In all fairness, Marik could be forgiven for completely forgetting about his spoiled current fling after the mess he found in England.

On one side, he did sorta obtain the Winged Dragon of Ra. On the other, he had to bring back the woman who had apparently been chosen as the newest High Priestess of Ra.

How did he know this?

Because Anubis informed him of such, in between telling him in no uncertain terms that Marik was now his high priest and that he had no choice but to act as the new guardian of the Book of the Dead, since Raven was the caretaker of the Book of the Living, which some scholars also knew as the Book of Amun Ra.

And wouldn't you know it, the book Raven had put the blasted card inside to act as bookmark was the Book of the Living. No wonder the messenger of Bastet had found it utterly hilarious.

Raven had been all too happy to break down how she ended up in this situation while on the plane right...in perfect Arabic.

Apparently when she first touched the canopic jar (heavily secured so it wouldn't feel any jostling from the plane ride and hidden behind a number of spells) Anubis had shown up and wasn't happy.

So he made a deal. He would teach the girl and protect her, in exchange for her sworn oath that she would return the jar and perform the burial rites so that the sacred spells would be renewed in Egypt. It would have to be placed in a secure location where it wouldn't be removed from the sacred sands again.

In exchange the god taught her how to read and speak ancient Egyptian (she was an avid learner) as well as Arabic, and all the spells a High Priestess was required to know back in Ancient Egypt.

The first part was easy enough... the tomb keepers had a special section for the remains of pharaohs and they were taught the same spells to insure that whoever it was contained in the jars were properly put back to rest. It was part of their sacred duty, even if his branch of the clans was bound to the Nameless Pharaoh.

Since the muggle government had gotten better at cracking down on exporting said things, they mostly had to watch out for the magical morons that broke into tombs instead.

Gringotts paid heavy fines if said items were removed from Egypt...especially if it was one of their curse breakers.

Raven was lucky she wasn't related to the curse breaker...she had merely paid his debt and obtained all the junk he left behind. She wasn't directly responsible for paying the massive fine the goblins would then put on the idiot who got caught.

He would deal with that in the morning.

"Who is that woman you brought back?" demanded his irate fling.

Marik glared at her, as he had been hoping for a damn nap. Jetlag was a nightmare.

"None of your business."

He wanted to curse, because thanks to the 'gift' Anubis had given him when he took possession of the Book of the Dead, he could see that the twit was pregnant. However the god was 'nice' enough that Marik could also tell it wasn't his brat.

"I think it is my business considering you are my boyfriend!" she hissed at him.

Marik sat up, looked her dead in the eye and calmly shot back "Yeah, a boyfriend who you've been cheating on with one my minions."

She sputtered, and Marik sneered at her.

"You really think I'm that oblivious? You've been screwing one of my minions on the side because I wouldn't give you the time of day, and I know damn well Odion would never look twice at you. You're not his type."

She bristled, clearly ready to start a major fight. Marik, however, was just done. His expression said volumes.

He had been sick of her for some time, but he had been so busy trying to track down the card he hadn't bothered to kick her out.

He could already tell the twit would be a complete nightmare to deal with.

"Get lost. I'm not going to deal with your whining or petty bullshit anymore. Go run back to your damn parents, you spoiled brat," sneered Marik.

"You'll regret this, Ishtar."

"Go fuck yourself," he shot back. She slammed the door, and Marik warded it. Odion could open it if he wanted, but anyone else wouldn't be able to get in.

The first clue that the twit wasn't done with him came when he went to bed a week later. Or rather, tried to.

He only had a few seconds warning, but it was enough to make him scramble out of bed and practically leap out of the partially open door. He got a nasty bruise on his shoulder and had several of his men staring at him in confusion, but he didn't give a damn considering what was inside his room.

"Did that bitch come back?" he snarled.

"You mean that hot chick you were banging for the past three months?" asked one particular idiot. "She was here around six this morning, why?"

Marik had been out all night yesterday and had to deal with minor matters for the past six hours, giving that twit plenty of time to sneak into his room. And since she had stormed off in a huff, no one had figured out yet that he dumped her.

"Marik, what's wrong?" asked Odion.

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that bitch put a fucking cobra in my room!" snarled Marik.

That got everyone's attention as they looked at the room with far more concern than they had originally.

Oddly enough, Raven snorted.

"So let me get this straight. Your ex was so pissed you dumped her that she brought a cobra into your room?"

Marik glared at her. He might have to tolerate her, but he didn't have to dignify that with a response.

"So how are you going to handle it?" asked Raven.

Marik glared in the direction of his room. He hated snakes, especially since one nearly killed him as a child.

"Someone go get a fire extinguisher and a sack. We're going to have to douse the thing and toss it out," said Marik.

None of the men looked enthusiastic. It was going to take forever to lower that thing's body temperature enough to safely handle it, and it could bite any one of them. None of them fancied a trip to the hospital.

"Seriously? That's your big plan?" said Raven.

"You have a better one that involves a poisonous snake?" said Marik irate.

"Venomous, actually. Poisonous implies touching it would make you sick," she corrected. "And yes, I do. Someone go get me a tank or something to hold the snake in. I'll handle it myself."

One of the men went to get a box big enough for the snake, and she calmly walked into the room without any hint of fear. Less than five minutes later, she walked out with the box again...except it was hissing now.

Everyone wisely backed away from the box, save for an unconcerned Raven.

"How the fuck did you get the snake out?" demanded Marik.

"...I'm a parselmouth," said Raven.

Marik stared at her.

"You're a snake speaker?" he said intently.

"Yup. Besides, I've been bitten by worse."

