Atem brings his arm up to his mouth as he coughs from the smoke that just released from Cairo's shield after she prevented the bomb from going off in the open. He squints his eyes, the fumes causing his eyes to tear up a little. Yugi, Téa, Joey and Tristan all have similar reactions to the smoke, coughing and hacking, attempting to catch their breath. But they appear to be unharmed thanks to Cairo's quick thinking.

"That idiot! He could've really caused some damage!" Tristan yells.

"Don't speak too soon Tristan," Yugi says, finally managing to see through the smoke where Cairo stands.

Atem looks to the middle of the street. At first, he's unaware of what Yugi is talking about. Cairo still stands seemingly unharmed and her eyes stare off in another direction. But as the smoke clears up more, he notices a puddle of blood that has formed at her feet, causing him to gasp with horror when he finally sees the state of her arm. It is covered in blood and the skin on her hand is charred from holding onto the bomb. The sleeve of the uniform blouse that she is wearing is completely burned off as well, revealing her injured arm in full.

She hears the sound of something being loaded and she slowly turns her head, seeing an officer shakily pointing a gun right at her. Although he didn't see what happened, he recognizes Cairo from the robbery incident and immediately assumes she must be the cause of this. Atem grits his teeth and runs to Cairo's aid. Yugi and the others follows suit, forming a barrier in between Cairo and the officer.

"Move! Or you'll all be arrested with helping this criminal!"

"You've got it all wrong!" Téa yells. "She didn't do any of this!"

"Yeah!" Joey chimes in. "It was—!" he looks around to point out Panik, only to see that he is gone.

Tristan growls. "Darn it! He got away!"

"I said move!" the officer commands again.

Cairo peeks past her father. "Hey…I don't know if you noticed, but I'm bleeding," Cairo says to the officer who gulps. "If I can survive that, then surely I can survive whatever your shiny object is capable of."

"N-Not another word from you!"

"Stand down!" an old officer says, walking up to the scene. Cairo immediately recognizes him as the officer she healed at the prison and smirks. "This child here is no criminal."

"But sir…!"

"Now! Or I'll put you on desk duty, understand?!"

The younger officer flinches. "Y-Yes sir!" he says before scrambling away.

Atem sighs in relief as the old officer walks over to him. "Thank you."

The old man nods. "It's the least I could do after she saved my life."

Atem's eyes widen and he glances back at his daughter.

"You all should get going before more officers start trickling in."

"We will," Téa nods. "Thanks again!"

The old officer watches as they make a run for it, tipping his hat before turning away and tending to the scene.

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Sitting on the middle of the floor in Yugi's room, Cairo grunts as the skin on her arm regenerates, covering every single wound that was inflicted on her from the bomb. She's thankful she was able to get away from the scene of the parade without incident. But it does seem strange that Marik disappeared without a trace. And the same goes for Panik, who is still out there roaming the streets.

A low roar of thunder outside brings her attention to the window as the wind picks up. "That rain came out of nowhere," she remarks.

The same tingly sensation in her head from earlier makes her place her hand up to her forehead. She briefly closes her eyes to block out the light from the ceiling fan in Yugi's room. But as she reopens them, she sees a dark silhouette rush past her from the corner of her eye. Whipping her head to where she believes she saw it, there is nothing there. Pausing, she takes a deep breath before looking back down at her arm.

"That healed up nicely," her father says as he enters the room.

She smiles a little. "Yeah."

He sits down in front of her, gently taking her arm and observing it more closely to make sure it's completely healed. Moments like this warms Cairo's heart. After centuries of having to take care of herself, it's nice to have someone, especially her father, concerned about her wellbeing, even if she isn't always willing to accept help.

Looking down at her arm, he is filled with relief that she is okay. Regardless of what she is capable of, she is still a child. And his daughter at that. Her health and safety will always be his number one priority. And no matter how many times he's seen her bounce back from these situations, what she and her mother can do never ceases to amaze him.

That one thought makes his eyes scroll down to his diadhank, where the image of the Dark Magician Girl remains. Cairo takes notice, and this time, she is the one observing his wrist, lifting it up to her eye level.

"When I tried to help, I absentmindedly summoned Dark Magician Girl. Typically I'd summon the Dark Magician but…I called her instead."

"You miss mom," Cairo teases with her dry humor.

Atem flashes a smirk before getting serious again. "I can't pinpoint why I couldn't summon her."

"Maybe it's because mom is the original host? Or because we're in this world."

"Perhaps…but it still doesn't explain why the diadhank activated when I initially called for Dark Magician Girl…or why her image is still frozen here."

