Yugi was glad for the hand Katsuya had on her shoulder as Marik finished telling his story to her grandfather and friends, though she could have done without the tightness of its grip when Marik had admitted his true name and purpose for getting a job at the Kame Game Shop.

She honestly felt like she needed the grounding. The evening still did not feel quite real to her. Meeting some survivors of some ancient cult in a hidden location by the light of a bonfire was the stuff of anime and books, not reality, and she was still processing what she had been told, what she had seen, and the threat that had been issued.

Thankfully, Jii-san had, after getting Marik's permission, taken photos of the scarring on his back so they could cross reference it later, once she was able to think better.

One line from Sugoroku's translation, however, would not leave her head.

'The Lioness who buried her name twice.'

There was a hint there, she was sure of it, but she could not think what it was. She could easily guess what they meant by 'burying' her name. They had given up their true name not once, but twice.

Once when they had assumed their brother's name to keep their father's line and their future plans alive, and again when they had used their Ren to seal the Shadows away.

But the 'lioness' part was bothering her. Was it a reference to how hard they had fought? Or was there more to it? If there had been, then surely someone would have discovered her name before now.

"Yugi?" Marik said, drawing her attention back to the present. She looked up at him, only to find he was staring at his feet. "I really am sorry."

"You were trying to protect yourself and your siblings. I get it." At her words his head snapped up. "Would I have liked to know before you took me to see them? Yes. Then things might have gone a little smoother between us and your Oneesan, but…"

"I'll talk to her," Marik promised. "I'm hoping she's calmed down a bit. I think she was hoping that she'd talk to you, you'd agree to complete your destiny, and we'd be free within days…"

The way his shoulders had sunk told her that he had hoped the same. "We can't fight Ba-Khu-Ra now. We just can't. We need the god monsters and our ancient true name if we're even going to have a chance..."

"We know where one of the cards for the divine avatars is," the former Tomb Keeper admitted, "but the tribe has the other two. I don't know how she planned to get around that…"

He shrugged and looked at Sugoroku, who was watching him with narrowed eyes and a grimace that informed the young man that he was in a lot of trouble. "Am I fired?"

"No, but you are banned from going anywhere with Yugi." The elderly gamer let out an irritable huff. "You sound like you could use a dose of normalcy, and you'll get that here. Plus it's a good cover and source of income."

"Thank you." Marik bowed deeply.

Before he could straighten, Yugi glanced at her grandfather, wanting to make an offer but needing his permission.

"Marik, can you wait here?" Sugoroku asked. When the teen in question nodded, the elderly gamer nodded towards the kitchen and Yugi followed. "What are you thinking?"

"I want to offer the shop as a safe house, somewhere they can go if the rest of the Tomb Keeper tribe find them. What they did to Marik isn't right. I might not be able to undo it, but I can protect him and his siblings. Or at least try."

Her grandfather stroked his beard as he thought about it. "Is Meisa in agreement?"

The Pharaoh took over quickly. "I'll admit, I'm not too happy about having Ishizu hanging around. I think she's been twisted by Zorc, at least a little, but if we can offer protection and safety, it might cull some of her fury at us and help us work things out without a fight breaking out. Might."

"No one mentioned the demon." Sugoroku's eyes narrowed.

"I couldn't sense his power for most of our discussion, but when she really lost her temper and threatened Imoto, her eyes went amber, like Ba-Khu-Ra's did in the fire, and I could sense his energy," Meisa admitted with a grimace, "but Marik seemed to be able to snap her out of it."

"Maybe something to ask him before we make our offer?"

At her elder's suggestion, the Pharaoh slipped back into the living room. "Na… Marik, what was that? When she threatened me?"

The teen suddenly tensed up and he glowered at her. "Uhkti has been through so much to protect me and Rishid, she's allowed to get angry."

