Chapter 18

The next morning, Illidan awoke in yet another cold sweat. His vision from the night had shown him what had happened at the end of the battle with Gozaburo over the Millennium Crown. Marie had just been stabbed by Gozaburo in the back. She was lying there, possibly dying. Illidan had slowly dragged himself to her side. He checked her wound and soon realized the wound wasn't fatal. Gozaburo had luckily missed all her vital organs.

Now driven by an extreme anger and will to stop Gozaburo no matter what, he jumped up and charged Gozaburo. Illidan punched and kicked wildly at Gozaburo, desperately trying to hit him. Gozaburo though was slowly backing up, dodging each advance Illidan made.

Finally, Illidan quickly made a sweeping ground kick that knocked Gozaburo off his feet. Once on the ground, Illidan quickly grabbed his Millennium Key and pointed it straight at Gozaburo's head. He then thrust all his power and then some into the key. Illidan knew he was pouring more power than he should into the Millennium Key, but it was his only chance to hopefully defeat Gozaburo.

Luckily for him, it was enough, for Gozaburo was sent to the Shadow Realm. Knowing that it wouldn't take long for him to recover if he still had the Millennium Crown on, Illidan quickly kicked the crown off of Gozaburo's head, making it roll away till it landed with a clang.

Satisfied that Gozaburo couldn't return, Illidan slowly started walking towards Marie, only to fall to the ground before he got there. He then slowly crawled to her side and saw that she was still unconscious. Illidan carefully wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, and started crying, knowing that she had suffered for nothing. Even though he had many wounds on his body, he was oblivious to them. Only Marie mattered to him, not his own pain. Soon enough he passed out from his own pain and the vision then ended.

When Illidan awoke, he looked down to see that the Millennium Key was glowing. Why it was showing him such painful memories of his past life he just didn't know.

"Could it be possible that Marie was as well reincarnated? And could it also be possible that Gozaburo, the one of the past, escaped the Shadow Realm and got reincarnated too? I just wish I had an idea of what to think. So many questions need answered. I need to talk to Ishizu, and soon."

Illidan then got up out of bed and began his usual morning activities. He first showered and then ate. While eating, he looked at the clock to discover it was 5:30 A.M. "Only 5:30 A.M.!"

Sighing, he then continued to slowly eat. After he finished, he then looked on his computer to see who he would duel during the day.

With a shocked look on his face, he cried out "A title vs. title duel! It's me vs. Seto! Wow, this should be interesting!"

Thinking for a second, Illidan then remembered that in ancient times, he was friends with a sorcerer that looked exactly like Seto. His name was Set, and they had dueled quite a few times.

"Set controlled the Millennium Rod back in ancient times. I wonder if it is possible that Seto is the reincarnation of Set? They have the same looks, but does he remember who he is? I can't rule it out the possibility that he could be Set, especially since he can control an Egyptian God Card."

Bringing himself out of his deep thoughts, he quietly said "I better check my deck."

He then ran through his deck quickly. Everything seemed in order. Once finished, Illidan decided he needed to go see Ishizu immediately so he could figure out some of his questions.

While he quickly grabbed his Duel Disk and set it on a table near the door, he silently said "I have to see her. Better go now, before it's too late."

Slowly, he cracked his door open to view the hall. It was still just 5:45 A.M., most likely it was too early for anyone to be up. Illidan looked down the hall and saw a guard patrolling.

"Great, now what?"

Then he remembered he had the Millennium Key, making him silently chuckle to his own stupidity. Quickly, he brought it out of it's concealment and concentrated, making himself invisible. As before during his practicing, a cloak of darkness enveloped him, allowing him to become invisible.

Silently, he opened his door and quietly shut it. Carefully, he then walked down the hall to Ishizu's room. Illidan then quickly checked the door to see if it was locked or not. To his surprise, it wasn't. He then opened it and entered, making sure to quietly shut the door behind him without any noise. He then walked towards where the bedroom was, hoping she at least had some cloths on.

"Oh please be decent. I don't want to walk in on some girl with nothing on, although it would be entertaining and all, but still, I would rather dislike doing that to someone."

Illidan silently walked into the bedroom where he saw Ishizu sitting on the bed. "Phew, she's decent at least."

Looking up, Ishizu said "Who is there?"

Illidan quickly realized she could somehow sense him possibly, or possibly she heard the door open and shut. Either way, Illidan quickly released the veil of darkness around himself to make him visible once again.

Smiling, Ishizu said "Ah, so it's you Illidan. I see Shadi gave you your item back as he said he would."

Nodding, Illidan replied "Yes, he did. He returned it to me before the tournament."

Smiling, she said "Good, then all is going according to what I foresaw."

Frowning, Illidan asked "What do you mean?"

"It was Shadi's job to return you the Millennium Key that you entrusted to him five millennia ago. I had seen this by gazing into the future and past with my Millennium Necklace, and discovered that you were the true owner of the Millennium Key."

