven't even introduced myself." He bowed. "My name is Pegasus J. Crawford; and you?"

"…Isis of the clan of Ishtar."

"Isis? That is an Eastern Goddess, isn't it?"

The former priestess' eyes widened. "Why…yes, it is!"

The man called Pegasus smiled. "I do my homework," he said. "Please, why don't you sit with me. You don't have to worry…" he held up his left hand, displaying a gold ring on his finger, "…I am a married man. I would never dream of picking on you."

Isis thought about it. He didn't seem to give off any scents of malice or lust or anything she had been sensing from the other man. Just…an oddly sunny aura. "Very well. I will accept your offer, Sir Pegasus."

"Just Pegasus is fine," the silver-haired man chuckled. "Come; I'll get get you a cup of ice water."

Isis blinked. "Eyesss?"

- - -

In the arena, the fights kicked off and the crowds cheered and hissed at the victories and defeats, some won money, some lost money, but all were rather astounded at the skill of the pair of Black Dragon Kingdom slayers that entered the arena to fight, and always came out on top. And if that wasn't enough of an impression, a certain pair of desert natives—one a swordsman, the other a martial artist—had also become crowd favorites.

The day wore on, fighters came and fell, and Katsuya found his strength coming back with each victory.

"Whoo!" He collapsed beside his sister on the bench in the dugout, sweating and grinning like a fool. "What a tournament! Eh, Shizuka?"

The redhead smiled at her brother's enthusiasm. "We just might make it to the finals, huh?"

The bell rang and they looked up as a fighter from their side of the stadium stepped forward to meet one coming from the opposite end. Now that there weren't as many competitors this late in the game, they were able actually see the match.

At first, all that connected with Shizuka's brain was a certain head of sandy-blond hair, but it hung with such familiarity that she continued to watch him. Finally, she recalled the youth from the inn back at Cleef, and felt a skip in her heart.

'First Pegasus…and now him…'

However, she was not the only one who recognized the youth.

Katsuya scratched his head as his brain itched with a memory he couldn't quite grasp. 'Where've I seen him before?' He wondered. 'Where was it…?'

The youth parried his opponent's wooden sword and jumped into the air, kicking him in the head with the back of his shin.

"Hey!" The blond slayer exclaimed, making everyone on his side jump with surprise. "That's the guy! He's the guy that kicked me in the head!"

Shizuka blinked. "Eh?"

"When I was chasing after that peeping tom!" Katsuya pointed to the victorious desert youth. "He's the guy who swung down from a tree and kicked me in the head!"

His fiery-haired sister looked back out to the arena as the youth walked back toward his side of the stadium; he suddenly stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

Amethyst met earth brown again, but there was no bell in their lock.

- - -

Malik sighed when he heard no tones and turned to continue on his way back to the dugout.

"Master Malik…"

The youth looked back to his brother and sighed as he turned to look back across the arena to the girl. "I'm sure it's her," he said. "But I can't hear anything this time either…"

Rishid looked out. "Perhaps it is a sign of some sort," he suggested. "It rings out when someone important is found…?"

Malik shrugged and sat down. "All we can do is wait…"

- - -

"Come on, Nii-sama!" Mokuba urged as he looked back down the entrance to the stadium at his slow moving brother. "Half of the fights are over already!"

They came out into the sunlight and leaned against the railing as they looked down into the arena.

"So why did you want to come here?" Seto asked dully.

"It just sounded interesting, that's all," the black-haired boy replied.

"It's probably all just a bunch of farmers and such hitting each other with sticks."

"And yet you're still here," Mokuba replied.

Seto scoffed and looked back down at the fight still going on. When one of the two came out victorious, he left and the other stumbled away, and the next two competitors approached the center of the arena.

And Seto immediately recognized the freed, red hair of the young woman walking out from the dugout beneath him. With a sharp intake of air, he spun around so that his back was to the arena.

"Nii-sama?" Mokuba blinked. "Daijoubou?"