"Yes, but you have to have seen the change, her eye colour and face…"

"When everything you've been raised to respect turns out to be a lie and you get stabbed in the back, you have to find a way of coping," he snapped out, crossing his arms, his own shadows rising with his temper, much like Katsuya's had started doing when he got angry. "Uhkti pushes all her wrath and resentment away so she doesn't lash out at us… It built up and built up, until Hanaq was created. You got to meet her."

"Hanaq…"

"It's not like she's the only one who's been affected by the demon. You probably are, too," Marik hissed out, staring at her. "All the Items have a piece of his soul in them. The Ring just holds the most. You honestly think you haven't been tainted by him?"

Meisa mentally winced at the accusation, easily able to remember how out of control she had been when she had first woken up until Yugi's light had pushed away the worst of the Shadows twisting her soul. Even now, nearly a year after waking, she was all too aware that without her twin to balance her soul and her friends to call her on her bullshit, she could slip in the wrong situation.

She had not even thought to be concerned that she could have been affected by Zorc. She had honestly thought she had proven herself untainted when she had passed Shadi's trials. Now she was worried that she was wrong and that she could, in the future, be a danger to her friends.

"Thank you for the information," Sugoroku butted in, able to see from his granddaughter's less-solid footing and the way her eyes had widened, that she had not considered that before. "How dangerous is Hanaq?"

"If I'm not around or something happens to me?" His head shake was answer enough. "Speaking of, I need to get back. If I'm not fired, I'll be back for my shifts over the weekend?"

"You'll be welcome," Jii-san informed him, wanting to keep an eye on the young Ishtar boy, who honestly seemed like he could use the support, "but, Marik, if the Tomb Keepers find you, you can come here and take shelter. Your siblings, too. We'll just be careful."

The teen's posture completely changed as he beheld the shop owner with a considerable amount of respect. "Thank you."

With that he headed out.

After a moment of silence, Katsuya huffed. "So we're telling the others there's another Item Holder in town, right?"

"And that she might be dangerous," Meisa breathed, still a little torn over the accusation that she was twisted.

"Mei?" Katsuya's use of her nickname made her look at him. "Even if Zorc's got his claws in you, which I don't believe he has, you've already proved you know when to stop. You're the one who chose to reduce the amount of Shadow Games you were playing. If you were really twisted up in his power, you wouldn't have done that."

The confidence in her made her heart stop feeling like it was being squashed in a vice.

"Thank you, Katsuya." She nodded to him and switched out with Yugi, who pursed her lips.

"Before you say anything about me getting into danger, Jii-san, I want to make a sandwich. We didn't actually get to eat much before everything exploded."

"Did you at least get your shopping?"

"Oh, heck…"

Sugoroku sighed and looked at Katsuya, "I know it's late, but…"

"I'll walk her to the store. Don't worry."

Yugi would have protested that she could look after herself, but after the night she had had, she wanted the company. She snatched up her satchel and headed for the door.

"Be back soon."

"Okay." Yugi sighed as she went over the contents of her suitcase and satchel one last time before she left for Tokyo in the morning. "Dress, check; jewellery…"

She hesitated as she examined the contents of the small bag, which contained the bangles she was planning on wearing and the box containing the earrings Marik had given her, back when he had first introduced himself to her as Namu. She had planned on switching out her sleeper earrings for the ankhs, just for the event, and then switching them back for the remainder of the time her ears were meant to be healing.

Now, however, she was not sure she even wanted to take them with her. She could not trust that they had been given to her as anything except a 'Get Well Soon' gift. In fact she was almost certain that the set of earrings had been gifted in order to make her like Namu more, so she trusted him enough to allow what had happened last night to happen. Just like Otogi had bought her presents in order to get her to like him.

'You don't have to wear them if you don't want to, Imoto,' Meisa murmured quietly, slipping out of the Puzzle as a spectre and taking a seat on the bed next to the suitcase. 'We can stick with our sleepers.'

'Sorry, it's probably stupid, but…' Yugi slipped the box out of the bag and opened it, staring at the contents as her shoulders sank. They were pretty and they had been the push she had needed to finally get her ears pierced like she had wanted to, but at the same time she just did not like the emotions that surfaced when she thought about them.

