Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King or YGO. Going to go straight to it…

Chapter Nine: Encounter

The glow of the hexagram and the two circles grew, nearly blinding the Chinese shaman. Before the light completely cleared, he saw a vague apparition of what seemed to look like Yoh as an angel. When the light finally cleared, Ren saw Yoh smiling sheepishly at him, the hexagram nowhere to be seen. Ren sighed sadly, knowing that this was some kind of trick and greeted the shaman back.

"If you allow me, Yoh, step outside whilst I talk to Ramius…" he said, his eyes narrowed somewhere in the darkness.

"Sure, Ren." With Amidamaru following him he walked out of the dark room, closing the door. As it did, Ren crossed his arms, the Houraiken in oversoul.

"Really, Ramius, you have to do better with hiding someone in the shadows especially if that someone's a shaman."

Nearing Funbari again, Ryou stood up.

"Allow us to land, Hao-sama. Chances are we might bump into your brother." He said. Hao looked back to the white-haired shaman.

"What are you planning to do to my Otouto?"

"Surely it won't hurt him. Probably just meet up with him and at least befriend him. Though if it's Bakura, I'm not giving any guarantees…" He trailed off.

"He'll kill you right on the spot; he still has that mission to complete," he said.

"The first time you met me, you thought I was a human." He countered, the spirit of the ring appearing beside his landlord.

"He has a point, Hao." The spirit agreed with Ryou. He didn't bother adding –sama to his landlord's master: he was much more older than he was and he didn't want to. Hao seemed to flinch when he didn't add it.

"I suppose you could go down there," he said with a defeated sigh, closing his eyes. The Spirit of Fire landed near the graveyard. "Though if you lay one hand on my brother, I will kill you." The tomb robber scoffed.

"Like you could." Hao glared back at the spirit, obviously insulted. Ryou quickly jumped off.

"Let's not waste time, Bakura." He said, knowing that his kleptomaniac yami would want to taunt the fire shaman even more. Bakura sighed in defeat.

"Yes, Hikari." He turned back Hao in his spirit ball form.

"I'll get you next time, flame boy," The Spirit of Fire growled warningly. The tomb robber sneered at the fire spirit.

"That puny little thing is no match for the power of shadow magic," Hao's spirit attempted to grab at the tomb robber but he moved out of the way. Bakura laughed tauntingly at them before his hikari called him again. He reluctantly floated away.

"Next time, you and your Hikari won't be so fortunate," Hao muttered to himself.

Yoh went out of the graveyard and into the streets, heading to a hotel where Horohoro and his sister would be staying. On his way he got lost. He chuckled, his ghost appearing.

"What's the matter Yoh?"

"I believe we're a bit lost here," He replied, rubbing the back of his head. Amidamaru nodded.

"Don't worry, Yoh, I'll go out and find a way out of this." He soared up into the sky like a bird and floated away. Yoh sat down near the wall, sighing.

"Are you lost, boy?" Yoh's head sharply turned right, seeing a cloaked figure. Tufts of white hair fell in front of the figure's hazel eyes, making the figure a bit too eerie; even for Yoh's kind.

"Um…yeah, I am. Uh…who are you anyway?"

"My name is not important to you, Yoh." the young shaman blinked.

"How do you know my name?"

"I am a seer. I've met you only in my visions," The figure lied.

"Oh, ok. Um…"

"Yes?"

"Since you're a seer…I was wondering if…you could do a reading for Me." From the hood of the figure, a small smile appeared.

/Hikari, are you sure about this/

/Yes, Bakura. This will work. Though I… we do have to do a real reading. / Taking off his hood he motioned Yoh to sit at a makeshift chair where there was a makeshift table. He nodded and sat there, him also doing the same. From his pocked he took his tarot deck, a silk handkerchief wrapped around it. He carefully unwrapped it and placed the deck onto the table, setting the handkerchief aside. He shuffled the deck, slightly worried about the reading. Most of the readings he did were negative ones.

"What kind of spread do you want me to do?" he asked as he cut the deck thrice using his left hand.

"Uhh…any kind, I guess." He nodded, putting seven cards in a circle formation, two cards that crossed each other in the center. At that moment, Amidamaru came floating to him.

"Yoh, I-"

"Shh, Amidamaru, the seer there can't see you," he whispered. The samurai looked at him as he sighed deeply.

/I…I can't do this…/

/Hikari, if you're scared of the samurai…/

/No, Yami, it's not that. I'm getting an eerie impression from these cards…/

/Don't you always have eerie impressions like that? Most of your readings are quite negative…/

/But the feeling I'm getting from them is a bit more stronger. Please, take over; I'm practically shaking in fear outside. /

/Ok then, yadonushi.../ Bakura took over, his hairstyle going wild and his eyes burgundy. So fortunate for the psychotic tomb robber, Yoh or the spirit didn't notice the change.

