Hey everyone. Well, I'm glad everyone liked the last two chapters. Cindy mostly thought up a great deal of the past for me, although I had similar ideas, but she did an excellent job. At any rate, now you all know how they met. There is some stuff in between and after, but that's left for Cindy (in case you all don't know, that's my fiancé's name, lol) to fill in. She is going to also put in some stuff that will tie in with my final sequel to this story line. Btw, thanks everyone. I have exactly 300 reviews, and I'm excited about that fact. I never dreamed I'd get that many, and I'm just so shocked I have them. Thank you all once again. Well, now it's time for some reviews.

Tomb Robber Vicky: Thanks for the congrats. I'm sure you could write something good. Lol, I still pick at mine, thinking it's not good enough due that I catch errors here and there. Yeah, their history is sweet. Yep, Joey beat him. Btw, as you saw in Cindy's story, he may have a reason why he was able to resist. You guessed it right about who it was fighting in the past with Illidan and his father. As for Marie, we'll see soon what happens.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, maybe Keith will duel good for once. That'd be scary, lol. Yep, their relationship was a bit bumpy at first, but it smoothed out. Whenever Cindy gets to writing more on her story, you'll get to see more about it. And nah, she never did, although she threatened to kill me after we were lab partners once (before we dated). See, she happened to have her hair down in chemistry class, and she happened to be leaning over towards our burner. Well, the fun person I am, I wasn't paying attention at that and thought why not turn up the gas. Lol, I turned it up, and she jumped back, for I think I almost set her hair on fire. It got slightly singed on a few ends, but she was fine. She won't let me forget about that either… But yeah, Illidan has plenty to compete with. I think he'd be fine. As for the three Sacred Beasts, they're hard to tie in at this point. I will discuss them later though, so till then, no beasts, lol. Thanks for the idea though. If not for the fact I had finished this thing a while back, I'd probably do it, but I just don't have the energy, time, or the desire (I spent too much time already) to update this thing. I think I spent like a year and a half writing it, then another 2 or 3 months correcting it (the original had so many plot holes it wasn't funny).

Strawberry Cake: Lol, thanks. It's hard to tell how they can. And thanks for saying they blend in so well. Lol, they did make it difficult to explain the end of the show though, which rather sucks. Looks at Ryou. I don't think so… Wait, he is!

pink-kiss-candy: Indeed they do. And yes, poor Ryou. Pokes him with stick. Yep, he's alive, maybe.

Isis the Sphinx: Lol, maybe she'll figure it out. I figure Joey isn't going to be able to say too much after that fight.

Ultimate Legendary Master: He took over Marik's mostly due that Marik isn't as strong as the others. As for Joey, he has past roots (lol, me and Cindy gave him some to explain why he's able to resist the Shadows so much). It would have been more fun true with all 10 going at it on their own, but Gozaburo has other plans, which involve getting rid of Illidan and any other competition that stands in his way.

Well, that's all I have. Thank you all for the 300 reviews. As a treat, I'll post two chapters this morning. Thanks again to everyone.

Chapter 103

Slowly Marie made her way towards Gozaburo's office. She was noticing for the first time during the day that the tower had been so quiet. Usually it was full of voices from the duelists and their friends, but no sound was heard along the way.

At long last, she arrived at the office where Gozaburo resided. She sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be fun. The last time she had been alone with Gozaburo had been five millennia ago, and that still wasn't enough time to be away from him to her. That time had led to disaster too, which didn't help make this any easier.

She only hoped that this time Gozaburo would take her seriously and forget about her. She wanted to only be friends in ancient times, and that's all she'd extend this time, but something told her he wouldn't have that. "He's too corrupt to probably realize that too. He should know by now my heart belongs to one person, and only one person. And that one person is Illidan, not him. I love Illidan too much to ever betray him. Gozaburo should know first hand that I'll never be with or serve him."

Sighing one more time, she knocked on the beaten and battered door. She heard a familiar "Come in" that sent chills down her spine.

Slowly, she entered, going on guard instantly. There in his throne sat Gozaburo in all his so called glory. On his head was the Millennium Crown, the same Millennium Item that had cost Yami his life. The same item that nearly cost her and all of her friends' lives, not to mention the same item that nearly tore her world apart by nearly taking Illidan's life.

She glared at him and slowly came forward. He motioned for her to take a seat, and she cautiously sat down in the chair, not once letting her eyes trail away from Gozaburo.

At the same time, Gozaburo never took his eyes off of her either. He watched her closely, making slight note to all her movements. To him, she was like poetry in motion.

Smiling, he said "Welcome Marie. Glad you could make it. I take it Illidan is awake, or is he still sleeping?"

Marie only scowled at Gozaburo's mocking question. "He knows darn well that Illidan is still unconscious. Why bother with such a foolish question." she mentally yelled.

"Because I can, my dear." he replied, as if seemingly reading her thoughts.

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts, realizing he had read her mind. Quickly, she put up a mental barrier, shielding her thoughts from Gozaburo. Gozaburo only chuckled at her efforts.