"You know, I could get a good price for those." The sound of Ba-Khu-Ra's voice coming from the window made Yugi jump a mile. She squeaked and dropped the box, whose contents tumbled under her bed, before she wheeled around to face the intruder to find the girl in question had come through her window and was settling down on the desk. "Not sorry."

"Didn't think you would be." The Queen of Games huffed at the Thief Queen as she bent down to pick up the fallen earrings.

"Your message said you needed to talk to us urgently?"

"I would have told you when I spoke to Anzu and Honda earlier, but you didn't show up." One earring was easy to find, but the other had gone further under, forcing Yugi to stretch to reach it. "You both okay?"

"We're fine, just been busy. What's up?"

"There's another item holder in town. Not sure where she lives, but if you run into her, you're pretty much guaranteed to get into a fight, so I thought I'd give you the heads up." When her hand finally landed on the second earring and she managed to grab it, she straightened up so she could see the reaction of her sometimes friend, sometimes enemy.

Ba-Khu-Ra's whole body had tensed, her eyes had narrowed, and her lips had pursed. "Which item?"

"The Millennium Rod."

"Oh, really?" The smile that elicited was toothy, and her tone was one of malicious delight. "I wondered when those rats would flee to the surface. Did they bring the Necklace? We could find out if Mahad was being less of an ass than normal if they did."

"I only sensed one Item with them, so I'm guessing no." The Puzzle Bearer shook her head. "How would we do that, though?"

"If they had the Necklace with them, we could use it to see the past and future," Ba-Khu-Ra explained. "It wouldn't be able to see Item Holders, but it could see what they were doing through watching those around them. We could use it to look back at who gave the orders that caused those guards to start stabbing. Once we'd taken it from the Tomb Keeper brats, of course."

"Well, they don't, and I didn't tell you they were in town so you could attack them." Yugi grimaced, the sharpness in her voice making the Thief Queen watch her with a tilt of her head. "I just don't want anything happening to you and Amane. Especially since they said they were being hunted, so they'd be on high alert."

"You really are an idiot." The Thief Queen snorted, leaning back against the wall as Ginka padded into the room, contemplated the people within, and then jumped up onto the bed to settle down next to Meisa with a mew. The Pharaoh, very obligingly, started ruffling the cat's extremely furry head. "You realise that I want you dead, right? And that getting another Millennium Item would boost my strength? Especially the Millennium Rod. I do wonder how you'd react to me turning your friends against you."

"Killing me doesn't help you get my true name." Yugi's eyes narrowed at the threat to her friends as Amane emerged in her own spirit form and moved across the room to see if she, too, could pet the cat. When she could, she took her own seat next to the Pharaoh to pay tribute to the furriest thing in the room, who started purring loudly. "And if you want to hear what I learned last night about how to get it, you'll promise not to attack the Ishtars without reason or use the Rod on my friends if you get your hands on it."

"I can agree to that." Internally she smirked at just how open ended that wording was, but she just offered Yugi a nod that made the girl relax a little.

"It turns out that if I want my ancient true name back, I need access to the God monsters." The Thief Queen's flinch made her pause. "What?"

"Those things are… not much fun to fight. I've done it before and won, but it's not fun."

"So maybe don't?" The matter-of-fact answer from Meisa made Ba-Khu-Ra stare at her. The Pharaoh had paused in petting the cat to watch her counterpart with sharp eyes. "If what Mahad said is true, we weren't truly enemies."

"Oh, we were enemies, Your Highness. I mean, my blade was at your throat more than once." Ba-Khu-Ra's response made Yugi and Amane glance at each other and grimace at the same moment, having been waiting for the two spirits to start biting at each other since the conversation had started.

"Only after you killed Mahad in self-defence," Meisa pointed out with a huff, trying not to rise to the bait since she knew it was what her former friend wanted.

"I don't regret it."