"Y-Yeah," the older of the two replied. "Fine."

Mokuba raised an eyebrow at his brother's behavior, but chose to let it go and watched the fight.

- - -

Elsewhere, Ryou stopped to catch his breath before continuing down the hall toward the estranged Pharaoh as he argued with the door guard.

"I demand that you let me through!" Atem barked.

"No one's allowed in until the end of the tournament, pal," the man said. "Now go back to your seat and wait there."

"For the last time…" The spiky-haired youth ground, "Step aside!"

"Lord Pharaoh!" Ryou grasped his shoulders and looked back at the guard. "I apologize for his behavior." And without another word, the magician pushed Atem back down the hall toward the stairs.

"I have to get in there!" Atem tore out of the boy's grasp.

"Why?" Ryou asked.

"I do not have to explain myself! Just get the door open!"

To his surprise, the white-haired youth folded his arms across his chest. "Lord Pharaoh, if it is so important, you could have told Master Pegasus and myself about it before tearing off and causing problems."

Atem clenched his teeth, glaring harshly at the boy's impudence. But Ryou met his ruby glare with his own stern brown gaze, obviously ready to stand there all day if need be.

Finally, Atem took a steady breath and folded his arms across his chest. "There are two people competing in this tournament that I know very well from my kingdom," he said. "I have to talk to them."

Ryou sighed and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, there's no way we'll be able to get through now," he said. "We'll just have to wait until the end of the tournament and meet with them then."

Atem ground his teeth. He didn't want to wait; he wanted in now.

Ryou sighed, catching the look on the Pharaoh's face. "I understand that it's hard, but we can't stir up trouble now. We have to lay low."

Knowing his companion was right, Atem nodded. "Very well."

Ryou thanked his stars he hadn't been forced to take drastic measures to calm the Pharaoh. "Let's watch from somewhere closer to the ground," he suggested. "If we can call to your friends, perhaps they can come find us."

Atem blinked and nodded. "Alright."

- - -

Shizuka blocked her opponent's blow and threw him back, knocking him off his feet. He fell onto his back, and as he attempted to get up the wooden blade of the girl's sword met his throat.

She smiled down at him, a little winded but happy. "Checkmate."

"Whoo-hoo! Shizuka! You rule!" Katsuya called to his sister and looked to the other competitors. "That's my sister! That's my sister! Hoo-ha!"

The stadium roared with cheers and boos, but she just waved at them all with a smile before turning to head back to the dugout. As she walked, something called her eyes to the railing a row above her and she a young boy with long black hair waving to her.

Smiling, she waved back, but stopped when she noticed the second person standing with his back to the arena. She shrugged it off as she entered the dugout and took her seat next to her brother.

- - -

"Wow!" Mokuba stared in awe after the girl. "That was amazing!"

"I'm sure it was…" Seto murmured.

His little brother looked back at him curiously. "Nii-sama, are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Everything's fine," the older prince replied.

Mokuba looked from his brother to the arena and back again. "She won; she's sitting down now."

Seto looked over his shoulder.

"Do you know that girl?"

Seto jerked. "What? What makes you say that?"

"You wouldn't watch the fight, and when I told you she was gone you turned around," Mokuba replied. He then smiled cheekily, displaying all of his perfect white teeth. "I bet she's the girl you got pregnant in the woods!"

Heat shot up to Seto's face, turning his cheeks a rosy color. "I told you! I didn't get any girl pregnant!"

"Then how come you're blushing?" Mokuba asked, honestly surprised at his brother's reaction.

Seto quickly covered his face and looked away. "I am not!"

His younger brother sighed with frustration, but let it go to watch the next fight. "Hey! There's Rishid!"

Just then, two young men came dashing down the hall and one grabbed onto the railing, his spiky, tri-colored hair moving in the breeze as he took a deep breath.

