Chapter 12

After the day of dueling was over, the standings were adjusted for each win and loss. Yugi remained first due that he beat Noa. Seto as well remained second by defeating Joey. Due to Keith's loss, Marik advanced to third with his victory over Bakura. Even with a loss, Noa had managed to somehow get moved into fourth. Illidan moved all the way up from eighth to fifth with his win over Keith. Marie moved up to sixth with her win over Mai. With his loss, Keith slid all the way back to seventh. Bakura moved back to eighth, while Mai remained ninth, and Joey finished out as tenth.

For the most part, the day looked like a good start for some of the duelists. Some won big time, while others struggled.

When Marie had watched Illidan win his duel, she was so proud of him. After the duel, she had walked out onto the field and gave him a big hug and a kiss. Illidan then went over to the stands with her sat down with her till her duel had come up.

Marie had dueled Mai, and won after a difficult start. That evening, the duelists all gathered for a small get together. They all talked, some bragged, some were chided, and some just left. Illidan was congratulated by almost everyone. The first to congratulate him was of course Marie.

While at the get together, Yugi walked up to Illidan and said "Congratulations Illidan. That's quite an accomplishment for your first day of dueling in the tourney."

Blushing slightly for the praise, Illidan nodded and said "Yeah, thanks Yugi. It was a tough duel. I wasn't too sure if I'd even win, but I never lost hope. And I trusted my deck, which is what won it for me really. If I hadn't of drawn Chaos Emperor Dragon when I had, I don't know what I'd have done."

"You loser, you're lucky to have won at all."

Illidan turned around to see who made the rude comment to only find Seto Kaiba standing there with his arms crossed. To say the least, he looked like he was one of those people that are always in a bad mood.

"You don't deserve that title Illidan. I'll personally make sure that you lose when you duel me. And then I'll become both the World Champion and Intercontinental Champion!" declared Seto.

Smiling, Illidan replied with "Try me anytime Seto. I promise you this, I won't let you win. I'll fight you with all that I've got and then some. So, just bring it."

Seto then stared at Illidan for a minute. It was inevitable that the clash of champions would happen sometime if Illidan and Seto retained their titles. In the history of Duel Monsters, the World Champion had never faced off with the Intercontinental Champion.

Tensions were high, but suddenly, in the middle of the tense confrontation, an announcement was made by one of the guards.

"Duelists, it's been a long evening. Mr. Kaiba would like for all of you to now return to your rooms. He wants each of you rested for tomorrow, so please now return to your rooms."

Illidan and Seto continued to stare each other down though.

At last, Seto looked away and said "Come on Mokuba , we need to go."

After a moment, Illidan started walking Marie to her room. Along the way, Illidan was lost in thought as usual. "Seto is bent on bringing me down. He will be tough to beat, but I'll have to do it in order to win this tournament. I just have to if I want to put an end to Gozaburo's evil plot."

"Illidan, we're here."

Waking up from his deep thoughts, Illidan looked up to notice where they were. He lightly chuckled and said "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

Smiling, Marie replied "It's ok. Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you."

Before he said another word, Illidan gave her a small kiss on the lips, more of a chastising kiss than anything and then said "I love you too Marie. Have a good night."

As she turned to go in her room, she smiled and said "Good night."

Once in her room, Marie sat down on her bed. She then held her hands up to her neck and started concentrating. Slowly, she then removed the concealment energy that surrounded her Millennium Necklace.

She then began the process of looking back in the past for images that would help her determine what the future would hold. She knew from her past life that events in the past seem to reoccur in the future for what seemed like an infinite loop.

When Marie had started looking back a day or so ago when she had received her Millennium Necklace again, she had found out that not only was she one of the pharaoh's chosen eight to help contain the Millennium Items evil, but Illidan was as well one. He had been the keeper of the Millennium Key and Royal Seal Master of Egypt. He also was one of the closest friends that the pharaoh had had, not to mention he was the pharaoh's brother in law in ancient times.

This was one reason that explained why Illidan was thought to be possibly one of the four duelists to win this tournament now. As usual, she began exploring all that had happened, making sure not to miss any small details.

Meanwhile, in his room, Illidan was sitting on his bed. After much debate, Illidan decided to bring his Millennium Key out of hiding. With a moment of concentration, he then had his powerful Millennium Item within sight again.

Staring at it, Illidan became lost in deep thought as usual. "Should I go and explore this tower? If I get caught, I'll be in big trouble. But if I don't go, I might not find something out that could help us figure out what's going on."

After sighing, he then became entangled in his thoughts once again. "Maybe I should ask Yugi about this tournament. After all, he is carrying the spirit of the pharaoh, Yami, whom I knew quite well in ancient times. He might be able to help."

Finally, after hearing the sound of guards walking the corridors of the hall, Illidan silently said "I'd better not go tonight. I can still hear those guards walking through the halls. Tomorrow I'll go."

Illidan then returned his Millennium Key to is concealed state. He then walked over to the computer and started checking the stats from the day. While looking at the stats, he started checking to see who he would duel the next day. No changes or decisions had been posted yet though. "Gozaburo must be getting lazy, or he does this in the morning. Oh well, I'll find out then at least."

Illidan finally decided he was too tired to worry about whom he facing next. After doing some usual things in the bathroom, he came back to lie down on his bed, only to quickly drift off to sleep.