"Easy." Yugi got between the pair of them as Ba-Khu-Ra started to get to her feet. "Anesan didn't say you should, but even you admitted that we weren't enemies before everything fell apart. We don't expect things to go back to the way they were, but we don't want this to be more painful for anyone involved than it has to be."

There was a moment where the Thief Queen stared at the Queen of Games, then she sat back down. "I'm listening."

"If you tell us what oath we're supposed to have broken, we're willing to help you with it now," Meisa informed Ba-Khu-Ra, watching her former friend sharply. "I promised I would help you with it back in Egypt, and I'm still willing to keep that promise, but we need… what?"

The Pharaoh trailed off when her opposite laughed bitterly.

"You won't. I know you won't. Because if you do, you'll have to leave the runt behind and walk through the gates to the afterlife. Not to mention that it might kill the brat if your priests haven't worked out how to do the whole weighing of the heart without an actual, physical, heart. There's no way you'd risk her life."

A shocked silence fell for a moment at that revelation and Meisa could not help but wonder what, exactly, she had promised. Then Yugi took a deep breath and broke it. "We will work something out, if you tell us what we agreed to do."

"You're not ready for that information." Ba-Khu-Ra shook her head, aware that Yugi would not want to even touch the Items once she knew what had made them. "Maybe when you've gotten the rest of the items and you're closer to actually opening the damn gates, but not now."

Yugi and Meisa glanced at each other, neither particularly happy at the response, since it suggested that they would not like the answer. Then they sighed at the same moment and turned back to the other Item Spirit.

"Will you tell us something else instead?" Meisa asked, half expecting the thief to say no.

"What's that?" The Thief Queen could not help but be amused at the shadow that was moving just outside Yugi's bedroom door. The Pharaoh and her brat had not noticed it yet, but someone had heard their conversation and was now hovering, just in case. She suspected it was Jonouchi.

"What was the deal you made with Zorc?" Yugi asked, staring at the thief. "We want to know the exact wording."

Her eyes widened and she straightened as she stared back. "Why?"

"Please?"

"He would save my life and help me kill you if I helped him regain the power he lost and surrendered my soul."

"Is that the exact wording?" Yugi's insistence made Ba-Khu-Ra pause and go back over the exact agreement she had made, in her head.

'I'll save you and help you kill the Pharaoh who betrayed you…' Amane's head snapped up as her sister's mental voice cut off and she felt negative emotions flood the bond. The same pain, anger, grief, and betrayal that had allowed Zorc to snatch control of the vessel during the fire.

"Yugi, move!" Amane snapped out before vanishing into her body, trying to seize control before the demon could.

She was too late. The sheer power of the demon lashed out as she reached for the body and sent her tumbling into her soul room. The door slammed shut behind her, trapping her within.

Her warning, however, was just in time. Meisa snatched control away from her twin, just in time to see Ba-Khu-Ra's eyes go amber, just as they had during the fire, as her former friend's vessel got to its feet. "Back down, Zorc. I'm not injured this time."

"You honestly think that matters?" the demon hissed out, eyes narrowed. His anger suggested that Yugi had been on the right track. "You can't defeat me as you are, and I will not let you take her from me. Not now. Not when I'm so close to breaking free."

"So she can be taken from you." Meisa smirked at the confirmation of their suspicions.

The demon let out a snarl as his anger set his aura loose. Shadows coated the room, and the Pharaoh tensed as she tried to push back at the fear that was sinking in. She reached for her deck holster, only to realise with some dismay that it was already in her satchel for tomorrow.

Seeing that she was disarmed, the demon smirked.

A wave of Shadows erupted from the Ring, and the Pharaoh threw her hand forward, desperately casting the first trap that came to her mind and praying it worked. The darkness crashed into the glittering Mirror Force shield, but it did not ricochet off and strike the attacker like it was meant to. Instead the Shadows pounded against it, the excess bursting out around the sides and striking the walls, floor, and bookcase, knocking things off of the shelves, things that shattered as they hit the floor, alerting the one listening to something being wrong.