"RISHID!" But his call was drowned out by the cheer of the stadium, and he panted as he leaned against the railing, and his white-haired companion put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Mokuba looked from the two new comers to his brother, and from the narrowed, sideways glance, he understood he was not to say anything to the strangers until Seto gave the okay.

- - -

Isis crunched the 'frozen water' in her teeth thoughtfully and looked back into her paper cup full of ice. "Very curious."

Pegasus laughed. "A friend of mine acts the same way," he said and looked out to the stadium floor. "Oh, another fight is starting!"

Isis raised her eyes and sat up straight. "Rishid."

"One of your brothers?"

She nodded.

"What are you going to use the money for if you win?"

Isis blinked. "Money?"

"Isn't that why you're participating?" Pegasus asked. "To earn money?"

"Oh… No, not really," the woman replied with a shake of her head. "There's someone else here my younger brother feels the need to speak with; a young girl with red hair."

Pegasus blinked. "Red hair?"

Isis nodded and pointed toward the dug out on her left. "The girl over there…"

"Hmm… Really?" Pegasus took a thoughtful sip of his juice.

- - -

Rishid dropped and kicked his opponent's feet out from under him, resulting in his fall and the desert man's victory.

The referee blew his whistle as Rishid bowed to his fallen opponent and left the arena.

"A'right, kiddies! It's the Finals!" The stadium erupted with cheers and he held up his hands for silence. "And our finalists are…" He held his right hand out toward the blond and his redhead sister, "Jounouchi Katsuya and Kawai Shizuka!" Cheers and applause sounded as he raises his left hand to the two desert natives. "And Rishid and Malik Ishtar!"

The four smiled and waved to the screaming stadium of onlookers.

- - -

"Kawai Shizuka…"

Ryou looked up at the utterance of his friend's name, at the taller of the two youths he and Atem had joined at the railing. But the brown-haired stranger kept his shaded blue gaze on the fiery-haired girl down below.

"There!" Atem jerked Ryou's hand and pointed to the opposite end of the stadium at the two dark-skinned contenders. "That's Malik and Rishid!"

The white-haired youth blinked upon catching sight of the sandy blond of the two. "I know him…Malik."

"What?" The Pharaoh turned with a start.

"I-I met him once," Ryou replied. "Just before we left Cleef; he was at the inn."

Seto and Mokuba looked from the two strangers, then at each other and then back to the arena.

- - -

"Now, if our four competitors would come to the center of the arena, we'll work out the last couple of fights."

Shizuka, Katsuya, Malik and Rishid all made their way to the referee who held a straw hat with some folded pieces of paper inside.

"Now, y'all 'r' gonna take a paper," the man said. "This'll determine the next two fights, 'n' the winners'll face off in the last math. Get it?"

Shizuka and Katsuya nodded.

Malik blinked. "Yes?"

"Right! Now, take yer pick."

The four reached into the hat, each taking a paper. Unfolding their papers, they held them out for the referee to see the numbers written inside: Katsuya held a 1, while Shizuka had a 2; Malik held a 2 and Rishid held a 1.

"Match one of the finals will be between Jounouchi Katsuya and Rishid Ishtar!" The stadium roared with excitement. "In the following match, we'll see Malik Istar face off against Kawai Shizuka!"

The redhead looked back at the desert youth; Malik smiled and she couldn't help but smile back.

Katsuya leaned over to his sister. "Ne, Shizuka! If I beat the big guy, throw the match with the small fry so I can kick him a couple times in the head!"

Shizuka glared. "Onii-chan!"

The referee waved his hands out. "Can ya'll please take your places? Fight's 'bout t' start."

Shizuka and Malik nodded, and the young slayer left while the desert youth spoke to his adopted brother a little longer before returning to his own side.

"Ganbare, Onii-chan!" Shizuka called from the dugout, and Katsuya waved back to her.

The blond turned back to face his opponent as he popped his neck a couple times and smiled. Rishid, however, remained stone-faced.

"Don't go easy on me just 'cause I'm small, okay?"