"The seven exterior cards represent the general future; they show what to expect." He turned over the top card and bit his lip. He too, felt the eerie impression that his Hikari felt. "The Tower. This card represents a sudden catastrophic change, usually in a negative sense. Something's going to happen that will have a drastic affect on the future." He flipped the next card.

"Here, the six of cups represents someone or something from the past. This card usually means a happy reunion, but it's upside down..." Bakura let it hang at that and continued Yoh's expression quite readable.

"The Devil card stands for the evil in the world. Greed, Materialism, a desire for destruction. This...this is likely brought on by the thing from the past as represented by the six of cups." Yoh frowned and Amidamaru was a bit worried for his master.

"The two of cups represents a partnership, usually a positive one, but again, it's upside down. The seven of swords represents deception. Someone avoiding a direct confrontation and instead relying on deceit and the manipulation of others. This is likely caused by the said partnership which involves the thing from the past..." Bakura really didn't like the whole feel of this. He didn't want to continue, but if he quit now, Ryou would never let him hear the end of it.

"The Lovers card stands for a serious emotional decision in this case, rather than a romantic relationship as implied by its name. A big choice will have to be made. Probably one with few options. The sense created by the other cards also gives me the impression that the options that are available are not happy ones..." Yoh frowned. Almost everything the man had said in this reading was true. Bakura noticed the shaman's expression and frowned as well.

"Do you want me to stop the reading?" Yoh was slightly startled but smiled sheepishly soon after.

"No, not at all. Please continue," Yoh really didn't want him to, but he felt that the man should continue the reading. He nodded and flipped the last card.

"The last card of the circle... The Hanged Man. This has a double meaning here. The Hanged Man often means waiting. Probably related to the said decision. But often in these cases, waiting is the worst thing that can be done." He took a deep breath. "This card also stands for a sacrifice. No matter the outcome, there will be a great price. The aforementioned decision shall be waited on due to hesitation over the costs."

Bakura stared at the two center cards. He'd come this far, he had to finish it. But this was certainly taking a lot out of him.

Bakura, who was looking quite pale, reached over and rested a trembling hand over the crossed cards. "The-these represent the root of future. That which is most directly responsible for what the other cards show." The young shaman and his samurai spirit leaned in for a better look. Bakura breathed deeply and tasted blood. He'd bitten his lip too hard. He exhaled and quickly flipped the cards. The tomb robber's frown deepened.

Ren crashed into the bone door. Clutching his sword, he slowly stood up.

"How in the world do you keep your hair up like that…?" Ren leaned on the wall.

"It's natural, spike head. Deal with it." Ren was knocked into the ground. As he tried to stand up again, the tip of a broadsword met with the Chinese shaman's neck. He looked up and saw an elf that looked much like a western warrior from the old times. He looked at the side to see that his opponent, Atemu, who was a pharaoh (according to him), holding a card with the same elf that was standing before him that was glowing. After a while the glowing ceased, the warrior disappearing.

"Celtic Guardian. Not that strong according to many, but it's enough to keep you down on the ground." The pharaoh smirked.

"Why you…" As Ren stood up, Ramius' eyes appeared to the shamans.

That'sss enough of that, you two. Tao, kindly leave the place or elssse. The Chinese shaman looked at the pharaoh and then Ramius before heading out. Atemu closed his eyes as he shrunk a few inches. Ramius chuckled as he slithered out of the shadows which he rarely did.

Welcome back, Yugi. Yugi bowed slightly to him.

"That one wasn't really nice."

In general, he isss never kind to anyone.

"Why so, Ramius?"

It isss becaussse he wasss never treated that way when the ssshaman was young.

"I…see." Silence followed after. It was then Yugi switched places once more with the pharaoh.

"Ramius…"

Do asss you pleassse, pharaoh…asss long asss you don't kill any of the alliesss…including Tao. Is that underssstood? Atemu sighed.

"Yes, Ramius." With that he too went out of the room.

"The King of Wands…crossed by The Moon." Yoh blinked. By the look on the reader's face it seemed that this combination was really bad. The tomb robber quickly scooped the cards and put them in his pocket.

"Wait, you didn't tell me…" Yoh began.

"I don't need to tell you anything." He said quickly, now making his presence as a shaman known by pointing a gold dagger with an eye at the end of the handle that was teamed with furyoku at the young shaman's throat. He just sat there, very much dumbfounded.

"H-how…?" The tomb robber smirked but frowned soon after, spinning the dagger as it became the Millenium Ring.

"Again, I don't need to tell you anything; even if I wanted to." He turned his back as Yoh slowly reached for his gun. But before he could bring it out and point it at the tomb robber, the shadows came from Bakura and that was enough to stop him from doing something. Bakura smirked and put his hand through the wall.

"Don't even try to shoot me. The shadows will get you and your samurai spirit before you could pull that trigger." With that he disappeared in the shadows.

Author's note: Sorry for taking so long…I'm about to graduate and stuff…so…yeah…R&R!

-LazyShamanist