Meisa was forced to push more and more power into her shield to keep it from collapsing, until almost every last drop of magic she had was in the barrier, and the moment the attack ended, she swayed and half-fell, relying on the baseboard of her bed to stay upright.

"Yugi!" The sound of her name made her raise her head, panic flickering through her as she realised that not only was Katsuya at the door, but his body language screamed that he was ready to join the fight.

A dark chuckle from the demon drew her attention back in time for her to realise that the creature now possessing Amane was smirking in Katsuya's direction.

Meisa tried to cast again, tried to protect her best friend, and a flickering, shimmering shield did appear as the dark magic surged forward. Her feeble trap managed to provide Katsuya with enough time to duck for cover before it shattered, causing the powerful wave of Shadows to careen down the hallway before impacting with the wall.

'I won't let him hurt anyone else.' The sheer force of power loosed as Yugi seized control and glowered at the demon, drawing every last drop of power she could from the Millennium Puzzle, gave Meisa the boost she needed to avoid passing out. With a wave of Yugi's hand, Kuriboh appeared between her and the demon, huge yellow eyes narrowed at the demon-possessed thief, daring it to attack again, or even just approach his summoner.

"Ba-Khu-Ra! What the fuck?!" Katsuya demanded, glaring darkly at the creature who had lashed out at him.

"Katsuya, stay back!" At Yugi's sharp tone, the blonde glanced at her, checking which of the Mutou twins was in control.

"You're brave, guardian." The demon chuckled vindictively, drawing his attention back. "Shall I kill you again? It wouldn't be the first time."

"You're not Bakura." Katsuya's eyes widened as the differences in the voice and eyes hit him, "Who the hell are you? What are you doing in our friend?"

"I'm insulted you don't remember." The creature snickered as the teen got between the creature and the Queen of Games, shielding his friend with his own body. "You and I have been doing this dance for generations."

"You're the one who tried to kill Yugi in the fire, aren't you? Zorc?"

"That's right." The demon mockingly bowed. "You and I have fought over her before."

When the demon gestured to Yugi, the girl straightened slightly, remembering that Zorc had mentioned them having allies before.

"Every time the little Pharaoh has come back, trying to pick up enough Shadows to strengthen her soul enough to survive until adulthood, perhaps even long enough to complete the Puzzle and her soul, you or one of her other guardians have gotten between me and her. I can't count how many times I've ended you or Seth, or one of your other little friends now, only to have the Pharaoh slip between my fingers."

Katsuya's hands balled into fists at the implications that this thing had managed to kill him in the past. The only saving grace was that, apparently, his sacrifice had saved a life during previous incarnations.

He glanced over his shoulder to the girl he had apparently been protecting for generations. A girl who had been born over and over again, only to die young because of the damage that ripping her soul in two had done. Yugi looked horrified at the implications of the demon's words, her hands shaking badly. Her gaze caught his and she bit her lip. "Katsuya…."

He turned back to the creature in front of him, posture shifting into one ready for combat.

Yugi meant too much to him. He was not going to abandon her. No matter how badly it had gone in past lives.

The creature paused to consider its options. While the Spirit of the Puzzle was down, the little Pharaoh was glowing with the power she had seized from the Puzzle and had finally learned how to summon without being in contact with her deck, which made her a dangerous distraction. Especially when he could sense his vessel's true owner trying to break out of her soul room to seize control again. If he lost control mid attack, his vessel could be damaged, and that would give the guardian the opening he needed to actually win a fight for once.

His mind was made up when Shadows rolled off of the guardian as the teen reached for his deck.

Katsuya did not even have to touch the deck; fire and darkness erupted from him as the Shadows responded to his passionate desire to protect his friend and stay alive. The twisting energies took the form of a black-scaled dragon, one that barely fit in the room and crushed everything in its way. Ruby-red eyes bored into the demon as flames flickered from its mouth.