- - -

Pegasus sat forward as the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the fight, with Rishid taking first strike at Katsuya.

Isis was amazed when the blond evaded the blow and looked to make one of his own with his wood sword, but Rishid was quick to pull back and Katsuya's weapon just barely grazed her adopted brother's dark cheek.

- - -

Ryou winced when Rishid landed a punch at the side of Katsuya's head, sending the Slayer backwards toward the ground.

But Atem knew the blond wouldn't go down so easily, and wasn't incredibly surprised when Katsuya caught himself and rolled into a summersault to help get back on his feet.

Mokuba stared in interest and awe as the Slayer righted himself and brought his sword down on Rishid's right shoulder, making the man grimace and knocked the wooden blade away with his left hand.

Having been chased by him once, Seto had a feeling now that the blond had landed a blow he would go for another blow, and was proven right when the stranger brought his leg up toward Rishid's head. He hadn't expect the desert-dweller to be fast enough to dodge the blow, and was thus surprised when he instead caught Katsuya's leg before he could land a hit.

- - -

Shizuka knew her brother had a built in instinct that wouldn't allow him to stay in a lock for any long period of time, no matter what it took. But she was nonetheless surprised when Katsuya kicked Rishid with his other leg.

Malik knew the blow the blond had landed on the side of his head would bring Rishid down. And as his adopted brother fell backwards, Katsuya was left with both feet off the ground.

- - -

Inevitably, gravity took its course and both Katsuya and Rishid hit the ground hard.

The referee stood up, and when the count of ten had been called, it was an official stalemate.

Shizuka and Malik wasted no time in rushing from their seats to their sibling's side.

"Onii-chan!" The girl lifted her brother's head onto her lap. "Onii-chan, daijoubou?"

Malik knelt over his own brother, putting his hand to the man's sweating brow. "Rishid?"

Katsuya and Rishid both winced at the movement and contact before opening their eyes and sat up rubbing their injured heads.

"Are you alright, Rishid?" Malik asked as he grasped his shoulder.

The man nodded. "Yes…I believe so."

"Itai!" Katsuya cried out as he held the back of his blond head and looked to his sister. "Am I bleeding?"

Shizuka checked and shook her head with a smile. "You just bonked your head a bit."

He laughed sheepishly. "Didn't think to catch myself, I guess…" He looked back at Rishid and Malik. "Oi, that was a good fight."

Rishid blinked and Malik mended by translating the blond's words, to which the man bowed.

Katsuya laughed and held out his hand, to which both desert-dwellers blinked. "You shake it," he said. "It's sort of a good will thing here."

Malik nodded and interpreted for his brother, who nodded as well and grasped Katsuya's extended hand and shook it lightly, making the stadium explode with cheers.

"Well, that one has to be the weirdest match ever in the history o' this stadium, folks!" The referee called. "Let's have hand for these two great fighters!"

Katsuya and Rishid got back to their feet, waving to the crowds as their younger siblings helped them back to the separate dugouts.

"And now, as that last fight was a stalemate, seems t' me that this next match is gonna be the last and final of the day!" The onlookers cheered, whistled and clapped in excitement.

- - -

"Are you going to be okay, Katsuya?" Shizuka asked as she rested the damp cloth on the back of her brother's head.

"Yeah…" The blond winced and took hold of the cloth. "I'll be fine. You better get out there; you're up next."

Shizuka nodded and hugged her older brother. "Wish me luck."

"It's on her heels!" He called after her. "Knock 'em dead! And kick him in the head for me!"

- - -

Malik looked over Rishid's bruises and sighed in relief at the lack of fatality to them. "You should be fine. Isis will patch you up just fine."

"I apologize for my failure, Master Malik…"

"Oh, stop!" The youth smiled. "It wasn't a real serious fight; I bet you could beat him any day of the week." He turned as the referee blew the whistle, and he saw Shizuka already waiting in the arena. "Okay. I'll be back soon."