"That is weird…"

Thunder makes them look outside, seeing droplets of rain going down the opposite side of the window, making it hard for them to see. A bad feeling washes over Cairo, though she tries to mask that by remaining calm. "I don't remember it raining this much when I first came here."

"Yes, it's really coming down," Atem agrees.

"Probably a bad omen," Cairo comments before covering her mouth, knowing saying that will raise her father's suspicions of her well-being.

Atem peers over at her. "Your energy is off."

Cairo blinks with confusion, opening her palm and forming a magical ball briefly while looking at him.

"Not quite what I meant."

"Oh…I see." She lowers her hand.

"What's on your mind?"

Cairo sighs. "Where do I start…?" she shrugs.

"The fact that Marik practically disappeared without a trace?"

"Well that's only part of it," Cairo admits.

"Go on."

"The fact that I sensed three souls at the parade and only came across two."

Atem whips his head to fully look at her now. "What? But I only saw one."

"After the bomb exploded in my hand, someone came up behind me…and they did…something. But I just don't know what exactly they did."

"Are you serious?"

Cairo nods.

"And…the third soul?"

"I don't have the slightest clue."

Atem can feel the hair raising on his arms as well as goosebumps that send shivers down his spine. The fact that he didn't realize there were other souls present during the parade other than Panik admittedly makes him anxious. How can he protect her when he's unaware of what's lurking in the shadows? Not to mention the current state of his diadhank. He suddenly punches the floor, causing Cairo's eyes to widen with surprise.

"Dad?" she says with concern.

His head is bowed, his bangs hiding his expression. 'What kind of father am I? Not being able to protect my own daughter from the evils that come her way? Am I just supposed to sit back and watch her fight on her own?'

Cairo lowers her eyes, sensing that her father may be struggling with something internally, but she isn't sure what. A dark figure rushes past her once again, causing her to stiffen up and whip her head toward the window once more. Not seeing anything, she continues to study the dark window until there is a flash of lightning. Her heart drops as far as it can go, seeing a dark figure wearing a white mask with the eye of Wdjat covering one of its eyes, along with its red spiky hair that reaches far past its back.

Shutting her eyes, she shakes her head, looking to the window once more, only for it to be gone. Panting lightly, she looks to her father, who doesn't appear to have noticed, being distracted with his own thoughts.

Attributing it to being a long day, she decides that she could use some much needed rest.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

The following morning is spent returning weaker souls back to the Shadow Realm. While Yugi, Téa, Tristan and Joey go to school, Cairo makes it her mission to scout out some of the weaker souls that lurk near her location. Her father lingers close by, even engaging with some of them as they are easy for even him to defeat since it doesn't seem like they've gotten any sort of boost in power.

Cairo flicks a guy with glasses wearing a green jump suit with her finger, sending him flying several feet. According to her father, he was a creepy soul he sent to the Shadow Realm after invading other girls' privacy, including that of Téa's. "Pathetic you are," Cairo says, whipping out her dark colored wand and sending him back to the Shadow Realm just as Atem reaches her side.

"Anymore of them?" Atem asks her.

"One more..." she replies before grunting, placing her hand up to her forehead.

Atem looks to her with concern. "What's wrong?"

As the tingling feeling in her head subsides, she breathes out, slowly lowering her hand. "It's nothing. Just a headache."

"Maybe we should head back for now," Atem suggests, not believing she has it in her to go against an additional soul.

Her stomach suddenly growls and she places a hand on her stomach, glaring down at it as her cheeks go red with embarrassment. "You're too loud!" she whispers angrily.

"There's a ramen place around the corner," Atem says with his hands in his pocket. "Perhaps that will cure your hunger and your headache."

"Okay," Cairo groans. She begins to follow her father until something catches her eye, making her stop in her tracks. Standing on the opposite side of the street is that same individual she kept seeing last night. Gasping, she lifts her hand, forming a magical ball in her palm, preparing to strike. "Magus!"

"Hm?" Atem turns around, seeing Cairo suddenly on the defensive. He follows her gaze across the street, only seeing a stop sign. Then he looks back at her. Her teeth are clenched, her eyes are glowing and her body is tensed up and shaking at the same time. Did he hear her correctly? Did she say Magus? But clearly that isn't the case as he doesn't see their evil relative.

Seeing her about to release her energy, he quickly puts a hand in front of her. "Easy Cairo," he says calmly.

Cairo shuts her eyes and shakes her head. The image she once saw of Magus standing across the street is no longer there. Then she looks over to her father who looks even more concerned.

"Did you say…Magus?"

