Disclaimer: Nothing you see belongs to me.

In the last chapter, Yami finally defeated Beck's Vampire Lord and gained his first tournament key. Kaiba also rescued Botan, now revealed as one of Hiei's prime targets.

This chapter reveals that the relationship between Pharaoh Yami and Priestess Kikyo might run deeper than previously thought, while Botan reveals new information as to Hiei and his abilities.

Here is yet another custom card, this time from SoulofSaturn, and a pretty cool idea:

Name:Magician Girl of Light
Attribute:Light
Type:Spellcaster
Level:7
ATK:2500
DEF:2100
Effect: Whenever this card is played it reduces all Dark monsters ATK and DEF by 200 and it also adds 600 ATK points to all light monsters on the field.

Chapter 16: Fates Intertwined

Hidden interrogation room

"Rise and shine, woman."

Kagome's eyes, bleary from the month of Shadow-inflicted blindness, could hardly focus in the best light, let alone the glaring luminosity of the lamp in her exhausted orbs. The only thing she could determine was that her captor was a tall, intimidating figure with white hair and an unusually shaped pendant: a triangle with an eye set into it, surrounded by a golden ring, which was ornamented with five dangling spikes. "Excellent. It's about time you're up. My superior has been waiting to see you." Fearing for her life, or what remained of it, Kagome struggled against the bonds of energy that the warden had set up.

"Relax, no feat of strength you can muster will be enough to break the Chain Energy I have set up to bind you. Besides, what Master Hiei has assembled for you will require all of your strength, so I would conserve it."

Yami Bakura's insane brown eyes focused on the black panel of glass behind him. "You see, the Dark Lord can easily observe us, for as I don't doubt, you have determined that he and Schwarzvald are behind the one way glass. Now, if you direct your eyes to the said pane..."

A set of golden scales with the sign of Amun-Ra atop them began to appear in the window. "These, my dear, are the Millennium Scales, and I would be wary of them. Master Hiei has used these as an effective detector for treason, and if you would care to see a more first-person experience, I would be happy to oblige.

"You see, the Scales were originally designed to weigh the integrity of the victim's soul, and reward or punish them in correlation to this. Hiei, however, has converted it so that the Scales will destroy any who lies directly to anyone who asks them a question. As you can possibly imagine, this is something of a precarious situation, so it is in your best interest to give us the information we desire. Let's start with the Shikon no Tama..."

New Paradigm Hotel, Suite 32

I don't understand! I know that this image has some kind of significance, but even with my new-found memories, I still can't decipher it!

Not for the first time, Yami no Yugi, former ruler of Egypt, was puzzling over a cryptic depiction in the highest parts of his soul room. The picture itself had long since lost it's coloration, but the engraved images was the obvious work of a master artist. Yami had first discovered this puzzling device when he was first reawakened by Yugi, but he had not been able to determine it's meaning or it's hieroglyphic text. Even after he was able to read the ancient Sanskrit, the text was completely befuddling, as though he could understand the words, but not the greater message.

"Yami? Are you all right?"

The all-powerful Pharaoh turned towards the speaker, his younger counterpart, Yugi. He had been so preoccupied with attempting to comprehend the pictographs before him that he had not heard his light climb the stairs to this area.

"I'm fine. At this point, the only problem is that I can't seem to translate or even understand this mural. It may just be a coincidence, but I have a feeling that this picture might hold a clue to defeating Hiei." Once again, Yami turned towards the mural, and began to reflect on the events that led him here.

It had only been a day or so since Yami had first met the infamous demon, so it is to be expected that he would remember the grotesque tattoo the latter had borne in that Shadow Game. And despite it's atrocious symbolism, Yami had remembered one line from the scroll that was near the center: The destiny of the universe lies in the secrets of the defender. Yami, who had long since been able to unlock the Millennium Puzzle's other secrets, could not determine anything related to Hiei or the power he sought. The picture did not help either, as the details of only two figures and a vague background was visible.