Rishid looked out at his master's opponent as he moved to leave. "Be careful," he urged, making Malik look back. "There is something…"

"Yes?"

The man shook his head.

Blinking, Malik continued toward the center of the arena.

- - -

Having once made it to Shizuka and the referee, the stadium erupted, making both fighters wince and cover their ears.

"A'right," the man said to them. "We want a clean fight, but give us something to gawk at, 'kay? Give us some fire!"

Hearing that, Shizuka set her wooden sword down to lean against her leg so that she could reach into her pocket. She then withdrew her hair tie and proceeded to put her hair up into a tail.

- - -

"Shizuka is serious about this fight…" Atem said.

Ryou blinked. "What do you mean?"

The Pharaoh looked back at the apprentice magician. "Jounouchi told me that Shizuka only puts her hair up when she is serious about something like this."

"Oh…" Ryou looked back to the arena floor. "I hope they don't hurt each other."

Seto felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as Malik and the girl stood facing each other, and felt a strange, yet familiar warmth in the air and he turned to face the stadium.

- - -

Isis took a shuddering breath, making Pegasus look up at her. "Are you alright?"

The woman smiled nervously. "The air…is suddenly filled with energy," she replied. "It is…incredible."

Pegasus looked down at the two teenagers soon to be engaged in combat. He too could sense a stirring in the air and stood up. "Why don't we get a closer look?" He asked. "I'm sure you're brother would want you to get a good view of everything."

- - -

"What?"

Valon looked away from the window back to his friend and often roommate. "What is it?"

Rafael touched the black glass, trying to focus on the gold sparkle and black stirring within. "Something is…moving…deep within…"

- - -

Shizuka raised her weapon to Malik, who in turn raised his own wooden sword. As if driven by the same hand, they both charged and connected at the exact same moment.

They pushed against each other's weapon until it became obvious neither would yield, and thus they tore away only to block and attempt more blows. But after a while, the two began to make their marks, hitting flesh instead of wood.

The two gradually gained admiration and confidence, striking faster and heavier with each pass they made at each other until they had to pull back to breathe. Both were suddenly fueled by an incredible energy and charged at each other again, each delivering such a powerful blow that both of their wooden training swords broke like twigs.

The stadium fell silent as the cloud of splinters fell and the pieces whistled as they flew out in various directions.

Malik and Shizuka stared at their broken weapons, both as wide-eyed as the other, and they both raised their gazes to stare at each other.

Again, the energy filled the air and they threw down the remains of their weapons as they turned and ran back to their dugout, each unfolding something from their cloaks. And when they returned, they each bore a true blade—Shizuka's one katana and Malik with his twin swords—that gleamed in the sunlight as they took their fighting stances.

- - -

Isis and Pegasus pushed through the people to reach the railing, and the woman gasped at the sight of her brother wielding his swords against the girl who also held one of her own.

"What is he thinking!"

Pegasus suddenly felt the energy he had sensed from his previous seat rush through every nerve in his body, making his hair stand at attention and he took a shuddering breath to try and calm himself.

- - -

Shizuka struck without warning, but Malik was able to catch her sword between his two blades. Sparks flew off their swords as the young woman pulled her blade back, and the clash of metal filled the arena as they moved about, parrying and striking, but never landing any blows.

They drew away from each other, lungs burning from lack of air and arms from so much activity throughout the entire day. But as breathless as they were, they only paused a moment to try and take air into their lungs before charging again.

In a clean swipe of Shizuka's blade, one of Malik's twin swords was completely severed from the hilt.

A gasp echoed throughout the stadium as the broken metal struck the ground and Shizuka fell to one knee on the ground behind the sandy-haired youth. For a long while nothing moved.

Finally, Shizuka and Malik looked over their shoulders at each other, and something from long ago surfaced…

- - -

The red-haired youth rose up from his crouch as he brushed sand from his black clothes, and smiled back at his black and gold-haired sparring partner.

