Usual reminders:

Italics are thoughts or word emphasis.

I do not claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I only own Jessica, Zahra, and Malekos.

While Jessica waited for the duel to end, she stared out the window as the city lights danced below. She found herself recalling the memory Zahra had shown her about the past with Malekos. She also found herself wondering what her life had been like if she wasn't a reincarnation and if she didn't have to babysit a demon. Would her family still be alive? Would she have been able to live a more normal life? Go to school and make lots of friends? She frowned at that thought. School didn't sound nearly as enticing as some would claim it to be.

The door sliding open caught her attention and she turned to ask how the duel went, but the solemn look on Yami's face made her pause before she even said anything. Furrowing her brows, she jogged over to him and he briefly explained what happened during the duel. She gasped, "The Shadow Realm?!" When he nodded, they walked over to Mai's room where the gang was gathered around her bedside.

Everyone was crestfallen and Jessica hugged herself as she stood next to Yami, not knowing what to say or do. She just listened as their friends bickered about Marik. That's when Serenity offered to stay and watch over Mai while everyone else watched the next duel. Touched by Serenity's words, they all agreed and left the room.

"I'm coming up to watch this time," Jessica announced as she walked beside Yami.

He glanced at her with furrowed brows. "But-"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm fine. I've had some time to rest. I think I can handle a little wind. Besides, I think this is the only duel we won't have to worry about a Shadow Game, right?"

He was silent for a moment and then nodded in agreement. "You're right."

Immediately after stepping out of that elevator on the top of the blimp, she regretted her words. Wind blew straight through her hoodie and made her shiver. Having a sleeveless hoodie didn't help, but at least it kept her upper body slightly warmer. Not feeling confident about the safety of standing at the top of a blimp of who-knows-how-high-up, she latched onto Yami's arm and stood next to him, ignoring the amused smirk he gave her. She could already tell he was thinking "I told you so" but she wouldn't dare back out now.

Questions arose from everyone as the eighth duelist took their time of arriving, wondering just who it would be. Yami tried to reason with Kaiba before he stepped onto the platform, but Kaiba stubbornly interrupted him and Yami fell back into place beside Jessica with a hard frown. Jessica linked arms with him again and gave his arm a gentle squeeze of reassurance. His face softened slightly but otherwise didn't acknowledge it, which she didn't mind. She was just glad Marik was on the other side of the platform away from them so they didn't have to deal with him. When she had seen him, it had sent cold shivers down her spine at how much he had changed and how much evil resonated off of him in waves that was hard not to sense.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the elevator finally arrived and revealed the secret duelist. It was a woman dressed in white robes much like the ones Zahra had been wearing. And from the skin that was showing, which wasn't a lot, it was clear she was wearing gold jewelry underneath her robes. She stepped onto the platform across from Kaiba as he ridiculed her for being late, and she pulled down the cloth that had shielded the bottom half of her face.

Jessica heard Yami gasp beside her and she gave him a curious glance. It looked like he recognized the woman.

"You may call me Ishizu. Ishizu Ishtar."

Jessica watched silently as Ishizu and Kaiba talked, and it was revealed that Ishizu was Marik's sister. She had come to save her brother from the evil within himself, and the group murmured about 'one Ishtar was bad enough'. But Jessica didn't seem to feel any sort of negative energy coming from the tombkeeper so she voiced it to them.

"I don't know. I don't think she is bad. I don't sense that kind of energy from her like I do from Marik," she said, only loud enough for Yami and their friends to hear. She gave a shiver when she mentioned Marik for emphasis.

"You can sense it?" Téa asked skeptically, but Jessica ignored her obvious tone of doubt. She simply nodded in response and she felt Yami give her hand a squeeze with his own in reassurance, to which she smiled a bit in return.

When Ishizu mentioned something about a Millennium Necklace, she focused on the conversation again. She saw the tombkeeper touching a golden necklace that hung close around her neck. Another Millennium item? How many were there again? Seven? She listened as Ishizu explained the whole hidden plan of why the tournament was put into play, and how Yami was needed to help save Marik from his evil side. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, but he was too focused on the conversation to notice.

After Kaiba stubbornly denied his heritage as Ishizu had brought up, he ordered the duel to begin. Jessica tensed in anticipation at seeing her first duel since being on the blimp. She hadn't watched any of the others, but she wasn't sure if she would've been able to handle it anyway. She watched as Kaiba placed his cards down on the field first, and then Ishizu placed hers down without even looking at them. She listened as Yami had to explain the powers of the Millennium Necklace to his friends. And the duel continued.

It was a back and forth bicker between the two, yet Ishizu was calm the whole time. Kaiba destroyed Ishizu's deck, and then she switched it around and destroyed his deck while gaining her deck back. Mokuba ended up coming up to ask what was happening, but he was mostly ignored. Eventually, Yami ended up calling out to Kaiba to get him to focus, but Jessica couldn't tell if it worked or not. It looked like Kaiba just ignored him. He sacrificed Ishizu's monsters in order to summon Obelisk the Tormentor.

Jessica furrowed her brows. Ishizu seemed too calm. She blinked in surprise when she felt an energy pulse and noticed the Millennium Necklace glowing briefly. She faintly heard Téa trying to ask Yami a question, but with a quick glance to the side she saw that Yami was too focused on figuring out the outcome of the duel to answer. And then a bright light and bigger pulse of energy caught her attention and she looked over, also feeling Yami tense up beside her as he noticed as well. Marik's Millennium Rod was glowing, but he looked as if it were acting up on its own.