I know that the scroll has something to do with the Millennium Puzzle and this depiction, but unless I can translate it, the information is absolutely useless! And I know I can't destroy Hiei in a Shadow Game; his Jagen-enhanced Millennium Eye gives him all of the safety he will ever need! How can I translate this; WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

The past ruler of ancient Egypt knew all too well what would happen if the Dark Lord gained his ultimate goal. His twisted designs of grandeur will become law unless I stop him; what we saw in Spirit World will pale in comparison to the events that shall occur here! For all I know, Hiei might bring about the return of the Infinite Blackness, and if he does that, mankind as we know it will be a puppet to his sick whims!

Then, as though Yami had come to the realization of the meaning of life, he turned towards his light side.

"Yugi, didn't your grandfather teach you how to read hieroglyphs?"

"Yeah. Do you think that an outside interpreter can read it if you can't?"

Yami nodded slightly, his fingers tracing the familiar patterns, worn as they might be. "It seems that this could be a mental defense set by me after I was trapped in the puzzle, like an encoded message. The only way to translate it is to have an outside individual read it, for even though I can read the text, the words seem to be nothing but drivel and nonsense. It was obviously designed so that I couldn't understand it."

"Alright, I'll try my hand." Yugi began to run his fingers across the hieroglyphs, ingesting each symbol and translating it into an understandable text. As more of the text was examined, Yugi's eyes began to widen in horror of the grisly textual information before him. The pupils were contracting purely of their own accord, while his small hand began to shake uncontrollably.

"Yugi! Are you alright? Answer me!"

The smaller boy began to grin without any motivation, as though he had just gone mad. Yet this was not the only symptom; a small chuckle, brimming with malice, was forming in his throat, as his features twisted into a cruel, merciless expression. The eyes, far from their usual amethyst shade, turned a dark red with the added affect of an evil presence.

Yami had only seen these expressions on one person.

The possessed Yugi began to look around his new surroundings with glee and unprecedented delight as he, or it, crawled around the Millennium Puzzle's inner chambers. All the while, he had been muttering in a hideous dialect of Sanskrit, the kind only used by the followers of the Dark Kingdom. Whatever this creature was, it had once been among this number.

This spirit's ka is one of the Black Descendants, the same race that Hiei is branded as. Supposedly, these demons would crawl out of breaches in the mystic portal and invade any populated areas that they entered, and would take control of the weaker-minded humans that they found therein. So what does it want?

The demon, as though reading the Pharaoh's mind, turned towards him. "I see you are familiar with the Ancient Scripts of the Kings of Egypt; even I could tell exactly what you were thinking." The fiend's voice was grating and cruel, not unlike the wails of the eternally damned. "And I must congratulate you on tracing the lineage of Master Hiei towards the days of the Shadow Games when even the greatest Spirit World archivists could not trace his family legacy."

"What legacy!? A universe of shadows and destruction, ruled over by a psychotic devil with a god complex!? What kind of legacy is that?"

"You do not give the dark master enough credit, my liege. Hiei's legacy is not that of a madman, but that of a god! He already possesses the might of the Shikon no Tama, the jewel of the ancient gods of Japan, not to mention three Millennium Items and the power of his Jagen eye. It's only a matter of time before he rules the world as Pharaoh. But, in order for him to do that, he will have to complete the Shikon no Tama and obtain the Millennium Puzzle. And believe me, with the power to read minds and twist the opponent's soul, nothing will stand in his way. You must also remember that the Priestess Kikyo is no longer by your side..."

The name, although he had never heard it before, struck Yami's heart like a knife.

"Who are you talking about? I was never aided by a Priestess Kikyo, and I think I would remember such a person."

The demon, who had suddenly begun to laugh, choked out a response. "I see. So the memory charm you instilled upon yourself worked perfectly."

"MEMORY CHARM?!"

"IT DID WORK! I won't burden you with the details of the war you two endured, but I will tell you this: once Hiei finds the reincarnation of this woman, the only significant ally you ever had will be no more! And then, the Puzzle will come into his hands, whilst you traverse oblivion for all eternity!"