"I keep telling you, Akanem…I can whip you anytime…"

- - -

Shizuka and Malik shook their heads as the image cleared from their eyes and looked at each other amazed.

The young woman rose to her feet, causing an eruption of cheers from the stadium of people that shook the ground.

She and Malik looked at the vast audience of people, and then back at each other curiously and both spoke at the same time.

"Did you—"

They stopped and laughed nervously.

Shizuka chose to go on. "It was a good fight," she said, bowing to the boy. "Arigatougozaimas."

Malik blinked, not quite sure what her last word had been, but nodded. "It was…good battle."

"We have our winner, folks!" The referee called, holding up Shizuka's hand. "Kawai Shizuka is this year's Dora Tournament champion!"

The people applauded, cheered and confetti rained down into the arena in celebration of the young woman's victory.

"Kawai Shizuka…"

The redhead turned to her former opponent.

"I must…speak words with you," Malik said. "Words…of…bells."

Shizuka's eyes widened. "So you heard it too."

He nodded. "And now…I see…men…after battle…"

Shizuka stepped closer to look into Malik's amethyst eyes, and within them she saw only truth. Putting her trust in his eyes, as she had for Pegasus, she smiled and offered her hand.

At first, Malik only stared at the appendage blankly, before he recalled the handshake Rishid and Katsuya had shared and took her hand in his own.

"You can just call me Shizuka," she said, gripping his hand.

The desert youth smiled, returning the grip on his hand. "I am…Malik…of the family of Ishatar."

Shizuka smiled. "Just Malik then."

"Oi, Shizuka!"

The two looked toward the call and found Katsuya running toward them, his sister's cloak draped over his arms.

"Onii-chan."

"Oi, oi, oi!" The blond pointed at their joined hands. "What's the deal, sis? He's holding your hand."

"Onii-chan, this is Malik," Shizuka smiled. "And…it's a little difficult to explain, but we have a strange sort of a connection, and—"

"Connection?" Katsuya's jaw dropped. "You get into a fight with him and suddenly you have 'a connection'?"

"Onii-chan…"

- - -

"Let's go, Mokuba," Seto said as he turned away from the arena.

"Hai!" The black-haired boy hopped down from the railing to follow after his brother.

Ryou turned, watching the two strangers as they left, but his attention was immediately torn away to instead look after Atem as he dashed away. "Lord Pharaoh!"

Atem ran beside the railing, careful to keep Malik in his sights even as the sunny-blond made his way back to Rishid in the dugout with Shizuka and Katsuya in tow. "Malik!" He called out, but his voice was again drowned out by the moving crowds. "Malik! Mal—"

He was cut off as he collided with someone and fell to the ground.

"Oh, I am sorry!" The familiar voice of a certain woman caught his ear. "I did not…see…"

Atem looked up into the pair of lovely blue eyes set into a familiar dark face, and his red eyes widened. "Isis…"

"Pharaoh Atem…!" Isis fell to her knees before the young man.

Pegasus stood over the former Priestess and the estranged Pharaoh, his silver eyebrows raised. "I see you two have met…"

His lifted his rosewood eye to his white-haired apprentice as he came running toward them. "Look, Ryou!" He smiled. "We made a new friend!"

- - -

Katsuya stared at his sister as she stood over Malik as he connected and separated the cleanly severed blade from its hilt. "You want me to what?"

"Fix it," Shizuka replied. "It was easy to cut through; it should be just as easy for you to put it back together."

"But I don't get why you want me to fix it," the blond said.

"Twin swords," Malik said, holding out the blade and hilt. "One of twins die."

"Don't try to be funny with me, kid!" Katsuya hollered. "I got a bone to pick with you, so I don't see much of a reason to help you!"

Malik raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to one side. "You pick bones?"

"It's an expression, you moron!"

"Onii-chan!" Shizuka grabbed her brother's arm. "Please, stop yelling at him. The repair should be an easy job for you; you're the best."