Nodding, Illidan then said "I've got a few questions for you. I need to know …"

Before he could say anymore, Ishizu shook her head and said "I'm sorry, but I can no longer answer your questions about the future or the past."

Puzzled, Illidan asked "Why not?"

She then pointed to her bare neck, saying "I no longer hold that power since I gave my Millennium Necklace away."

Shocked, Illidan blurted out "What? What do you mean you gave it away? And who did you give it away to?"

Smiling, Ishizu replied "I gave my item to it's rightful owner."

Illidan quickly asked "Rightful owner?"

Lightly chuckling, Ishizu replied "You know of the one whom I speak of. After all, since you are slowly regaining your memories of the past, you should know by now who the true owner of the Millennium Necklace was in ancient Egypt."

Thinking for a moment, he said "You don't mean that you returned the item to Marie, do you?"

Nodding, Ishizu replied "Ah, so your memories are being fully restored. Yes, it's true. Marie was the original owner of the Millennium Necklace, and now once again possesses it."

Sighing, Illidan then asked "Ishizu, you told Shadi that I was possibly one of the four to save the world. Why is Marie, Yami, Marik, and me the all possibly able to save the world? Is it our items, and if it is, then why?"

Sighing herself, Ishizu responded "I can't explain Illidan. I was shown those visions when I gazed into the future. There was one problem though. The future was not revealed to me past where the duel starts between the one destined duelist and Gozaburo."

Folding his arms across the chest and sighing, Illidan said "I see. So, you don't know for sure what is going to happen then. That does answer one question, but now I have new questions."

With a small sign of sadness, Ishizu replied "I can't answer them Illidan. You must now ask Marie, not me. She holds all the answers of the future and of the past."

Sighing, Illidan nodded his head and said "I understand. Thank you Ishizu."

Smiling, she said "It was no problem. I wish you luck and wish I could answer more questions, but as I said, I have no way to answer them now. Hopefully things will turn out alright, but I have no idea. Like Battle City, I had no idea what is going to happen. I can only say what I think should happen."

Turning to leave, Illidan said "Alright. Well, thank you, and good bye."

As he was leaving, he heard Ishizu say "Good luck with the rest of the tournament."

Turning back, he smiled and replied "Thanks."

With that, Illidan then became cloaked once again and left Ishizu's room. Quietly, he walked back to his room and silently shut his door. Once inside, he hid his Millennium Key once again and noticed it was 7:30 A.M.

Grabbing his Duel Disk and deck, Illidan headed toward the Duel Tower's elevator. He arrived early for a second day in a row. Not long after his arrival, Seto showed up.

Smirking, Seto said "So, you had the guts to show up after all."

Smiling, Illidan replied "I'll let my dueling on the field show you how many guts I've got."

The judge then quickly interrupted, saying "Save that for the duel you two."

Both Illidan and Seto gave each other one last glare.

"Duelists, let's get to the dueling ring." called out the judge.

The elevator doors then opened, allowing Illidan, Seto, and the judge to step in. Within a few moments, they arrived at the top. As Illidan was about to step out behind the judge, Seto put his arm in front of Illidan, allowing Seto to push his way out of the elevator.

"Hey …" Illidan began to cry out.

"Losers always get out second." interrupted Seto.

Growling, Illidan slowly fell in line behind Seto as they took to the field.

The judge then cleared his voice and yelled "The following duel is a title vs. title duel. It shall be the World Champion Seto Kaiba vs. the Intercontinental Champion Illidan Stormrage. Duelists, shake hands and then shuffle each others decks."

Obeying the judge, both Illidan and Seto shook hands. Seto was squeezing Illidan's hand hard, which caused Illidan to then squeeze back hard. Seto slightly flinched at Illidan's strength and finally stopped shaking hands. Then each handed one another their decks. Once finished shuffling, each placed their decks in their Duel Disk's deck slot.

Satisfied by the two's small ceremony, the judge then said "Since Seto Kaiba is currently ranked higher than you Illidan, so he has the choice of who goes first."

Without thinking, Seto said "I'll go first."

Nodding, the judge responded with "Very well Seto. Illidan shall go second then. Now duelists, to your marks."

Illidan and Seto each moved to their positions on the field.

"Now, duelists activate your Duel Disks and bring out your Deck Masters. Then draw your first five cards and Seto may begin." ordered the judge.

Both Illidan and Seto fired their holographic projectors onto the field. Then at the same time, Illidan and Seto's Duel Disks unfolded and lit up. The life point counters each went to 8000.

Smirking, Seto said "Fool, you'll lose! I'll now bring my Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650) out!" Seto's Deck Master looked like a blue and purple sea serpent of some kind. He carried with him some kind odd lance also.

"Well, that monster is interesting looking. I wonder what kind of Deck Master abilities it has."

Finally waking from his thoughts, Illidan decided it was time he showed Seto what his Deck Master looked like.

"Now, I'll bring out my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!" declared Illidan. The powerful warrior with extremely shiny armor then appeared beside Illidan and raised his sword and shield.

Each then drew their first five cards and then yelled "Time to duel!"