She jumps slightly. "Uh…well…" She looks across the street again to confirm he isn't there. "It's nothing…"

"Okay…" he replies with uncertainty, not fully convinced that she's okay.

Meanwhile, a man wearing a red suit and mask walks aimlessly down the sidewalk with his head lowered. His posture is hunched over and his feet drag with every step. The occasional moments he manages to look up only fill him with more heartache as he spots different couples walking around hand in hand.

He always longed for the day that he could embrace his love again. And it didn't seem like that would ever be a possibility.

Until he showed up again. Promising him just as he did before that if he defeated his foe, his loving Catherine would return to him.

He doesn't know what possessed him to listen to Marik again. Perhaps he's a fool. Or maybe it's desperation. Or the fact that he has nothing to lose at this point.

He passes under a scaffold from a construction sight, the sounds of machinery and banging filling his ears along with the passing cars. As a construction worker repairs a part of the building he is under, he accidentally knocks over a set of bricks and they plunge down toward the masked man below.

But just before they hit, they stop in midair and his eyes land on a girl with amethyst eyes. Her hand is lifted as she guides the bricks to a safer area. He recognizes her from yesterday's parade, but has never seen her in full.

For when he first made contact with her after the explosion, it was to discreetly cast a spell on her.

Her eyes lazily scroll down to him and he doesn't dare to try and go against her, seeing how she nearly pulverized Panik. "Are you okay?" she asks to his surprise. She's concerned about him? Nevertheless, he doesn't answer. He's certain she will want to send him back to the Shadow Realm right now.

"You're an escaped soul," she says, causing his heart to drop. "And a sorcerer. Just like me."

He gasps lightly.

Something about his presence feels familiar, but she can't quite pinpoint it right now. While the food she just consumed helped with her hunger, her headache still remains. And the more she tries to think about it, the more her headache intensifies.

"You look sad," she says all of a sudden, sending another reaction to his heart. "Most souls I come across are angry and vengeful. But I don't sense any of that at all from you."

The sound of her father calling her takes her attention elsewhere and she turns her back to his surprise. She isn't going to make any attempt to capture his soul?

"I don't know why you were banished to the Shadow Realm. And unfortunately our paths will have to cross again," she says, sounding a bit saddened herself. "But you're in my thoughts. And I hope you find peace."

She darts off to meet back with her father after wandering off while he was paying for the food and the man lowers his eyes, feeling a sense of guilt. His mind flashes back to when he cast the spell on her, knowing the consequences of it. Marik made her out to be a ruthless monster. But what she displayed just now seems far from that.

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The kind hearted Marik walks down the stairs of the museum after helping his sister Ishizu out for the day. Being greeted by the sunset, he wipes the sweat off his brow with a sigh of relief. There were many visitors to the museum which has left him feeling exhausted. But he is always happy to help in sharing his knowledge of Ancient Egyptian history.

To think the pharaoh is back to roaming this Earth is mind boggling to him. As a Tomb Keeper, their role was to protect the tomb of Atem, who was then referred to as the "Nameless Pharaoh." He was taught that once the pharaoh regained his memories and returns to the Afterlife, his role as Tomb Keeper ends.

With the pharaoh here, he wonders what will happen now. He narrows his eyes at the thought of his darker self roaming the streets as well. When he met the pharaoh's daughter, which was a surprise in itself, she relayed to him of Yami Marik's current duties as a Soul Keeper. It isn't a shock to him that his evil self would be responsible for the intentional release of the souls that live in the Shadow Realm.

"Long time no see," a voice from behind him says, causing his heart to nearly jump out of his body. He recognizes that voice. That dreaded voice that once lived inside his head, spewing hateful thoughts and reminding him of his negative emotions.

Marik breathes out, not turning around initially. "Still up to no good as usual I see…"

Yami Marik smirks. "One shouldn't make assumptions."

Marik clenches his fists at his side. "Except I know you very well. You are the embodiment of pure evil," he says, finally turning around. "So what are you up to now?"

"Fulfilling my duties as a soul keeper is all," Yami Marik replies with his arms across his chest and his gaze elsewhere.

"The nerve of you to show up here. And to lie blatantly to my face! Just as you've done before!"

"I'm sensing some resentment," Marik says teasingly, rubbing the inside of his ear with his pinky. "Don't tell me you're still upset over that little incident."

"Little incident? The string of things you've done are far from little. But where do I start?"

"Spare me. I could care less about your feelings."

"Whatever you're planning, you're no match for the pharaoh. He's beaten you before and he'll surely do it again."

Yami Marik cackles before shaking his head. "You fool. The pharaoh and his counterpart are the least of my worries."