"Still the same beautiful, clever girl you always were, aren't you Marie? You haven't changed in five millennia according to the memories of this crown." he said while staring at her intensely with hungry eyes. Those eyes frightened Marie to the core. It was the same eyes that Gozaburo Tark had had. Everything in his eyes looked the same.

She suddenly realized that Illidan had been correct. He was the true reincarnation of Gozaburo. The crown had truly resurrected him. Now she realized the mistake she had made by coming here. Without Illidan's protection, she was in danger. Gozaburo could easily over power her. With that thought on her mind, she rose to leave. She turned to walk out when she felt something suddenly.

Turning around, she saw the Millennium Crown glowing brightly as it's power flared out. Gozaburo then yelled "DARE TO TURN AND LEAVE ME AGAIN DO YOU? THEN YOU WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE!"

With that, she was hit with a tremendous mental wave. The wave was designed to disable her long enough for him to take control of her mind. She fell to the ground, in pain from the wave. Quickly, she frantically tried to stand. She was literally dragging herself to the door. She was almost there when she felt the crown's power flare up again.

She was grabbed by its energy and flung back to the middle of the room. She screamed for help as she was tossed back in, but it was falling upon deaf ears. Gozaburo then began to probe her mind, attempting to gain control. She screamed as he entered her mind, knowing what he was trying to do. With all her will power, she forced him out with the power of her Millennium Necklace. It took a good deal of strength to force him out, but she did succeed.

Lying there in the floor, panting, Marie realized she had to leave, and fast. She struggled to stand but was hit by another mental wave entering her mind. Again, it attempted to gain control of her mind and body. She cried out in pain, slamming to her knees while holding her head. With all her might, she once again pushed him out of her mind. She succeeded again, but knew she couldn't keep this up. The worst part was, with each attempt stopped, she grew weaker. Her physical strength was leaving her, and leaving fast.

With all the strength she had inside herself, she scrambled to her feet. Traveling as fast as she could without falling, she ran towards the door.

As she approached, she heard "YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME! I WILL HAVE YOU UNDER MY CONTROL!"

Once again, a mental wave hit her. This one was stronger than the previous two. Summoning all the strength she had in her body, she pushed back, to only find him pushing back with equal force. She was crying due to the extreme pain already, but pushed all the pain aside and summoned all her strength. Again, she made an attempt to push him out, but couldn't quite do it.

She cried out "YOU WON'T CONTROL ME! I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH TO LET YOU WIN!"

Giving everything she had, she forced Gozaburo out again. This was a costly victory though. Now she was totally exhausted. She had no strength left and was left sitting there, panting, just trying to catch her breath and summon enough strength to get up. It never came though. She was too tired to move. She felt betrayed by her body.

She looked up to see Gozaburo in front of her with an evil smile on his face.

"Looks like your love isn't strong enough to save you, my dear. Now, be a good girl and give into the darkness. It won't hurt very much if you do." he said with evil in his eyes.

He then began to reach out again with a mental wave. It hit her hard once more, causing her to scream in pain. She curled up into a protective ball, screaming for him to stop. She pushed back with all that she had, which wasn't much. The small bit of energy she had left was fleeing fast.

Before she felt him take away all her reserves, she cried out "I'M SO SORRY ILLIDAN! I'M SO SORRY!"

Tears were flowing plentiful from her eyes as she had said this. Slowly, she felt her last defenses slip away. Then all went dark to her. Her mind was completely taken over, leaving Gozaburo in control.

He let out a triumphant evil laugh, knowing only one more person stood in his way. That one person could be the difference maker in Illidan winning or losing the tournament.

Gozaburo then yelled "You're next, Yami, muwhahaha!"

Meanwhile, in his room, Illidan thrashed about in his sleep. His key felt that something had happened, but he wasn't awake enough to show him. Illidan's peaceful dreams had become nightmares, ones that he couldn't awaken from. Ones where Marie was taken from him, with no way to get her back. Tears formed in his tightly closed eyes as he continued to thrash about.

Elsewhere, Yugi was slowly walking towards Gozaburo's office. Yami was walking along side of his friend in spirit form. The two were conversing about Yami's ancient past. Yugi was filled with questions for Yami about the memories he had recently reacquired thanks to Illidan.

"So, you knew Marie before Illidan did?" asked a curious Yugi.

Smiling at his friend, he replied "Yes, I did. From what has reawakened in my memories, I got to know her while he was away training."

Yugi then asked "How did you two meet?"

Yami chuckled at the curiosity within Yugi. His innocence and curiosity was always fun to deal with. Thinking back, he said "Well, at the time, I was age nine. My father had just passed away within the year, making me Pharaoh. Every pharaoh always had to have a personal servant, and I had yet to pick one out."

Suddenly remembering he could show Yugi the memory, he said "I'll show you, since it's easier to do it than explain everything."