Any annoyance he had with having to bring her with him died in that instant. No more worrying about snakes being anywhere near him ever again.

Raven carefully sent the cobra back into the wilds, well away from the city. The snake gratefully slithered off.

Odion, who drove her to the outskirts, watched with amazement. This woman was clearly blessed by the gods, even he could see it.

"I feel sorry for that poor thing, having to put up with a human's petty schemes. Why did she choose a snake anyway?" asked Raven.

"Master Marik has a deep dislike of snakes. He was bitten by a similar one as a child and nearly died from it, and thus refuses to go near them," explained Odion.

Most of the Ghouls understood he didn't like the creatures, but he harbored no ill will towards them personally. He just didn't want them around.

Raven could empathize. Just because she could speak to snakes didn't mean she wanted one as a pet.

"I almost forgot...the reason Master Marik was so late in finding the serpent was because he was getting things ready for the ritual," said Odion.

"So it's almost ready?"

"The jar can be laid back to rest in three days, on the full moon," said Odion.

A few days later, Raven went with Marik and Odion to a hidden location. Only a select few were permitted to know where it was, and even then they were sworn with sacred oaths to never reveal it.

Odion got a pass because he was Marik's loyal right hand, but Raven was not. So she was blindfolded, among other things, to insure she would not be able to locate the sacred area without assistance. Not that she cared, mind you.

There were a few women in the tombs. They helped her to get dressed appropriately, since wearing such ancient garb would raise more than a few eyebrows. She had to blink at the sheer amount of gold that she was apparently required to wear for the ceremony.

Bazz looked very prim and proper, and was wearing her golden collar and ear cuffs without even a sound of complaint. Then again, she was the living avatar of a goddess. She would be used to such finery.

The cat jumped onto Raven's shoulder once she was properly decorated.

Marik looked very different from his usual outfits, which were rather casual. He also had a few new pieces on him, but Raven didn't know the significance of them.

"You remember your part, right?" asked Marik.

Raven nodded, as they had drilled her for the past three days so she would not make a misstep.

Odion would carry the sacred jar, while Marik and Raven would walk in time in front of him. Both would have the ancient implements and recite very specific prayers meant to consecrate the jar back into the sacred lands of the dead. While the original body might very well be lost, just having one of the jars was enough to return the pharaoh to his rightful place.

The hallway was lined with torches that were alight with sacred fire, as no false light was permitted in these sacred halls. They were changed regularly by the people who kept the tombs safe.

Odion carefully picked up the jar, holding it with the reverence required for the ceremony.

The eunuchs opened up the doors leading to the tombs. As the original ones were desecrated and the spells destroyed by the curse breakers, the tombs here were far simpler. It was hoped that interring the remains would at least remind the gods of what had been 'offered' to the dead before, or at least return them to their rightful place.

The almost oppressive darkness that went before them didn't scare any of those in the procession. Bazz calmly walked ahead of them, despite the fact her patron god had nothing to do with the dead.

Reaching the alcove where the remains would be placed, Marik and Raven stepped to one side of Odion. He silently placed the jar in the new resting place, giving the pharaoh's remains one final pious bow, before retreating without a word.

Marik and Raven completed the ceremony, before calmly leading the procession out of the tombs, their job done.

It was almost a relief to be rid of half the jewelry, though she didn't mind the hand-woven cloth.

Some of it though, the maids batted at her hands when she tried to remove...like the earrings or a few of the bracelets.

Raven all but crashed on the cheap couch once they were back in the hideout.

"Ugh...talk about overly formal and oppressing," she said. "Thank magic I was taught Arabic or it would have been incredibly awkward!"

"You actually did better than most born outside the clans. Especially since the ritual requires exact timing and inflection when it comes to the way you say the words," said Marik. He looked just as exhausted and he was trained to do this crap.

"By the way, what was the deal with the aides? They seemed almost horrified when I went to take all the gold off," said Raven. Because that bothered the hell out of her.

Marik had a pained look on his face. He had tried to take off a few of the pieces as well, but the expression on the head eunuch said that it was non-negotiable.

"You know the books we're stuck protecting?" he asked, and she looked at him. "Well only certain people are even supposed to touch them, much less be aloud to read the sacred rituals from them."

"Is that why they looked like they were about to have heart attacks when we showed up with them as well as the jar?" she asked. He nodded. "Why do I sense that there was a catch?"

"Congratulations, you're the official chosen of Ra, meaning that you're essentially a High Priestess by ancient standards," said Marik deadpan. "And with the rank comes certain standards for how you present yourself."

"Meaning?" said Raven dangerous.

"The gold you're wearing is to help identify you to the clan elders and leaders as to what your rank is," said Marik. "It comes with certain protections and perks, but mostly it's a warning not to question you. Doesn't matter if you're English...Ra chose you, and the gods clearly favor you so the Keepers have to suck it up. Gold is ridiculously easy to replace, so when you die you'll be buried with them."

"...Terrific," she said. She lightly touched the earrings. "Well, I was planning to get these pierced anyway."

"If this was Ancient Egypt you'd be wearing enough gold to blind people, but since this is the 21st century it's considered acceptable to have moderation," said Marik.

"You seem a lot calmer than you were before. Why?"

"Thanks to the fact you had the books, I was given an out in regards to being stuck leading my branch of the clan," said Marik. "The fact you have zero interest in duel monsters, the Items or my position means I don't have to keep up appearances with you."

That and the fact Raven was a better potion master than the idiot he had to pay under the table for his prescriptions. She had no issue brewing them for him, nor did she care about why he needed them.