"What?" Who else could his darker self have on his radar beside the pharaoh and Yugi? Or could his evil self has his sights on the pharaoh's daughter.

"It's none of your concern really," Yami Marik replies before looking out to the sun. There are a few dark clouds nearby and he smirks. With his plan currently in motion, all he has to do it sit back and wait to see if anything comes out of it.

"You've been locked in the Shadow Realm for awhile now. You'd think you'd see the error of your ways," Marik says.

Yami Marik shrugs his shoulders and turns away. "If all goes well, you and I may see each other again and I for one hope that you'll be ready. I have some unfinished business with you," he says as he walks away while Marik grits his teeth angrily.

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Cairo finds herself wrapped up in a blanket on Yugi's bed as her father places his hand on her forehead, checking her temperature. Yugi so graciously allowed her to sleep on his bed while he and Atem sleep on the floor. Yugi also provided clothing he can no longer fit that she uses as her pajamas.

Atem frowns. "You're burning up, Cairo."

"I honestly didn't think it were possible for me to get sick," she says, rubbing her tired eyes. "It's certainly been awhile."

"Can you heal yourself?"

Cairo shakes her head. "No, I've already tried but I can't shake it for some reason. This doesn't feel like any ordinary sickness."

"Well regardless, you need to rest."

"As much as I'd hate to admit it, you are right. Maybe I can sleep it off. Whatever it is."

But a good night's rest is the last thing she receives as she tosses and turns in the bed that night as another storm rolls by.

Dream

"I won't let you harm him!" a voice echoes, causing Cairo's eyes to shoot open. But instead of being in Yugi's room, she is in a dark lower level of an abandoned sanctuary in what appears to be back in Egypt. "I won't let you harm him!" the voice yells again, causing her to gasp in realization.

That's her voice.

"No, no, no," Cairo says, knowing exactly where those words stem from. As she runs down the long hall, she pictures exactly what is happening at this moment. Standing in front of the priests, her father and her mother, she tries to protect them from Magus, previously known as Aknadin, who also betrayed the pharaoh. And he was about to launch his final attack to finish them all.

If it weren't for her 'bravely' stepping in.

Not once did she consider whether or not she would be able to take on Magus on her own. Nevertheless as her past self trembles with fear, she stands face to face with the monster that was once a priest of the sacred court.

Cairo comes across the scene that happened 5,000 years ago, seeing her past self standing in harm's way. Her hair back then was longer, nearly reaching her ankles. Her voice was slightly higher and her eyes were more rounded and innocent.

"You fool…" Cairo says to her past self before yelling at the top of her lungs. "GET OUT OF THERE!"

To her surprise, her past self turns around and looks at her with fear in her eyes. "Run…!" her past self yells in a shaky tone.

Before the present Cairo can utter anything, the past Magus takes notice as well.

They can hear her?

"W-What the…?" she stammers before gasping when Magus appears directly in front of her, outstretching his hand to grab hold of her.

"NO!" Cairo yells.

End Dream

"Cairo. Cairo, wake up!" her father's voice calls out to her.

Her eyes shoot open and the first thing she sees is the ceiling. When she looks to the right, the ceiling fan is right next to her and to the left is the sky light. Then she looks down, seeing her father and Yugi gazing up at her with concern. In her state of panic, she didn't even realize that she is currently floating in midair. A flash of lightning brings her eyes back up to the sky light and she gasps, seeing a quick glimpse of Magus before he disappears.

She screams and her body suddenly falls. But instead of landing on the bed, her power of intangibility activates on its own, causing her to phase through the bed and floor below.

"Cairo?" Yugi exclaims with worry, wondering where she just disappeared to.

"Yugi, what room is directly below this one?" Atem asks, hoping she will be there.

Cairo's grunts after her back hits the floor. Breathing heavily, her mind attempts to register what happened just now. One moment she was reliving her memories and the next, she was in Yugi's room. "A dream…?" she concludes, slowly sitting up. Her vision is initially blurry and her head is in a daze. Once she fully sits up and her eyes focus, she sees Magus staring at her from across the room, making her heart pound again.

"No…" A flash of lightning and roar of thunder reveal her greatest fear once again. "NO!"

Atem and Yugi finally reach the bottom of the steps, immediately going into the living room. But to their dismay, Cairo is nowhere to be found. Instead, the front door is open, indicating that she must have ran out not too long ago.

"Oh no…" Atem says, watching as the rain pours outside.

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AN: Wowza! A lot has happened in this chapter. Post your thoughts in the reviews and I'll see you next time!