Slowly, Yami brought forth the memory so Yugi could see it for himself. Suddenly, Yugi began to see the memory. He was in spirit form, right beside Yami. They saw two people walking towards what looked like a hut.

The first was a young child, which was Yami. Leading him was what looked like a royal advisor. They arrived shortly at the hut to find several slaves and their master out bowing before the Pharaoh.

Yami, the child version, made a motion and they stood back up.

"I don't know way I have to do this." a nine-year-old Yami whined.

He wanted to be out playing with his friends or anything else but doing boring things like finding a personal servant.

"Because young Pharaoh, you need a personal servant. You have many responsibilities and they'll help you with them. How about this one?" asked Yami's advisor, who was pointing out a male slave who was about 25 years old, who somehow looked like he hadn't seen a day of hard work.

Shaking his head, Yami replied stubbornly "He is too old. If this person is going to be with me all the time, I want someone my age."

He then walked on down the line of slaves as his advisor said "But young Pharaoh, you also want someone with experience with the matters of a house."

"That won't matter with time. If I pick someone my age, by the time they're his age," Yami stopped to point at the 25 year old slave, "they will have 15 years experience."

The advisor started to counter argue to that, but Yami stopped paying attention. Something, more like someone, had caught his eye instead. He had spotted a small slave girl. She was hiding slightly behind a woman's leg. Her clothing was nothing more than rags, her hair cut incredibly short.

Silently to himself, he thought "To keep it out of her way while she works."

Of course, he assumed this, but it seemed logical. Everything about the girl was dirty looking. The slave master noted who Yami was looking at.

"You don't want her, my Pharaoh. She is nothing but a harvesting slave. She knows nothing about even living in a house, let alone keeping one clean." he simply stated.

Yami turned quickly to the man and asked "What do you mean 'knows nothing about living in a house?'"

Sighing, the slaver said slowly and sarcastically "Harvesting slaves live out in the fields. They don't need housing."

"YOU WILL NOT TALK TO THE PHARAOH THAT WAY!" bellowed Yami's advisor.

The slaver replied with "You should be thankful…"

Again, Yami stopped paying attention to his advisor, and made a mental note to make it mandatory for all slaves to have homes. After noting that, he turned back to the girl. The girl retreated even farther behind the woman now.

Yami looked up to the woman, and kindly asked "Is she your daughter?"

Shaking her head, the woman replied "No, I just watch out for her, Your Majesty. Come out here, Marie, and let the Pharaoh see you properly."

The girl, Marie, seemed reluctant to leave her hiding place but did as she was told. She kept her eyes looking at the ground. The girl looked worse close up. Her skin was burned red from the sun, and was dried and peeling. She was underweight, and up close, Yami could tell that she was as old, if not older, than he was. Yami made another mental note, this one about checking on the health of all slaves.

Once it was stowed away in memory, he smiled and said "Hi Marie. My name is Yami. Why don't you look up at me?"

"Because it is bad to look at people that are better than me in the face." she said in a small voice, and then added belatedly "Your Majesty."

Gently, yet kindly, Yami replied "Not if the person asks you too, so look me in the eye."

The girl slowly looked up at him and the view he saw startled Yami. He expected to see a broken sprit, someone with nothing left to live for or hope for but that wasn't what he saw in her eyes. Instead, Marie's eyes burned with the bright light of life. She knew she was better then her situation and hoped for better. More then that, she seemed to be reading everything about Yami. His past, present and future seemed laid bare for her to see.

Yami fought the urge to look away, knowing he shouldn't and couldn't. "Pharaohs do NOT look away from slave's gazes." his mind screamed.

After a moment, the girl smiled and said "I have never seen a pharaoh before. You seem nice."

The girl then looked at Yami's advisor and the slaver, who were still arguing. Inwardly, Yami sighed. He felt like he had passed some kind of test, but what he wasn't sure. Something about how she had looked at him made him feel worried, but he wasn't sure what it was.

His thoughts were interrupted by Marie saying "My master isn't a good man, but your advisor is, I think."

Her statements confused Yami for a moment, but decided to consider them later. Yami also looked at the two arguing.

He then cleared his throat loudly to get their attention, and said "I will take this girl, Marie, to be my personal servant."

Yami's declaration made both men start arguing with him, but Yami paid them no mind. He then turned to Marie and gently took her by the hand.

Kindly, he said "Come now, let's get you home and cleaned up. I'm sure one of the slaves at the palace will help you learn your duties."

As they started to walk away, the woman that had been with Marie yelled "Marie, don't look back!"

The memory then ended, and Yugi, along with Yami, regained their sense of the world. Yugi smiled at Yami and patted his friend on the back.

"That was great how you saved her. If not for you, she may have died there a slave." he said with pride in his friend's actions.

Yami smiled and nodded, saying "I don't remember too much more after that. I should regain the rest of my memories one day... I wish I could remember more…"

Yugi looked at his partner and smiled, and said "Don't worry; you'll get them back one day. For now though, we have to see Gozaburo and find out what he's planning."

With that said, the two continued on, not knowing the danger that awaited them.