Murmurs rose from their friends and she followed their gazes to Kaiba, who looked like he saw a ghost. She didn't have Malekos to ask him what was going on, so she just waited for things to play out. He suddenly gripped his head and she heard Yami mention that the rod was affecting Kaiba. She hummed quietly, So that's what's happening. She glanced over at Ishizu and noticed her astonished face as Kaiba changed his strategy completely and summoned his Blue-Eyes White Dragon by sacrificing Obelisk and another monster he pulled from his graveyard. And he dropped Ishizu's life points to zero just like that.

Wow, what a duel.

Even as Ishizu congratulated Kaiba for overcoming her Millennium Necklace, he continued to deny everything about magic and believed it was his own skills that saved him. Kaiba left the platform and entered the elevator with Mokuba and the referee for the duel, leaving the rest of them on the blimp.

Jessica shivered as the wind blew through her clothes again and stepped closer to Yami's side, humming in content when she felt his warmth seep into her. She glanced at him and saw him giving her an amused smirk, to which she responded by sticking out her tongue with a giggle. They all entered the elevator when it came back and she almost didn't realize when Yami switched out with Yugi. He had hugged her and rubbed her arms, feeling how cold they were. She simply leaned into him with a smile, and they met up with their friends in the hallway.

They talked after the announcement about going to a different location for the second round of finals, and headed off to check up on Mai. But before they could enter, Ishizu showed up.

"Greetings, Yugi." She approached him. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. May I pay her a visit with you?"

He immediately agreed and they entered the room, gathering around Mai's bedside. Jessica had unlatched herself from Yugi, but stayed close to his side as she hugged herself. She looked at Mai's resting face and listened as their friends talked around her. As Serenity began to cry and Téa moved to comfort her, Ishizu spoke to gain everyone's attention.

"There is hope ahead. For where there is evil, there is also good." A side glance towards Jessica did not go unnoticed by her, but it was briefly returned to Mai. She started to explain how Marik had been good when he was a child, and how his evil side came to be in the tomb of the pharaoh. And as Yugi asked about it being too late to save Marik, she was silent for a moment. Then she spoke back up. "You must trust me. I know there is still much you don't understand." She explained more about her family's heritage and the first time they broke their code and they stepped above ground for just an hour.

Jessica was silent as she listened, trying to figure out what that look meant that Ishizu gave her. She frowned at the announcer who gave them a time limit before the lights would be turned off. She found herself smiling as they started bickering about rooms and how Joey and Yugi might even duel each other. I'd love to see that. I didn't know them when they dueled each other at Duelist Kingdom.

"Yugi, there is one more thing I must give to you," Ishizu spoke up, making them turn to her once more. "It is a powerful object that I no longer have any use for." She took off the Millennium Necklace and handed it over to him. "Fate chose me to wear the Millennium Necklace, but it is time I passed its magic to the one who is destined to rescue the world from despair. You see, it no longer shows me the future. I have completed my mission and now it is your turn."

Jessica and Yugi both stared at the necklace as their friends started talking around them, saying their 'good night's before leaving. Yugi followed the guys and Jessica was not far behind them, but something made her stop just outside the door as it closed. She turned around and saw Ishizu staring directly at her with a glare. She narrowed her eyes and a frown settled on her face as she turned to face the tombkeeper fully, wondering what she wanted.

"You would be wise not to touch those items," Ishizu warned her with a hard tone.

This made Jessica bristle, something inside her starting to boil. "What?"

"The world is at too great a risk for someone like you to take what rightfully belongs to the pharaoh."

Jessica was faintly aware of Yugi doubling back when he noticed that she wasn't following, and stood not too far behind her when he realized the tense atmosphere surrounding them. She clenched her fists. "Someone like me?" She echoed, seething. "I'm well aware of what's at risk, but I don't need someone like you telling me what to do."

"J-Jess?" They ignored him as he tried to cut in to somehow salvage the mood from before.

"You will heed my warning." Ishizu narrowed her eyes for emphasis.

"What is your problem?" Jessica asked, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Ever since we've been down here all you've been doing is glaring at me. Care to tell me why?"

"I don't have to explain myself to the keeper of a demon." Ishizu started to turn around and walk away.

But something inside Jessica boiled over as she clenched her fists so tight that they started shaking, not even registering Yugi's voice as he tried to calm her down. She growled and took a few steps forward as she called out to Ishizu. "You think I asked for this?!" As Ishizu turned to look at what she was talking about, she pointed at the tattoo on the right side of her face. "I didn't. I didn't ask to be someone's reincarnation. I didn't ask for some demon to start talking to me when I was six years old. I didn't ask for a burglar to break into our house and threaten my parents! I didn't didn't ask for our house to go up in flames! And I certainly didn't ask for my parents to die in that fire while I was left completely alone!" By the end of her rant, she was breathing hard with ragged gasps, eyes burning a bright green as she glared at a shocked Ishizu. Tears formed in her eyes and freely fell down her cheeks, but she continued as she took in another gasp of breath and her voice broke. "I don't need people like you reminding me what an absolute hell my life has been..!" She finally crumpled to the floor on her knees and sobbed into her hands.

Ishizu watched as Yugi immediately dropped down beside Jessica and brought her into a consoling hug. A solemn look fell over her face and she closed her eyes. "I am sorry for my harsh words." And then she turned and walked away.

Yugi urged Jessica to her feet so that they could go to his room before the lights shut off, and he led her there as she continued to cry. Just as they stepped inside his room, the lights went out and his door closed behind them. He silently guided her to the bed and he carefully got her to climb under the covers with him. Her sobs were much quieter now but he knew she was hurting. So he said nothing as he pulled her close, allowing her to cry into his shirt as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. They stayed like that until she cried herself to sleep in his arms and he dozed off not long after.

Oof that tension could've been cut with a knife. We learned some more about Jessica's past! I'm excited for Noah's arc to start next because more will be revealed about Jessica soon c;

Leave a review about what you thought! I enjoy reading them~