Yami, who had been unable to bear listening to this monstrosity any longer, lifted the hand that had spelled madness for hundreds before him. "I don't know the dark history of which you speak, but you can tell your master that he will never gain my power or control of the world! NOW, BEGONE! MIND CRUSH!" The possessor of Yugi was blown to pieces, while the original, innocent inhabitant returned.

Yami, setting the light side into his soul room, felt like a piece of the greater puzzle was concealed from him. Returning to the hovel of a suite, Yami stepped out into the hallway, to join the others in the tournament. Yet Kaiba had been strangely absent...

New Paradigm Hotel, The Mist

Seto Kaiba could not quite grasp the situation at hand, despite the fact that every scrap of data seemed to confirm it. Had someone told the adolescent businessman a year before that he would be sitting across from Death itself, discussing the actions of a megalomaniac demon with a Millennium Item installed in his forehead and delusions of conquest, the odds are that they would have seen the bowels of a psych ward in less than an hour. And yet here he was, conversing with the Grim Reaper as if it was a regular thing, and making neither heads nor tails of the information, Kaiba simply went along with it.

"So allow me to grasp this nugget of information. Do you mean to tell me that this Hiei character was in fact an unwilling compatriot of yours until quite recently?"

Botan, long since recovered from her serious injuries thanks to Kaiba's expertise, nodded. Partaking of a small sip of the tea Kaiba had recommended, she continued. "To be brutally honest, I don't have the slightest idea what happened to him. Maybe he was just sick of all the praise for Yusuke and the others, or perhaps his plan was to do this all along. Every time he talked to him or Koenma, I couldn't help but notice a small spark of fury, like he resented the both of them."

"Interesting. I suppose that his immense greed would ultimately take control of him. After the attack on Kaiba Corp., I took the liberty of investigating the Dark World archives via my Millennium Item, the Sennen Rod. What I found interesting was that your name kept appearing in many of Hiei's archives. I can only assume you aren't exactly a favorite of his, as the name "guerilla" was not often far from your own." I'm not sure, but I have a feeling there's more to this girl than meets the eye. It seems to me that for all the hell she had to go through, Botan still maintains a positive outlook. The hideous scars that his twisted stepfather had inflicted upon him did not afford Kaiba the same optimism.

"Well, Seto, the truth of the matter is that Hiei correctly regards me as a threat, and thus far seems to have gone to great lengths to stop me from destroying him."

"From the looks of his archives, it would seem that you're one of the very few attempting this." I don't understand! I've only known this girl for an hour, and I'm talking to her like I've known her my entire life!

"Seto, you have to keep in mind that the Spirit World regards Hiei as both tyrant and god. Once Koenma was destroyed, he set up a totalitarianism in which his very word is law, and those that refuse his judgment are hunted down and slaughtered like animals. And since I lead the rebellion, he regards me as public enemy number one. In fact, second to Yugi Mouto, I'm the one he wants to defeat most. Yet I can only pray that my dueling skills will be enough to stop him."

For the first time in many years, Kaiba had a sincere smile, and the attitude to match. "Don't worry. As long as I'm alive, that bastard won't get near you."

"Do you mean that?"

"I promise, and I've never broken a promise to someone I care about."

Meeting room

"Master Hiei?"

Schwarzvald entered the dark enclosure in which Hiei and his chief executives usually met. As usual, Hiei was standing with a smug grin upon his cruel features. And as usual, he knew exactly what his second in command was about to say.

"Do not worry about the interrogation, Schwarzvald. I knew for a fact that she wouldn't have any idea where it was because she purposefully forgot it. As for Yugi and Yusuke, I already have plans for them. My duelists are already in position. And as for the tournament, I already have three tournament keys, so it will not be a problem. If you will excuse me, I have some business to attend to." As for my other two enemies, I think it's time for a little payback...

To be continued

Not the best chapter, but this will lay the foundation for a large part of the plot.

Next time, Hiei will expand his plan to take down Yami. Meanwhile, Kaiba will have to grapple with his feelings for Botan, but will Hiei strike first? Also, Yami and Yusuke will duel again, but Yami's duel will feature a blast from the past...

Let me know what you think of this new chapter. Read, Review, Don't flame!