Katsuya sighed and scratched his head. "Alright, fine," he said. "I'll do it, but only if he apologizes."

Again, the desert youth looked confused. "Why for?"

"What for! For kicking me in the head!"

Malik stared at the blond, scrunching his face as he dug through his memory. Finally, a smile dawned upon his features. "Ah!" He pointed a dark finger at Katsuya. "Horse thief!"

Katsuya blinked, clearly confused. "Horse…thief?"

"Chase horse. I swing fall. Bang." Malik nodded. "You knock down. Many apologies."

Shizuka smiled. "There, he apologized. Now you have to fix his sword. You promised."

"Hai, hai," the blond waved exasperatingly. "But I need someplace to work; a smithy."

"I think I saw one back in town," Shizuka said. "The Red Moon…?"

"Oh, yeah! I saw that place!" Katsuya nodded. "We can try there."

Shizuka stopped. "Oh! But I have to go collect my winnings first."

"How 'bout I take Malik and Rishid with me, and you go get the money and meet us there?" The blond stopped. "Oh, and find the others too. When you get there, I want you to tell me what this is all about, okay?"

"You're not the only one, Onii-chan," his sister sighed.

"Ah! Malik gasped, making the two Slayers jump. "Isis!"

"Isis?"

The youth quickly turned to his bodyguard and brother. "Rishid, you have to go find Isis! She's still all by herself!"

The man nodded. "I will do so, Master Malik."

Malik turned back to Shizuka. "Rishid go too. Find…our…sister."

"Oh! Okay then," the redhead nodded and smiled at the man as she motioned for him to join her. "Shall we?"

At first, Rishid only stared, but with a nudge from Malik he started off, somewhat surprised when Shizuka fell in step alongside him as they walked.

"Okay, Ishtar," Katsuya sighed. "Let's take you and your damaged ego and fix it up, eh?"

"Question?" Malik asked.

"Nani?"

"What 'ego'? Don't know 'ego'."

- - -

Shizuka signed the tournament papers and handed them back to the referee and ticket salesman. "Hai."

"Good fightin' t'day!" The man smiled as he took the papers and handed her the bag of award money. "I hafta admit, y' got talent with a sword, kid."

"Arigatou."

"Oh! Be sure t' come t' th' feast t'morrow night," he said. "Special event t' honor yer victory."

"Honto?"

"Yeah! It's tradition," the man smiled. "Winner o' th' tournament dances with the festival maiden."

Shizuka blinked before smiling sheepishly. "I'll…try to make it."

Stepping back out into the early evening sunlight, Shizuka turned to meet Rishid as he returned from the stadium. "Rishid, did you find Isis?"

Having only understood his name, as well as the name of his oldest charge, the man shook his head.

Just as she was about to recommend that they look together, a familiar voice called out to her that made her smiled and turn.

"Shizuka!" Pegasus waved as he and the others made their way over.

"Pegasus!" The young woman, followed by Rishid, met the silver-haired magic-user half-way. "I won! Did you see?"

"We did!" He smiled. "Congratulations! Listen, Shizuka; we met this woman and—"

"Lady Isis?" Rishid stepped forward upon catching sight of the blue-eyed woman, but froze upon seeing the spiky-haired young man standing beside her. "Lord Pharaoh…?"

Atem smiled. "It is I, Rishid."

The man fell to his knees, putting his face to the ground. "Your Majesty!"

Shizuka blinked, looking from Rishid, to Isis, to Pegasus. "What is going on?"

- - -

Seto soothingly stroked Alumiss' face as the blacksmith sat down on a nearby stool.

"Ye got yerself a real beauty of a horse there, mate," he smiled. "Real well behaved too. I should have yer new shoes on him and his friend by the end of t'morrow."

"Good," the blue-eyed prince replied. "I want to be back on the road as soon as possible."

"Can do, sir."

"Thank you very much," Mokuba said as he hopped down from petting Valent.