"Now, now, guardian, attack me, and you'll set the room on fire." Zorc suddenly sounded nervous as he took a step back, and Katsuya tried to adjust to the weird double vision of seeing through both his own eyes and those of his Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"I won't let you touch her. Not in this life, or any other." Katsuya's voice emanated from both the teen and the dragon as the Ka Beast glared down at the possessed thief, who had his hands up, trying to be placating. "Now fuck off."

The Dragon Duelist could feel the flames building up in his creature's throat as if it was his own, and there was a moment when the demon realised he was never going to be able to retreat in time and raised his hand, like he was going to risk a counter attack, even though he was outnumbered.

Then its arm moved like someone had shoved it to one side.

The demon's gaze moved from the dragon to something between it and the Red-Eyes, something that Katsuya could not see. "Move, or you'll suffer with them."

"Amane." Yugi's worried, trembling voice made her friend realise that the girl had emerged in spirit form and put herself in Zorc's way. Despite the demon's threats, he was withholding his attack because of her. Maybe, just maybe, he could not hurt her without hurting himself. He certainly could not kill her without killing the body he was using, if the rules were the same for Amane as they were for Yugi.

Zorc hesitated for a moment longer, then glanced between the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, who was poised to attack, and where he could sense the Little Pharaoh was, able to sense the power twisting, like she was preparing to summon something else.

He let out a frustrated snarl, angry at Amane for interfering and himself for acting rashly. He had needed to cut off his pawn before she could realise that he had made a deal with her in bad faith. Though neither of them had known it at the time, the Pharaoh had not betrayed Ba-Khu-Ra. That meant the contract could never be sealed, rendering it null and void, even if he helped her kill Yugi.

And if Ba-Khu-Ra ever worked that out, he could lose his active pawn just when he was at his closest to breaking free.

Even so, attacking the Pharaoh in her own home, when he had known she had backup nearby, had been the result of a moment of panic, and he would have to be more careful moving forward.

Right now, though, he needed to retreat before the guardian did something stupid.

"This isn't a win, Pharaoh. This is barely a truce," he snarled out before retreating through the window Ba-Khu-Ra had come from.

Katsuya could not see it, but Yugi saw the relief on Amane's face before she vanished from the bedroom.

Yugi would have gone to double-check that the demon was gone, but was stopped by Katsuya's dragon vanishing and her friend wavering on his feet. He only managed to stay upright because Yugi darted in to support him, and even then his extra weight meant that she had to stagger over to her partly demolished bed so he could sit down.

"Are you okay?" Katsuya asked her, concern clear.

"I… I'm fine." She nodded, releasing her grasp on the power she had dragged from the Puzzle. The sudden energy drain made her light-headed and she nearly fell, but Katsuya pulled her back onto the bed and she slumped into him.

"You're as tired as I am." He huffed, amused.

"Yeah… yeah, I am…" She looked around at the mess that had been her bedroom, and her shoulders sank. She forced herself to her feet and started checking that everything in her suitcase and satchel was okay at least. Luckily, while some of it had been tossed around, the important things were unharmed, while the earrings she had been holding went back in the bag they had come from for now, so she did not lose them in the mess.

She could worry about the rest of her destroyed bedroom when she returned from Tokyo.

"I have no idea how to explain this to Jii-san," she grumbled, and she slumped back down next to Katsuya, thinking about the conversation she was going to have to have once her grandfather got home from his night out with a friend.

"I'll back you up," her friend promised. "Apparently I always have."

"Katsuya…" Yugi hesitated, not sure how to approach the whole 'multiple deaths across multiple lives' issue.

"Hey. We'll discuss it when we're both up to it, okay?" he offered, knowing what she was thinking about, suggesting that it was in his mind, too. "Possibly once we get back from Tokyo?"

She just nodded and leaned into him, needing both his physical support and the mental support she could feel from her twin as she tried to process everything that had just happened.

Author Note: The best pronunciation I could find for Hanaq is Ha-nak, just to let you all know.