"No problem," the man smiled. Just then, raised voices came from the front of the smithy and he rose up to look into it. "What's all the ruckus he called as he moved the curtain hanging in the doorway.

"There's some guys here who wanta use the smithy!" His apprentice called back.

"Just the fire!" A strangely familiar voice said. "I've got my own tools!"

Curious about this new arrival, Seto moved to enter the front of the smithy, Mokuba following in his wake. And upon entering the area, the prince found two familiar faces waiting for him. The first being Malik, and the second—

"You!" Jounouchi Katsuya pointed an accusing finger at Seto.

"Ah. Kaiba," Malik blinked.

"The peeping tom!" The blond exclaimed.

Mokuba leaned sideways to see past his brother, raising an eyebrow at the statement. "Peeping tom?" He looked back up at his brother. "Nii-sama, what's he talking about?"

"Uhh…"

"I'm gonna kill you!" Katsuya drew his smith's hammer from his leather bag and charged the blue-eyed youth.

- - -

"So, you serve Atem back in the Gold Dragon Kingdom?" Shizuka asked Isis as they approached the smithy.

"Lord Pharaoh Atem, yes," the woman corrected and answered.

"Hmm…" The girl nodded. "So, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Well—"

One of the front windows of the smithy, the one closest to the two women shattered, making Isis shriek and Rishid jump to defend her, but they watched as the object that broke through the glass—a large hammer—landed on the ground before them.

Shizuka knelt down and picked it up, finding her brother's initials engraved on the side. "This is Onii-chan's."

"Oh, dear," Pegasus sighed at the sound of a struggled going on inside the smithy. "It would seem Jounouchi-boy has started another brawl."

Shizuka stood up and rushed to the doors of the smithy, Pegasus and the others close behind. Inside, chairs and a table had been overturned, as had a couple of bottles, and at the far end of the room by the hearth the smith and Malik held Katsuya by his arms—careful of the red hot iron he held in the stead of his lost hammer—to keep him away from the brown-haired, blue-eyed youth he had cornered. And between them, a black-haired youth stood ready to fend off the angered blond himself to protect his older brother.

"Knock it off, kid!" The smith shouted, struggling to keep his hold on the blond. "That guy's a customer!"

"Peace, Jounouchi!" Malik urged. "Peace!"

At the sight of the desert youth, Pegasus heard a faint ringing and he focused harder on the struggling boy. 'Is he…?'

"Lemme go!" Katsuya flailed against his captors. "I'm gonna kill him! I swear it!"

"Onii-chan!"

Everyone turned in the direction of the outcry, and Shizuka looked from her brother to the blue-eyed youth he attempted to hurt, recognizing him immediately as the boy from the river. And as she focused on him, Pegasus' rosewood eye locked with Malik's amethyst.

In that instant, a harsh whirlwind filled the smithy, fanning the flames of the hearth and making them rise and burn fiercer than before. And as Atem and the others tried to shield themselves from the wind and fire, the Earth trembled beneath them.

Looking back toward Shizuka and Pegasus, Atem found a strange ripple of light resonating between them and the two young men at the other end of the room, one whom he recognized to be Malik.

- - -

Rafael gasped as white, gold and red lights began moving within the black of the unreflecting mirror. Suddenly, the high-pitched call of the Orichalcos stone that hung around his neck and looked down to find it glowing.

"What is this!"

"Raf!" Valon tore into the room, holding out his hand to show the glowing ring on his finger.

Elsewhere, Amelda gripped his pendant in his hand, and looked across the aerie to the blond woman on her knees as she covered her ears.

"Make it stop…!" She begged. "Shut up!"

- - -

Deep in the sealed pyramid cavern, everything trembled, as if in fear, and Akunadin watched as the red array on the ceiling began to flicker. "Impossible!"

The green light before the dark priest screamed and writhed within itself. /Them! Them, them, them/ It shrieked. /Stay away! No closer/

The red-purple flame growled with a mix of hatred and fear. /So! They have returned/