Chapter 3

Clasping the gold and ruby necklace, the royal gazed at her reflection. For the exception of the crown that laid on the table, she looked like a completely different person from this morning. She looked like a Queen. And for the first time in her life that, she wished she were a servant.

The knock at the door disrupted her thoughts. "You may enter." She commanded; her back still facing the door. It was probably one of the servants to announce their guest had arrive. Placing the crown on her head, she adjusted it properly to complete her wardrobe.

"My Queen." Her breath hitched at the sound of his voice. She turned, barely managing to keep her body from collapsing at the sight of him. "You look beautiful."

She didn't know how she'd made it across the room to him so quickly. Perhaps she ran; she couldn't remember anything before the time his arms enclosed around her, embracing her lovingly.

"Seto!" She cried his name into his chest as his hand stroked her back in comfort. "I have been looking for you. Where have you been?"

"I am sorry, My Queen. I was accompanying Akinadin." The sound of his voice all but vanquished the sorrow she had been feeling all afternoon.

"Oh, Seto. The Pharaoh has found a betrothed for me. A prince from India."

"I know." Azula's face was buried in his chest, she didn't see his faced etched with pain and confliction. "I accompanied him on the journey here. He…he seems…..like a good match for you." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I am sure you will be happy together."

"Why are you saying this!? Do you want me to go as well?" Hot tears flowed once more. "Do you hate me that much?"

"Stop your foolish talk!" He shouted. "How can you say that? Of course I don't want you to leave. I want to be with you! But it is impossible for us."

"So let us run away from here."

"What?" The words flew from her mouth before she had a chance to process it. She had been thinking about it for months. The two of them would just disappear, forget their duties and leave the city. Every time she ran it over it her mind, it sounded insane. But given the circumstances, it didn't sound as bad.

"I have planned everything. We can leave tonight and never return."

"Azula…"

She wrapped her arms around his neck to share the same space with him." I know what I am asking for is a great ordeal. You have sworn your life to the Pharaoh, but you are more than a man that is forced to life in solitude."

"Azula…I…"

"No. Do not give me your answer now. Let us wait until the night is over. I will meet you at our spot."

She rushed out of the bedroom before he could give his response. The click of her sandals echoed down the hallway as she made her way to the dining room. She knew in her heart what the results would be. But she just wanted to dream for a little while longer.

Well they didn't get attacked by the dogs when they hit the threshold. Instead, another obstacle was in the way.

"What do you want?" Mokuba stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall. Dressed casually in a grey sweater and jeans, he looked stressed out and wasn't in the mood for company.

"We need to talk to Kaiba." Atem led the charge.

"No." The younger Kaiba dismisses the request before it fell from his mouth. "Seto has been sick lately and can't be disturbed." Mokuba made a face as if determined to not be swayed by the gang.

"Let me guess, he's been like this for days, right?"

The young Kaiba scrunched up his nose slightly. As if he wanted to say something, but decided not to.

"Mokuba, it's important that we talk to him." He watched the boy, once a pint-sized kid, now the same height as himself.

The younger one fought with himself. Deciding what would be best for his older brother.

"Mokuba."

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking."

"Even if it's just me. Trust me, I know what plagues him"

Mokuba looked at the people behind him. "Just you. Everyone else stays in the living room." He moved aside, allowing them to enter. He knew this might be a mistake, but he trusted Atem for whatever reason. He just could never figure out why.

"Do you really know what's going on with Brother or did you make it up?" Mokuba asked once they were away from the others.

"I have a good feeling."

"He hasn't slept in the past few days. He refuses." Mokuba looked down at his hands, wishing he could heal his brother with them. "He keeps saying he doesn't want to see her. He's talking crazy."

"He's not crazy."

"What if running this company has finally made him snap?" Clearly, he didn't hear the Pharaoh trying to ease his worries. "What if..."

"Mokuba." This time, Atem made contact, gripping his shoulders gently. "I promise you, he's going to be alright." The teen looked on a moment longer; just to be sure it was true. He nodded and opened the door to Seto's bedroom.

The room wasn't in disarray as it was hours ago. Furniture turned over, glass scattered on the floor. The maids did a good job of cleaning and the men replaced what was broken. They found the elder Kaiba standing next to the balcony door, looking out at nothing.

"Brother." Kaiba looked in their direction but it seemed he was looking through them. His eyes were heavy with more than just a lack of sleep. There was grief and sadness. His brown hair was rustled about; his face now had the shadow of a beard from not shaving. To Atem, he looked lost; broken.

"Kaiba." The Pharaoh's voice snapped him out of his daze.

"Well, if it isn't Yugi? No…." he corrected. "…it's his Highness." He said venomously. "Don't expect me to bow."

"Kaiba, we need to talk."

"Come to gloat?" He walked towards the pair. "Come to see what your rival is doing?"

"No, Kaiba. I've come to help." He stated truthfully.

"Help!?" He laughed. "How can you possibly help? In fact, you've done quite enough over the years." He turned to his younger brother. "Mokuba, why did you let him in here?"

"I…"

"I asked him to, Kaiba."

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"Brother."

"Kick him out, Mokuba." He walked away from the two.

"I know who she is, Kaiba." That stopped him in his tracks. But he didn't face them. "I know the dreams that have plagued you. That has kept you up at night."

"Don't tell me." He seethed. "They're not dreams, but memories. Is that what you were going to say?"

"Yes, Kaiba. They…"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear none of this past life crap!" He spat out.

"But it's the truth and you need to realize it!"

"What I realize is that you don't get that I don't believe in that shit!"

"Then why can't you sleep?" That caught him off guard. He couldn't think of a reason why…other than…

"No! Get out!" He refused to believe such crap.

"They're your memories as being High Priest Seto."

"Shut up…"

"These dreams are the last of your memories of your Queen."

"I said…shut…up."

"Her name was Azula. You two were in love. She sacrificed her soul to save yours."

"SHUT UP!" His anger came out as quickly as his fist did, knocking the Pharaoh on his ass. Atem was hoping to get some reaction out of him.

He probably went too far.

"What you're feeling Kaiba is grief and sadness because you couldn't protect her."

He felt his body being dragged up; the wind knocked from his lungs when he was slammed into the wall. Angry blue eyes stared directly at his.

"You don't know anything! It's not just that night I dream about, it's every moment of me being with her. Do you know what it's like yearning for someone, loving someone, having such passionate feelings for a woman you don't even know!?"

"Seto! Put him down." It took several minutes for Seto to come back to reality. Slowly he dropped Atem to his feet. The Egyptian ruler was satisfied with the answers he needed. Now he needed a plan to retrieve his sister.

"Rest, Seto. You won't have to worry about Azula visiting you in your dreams. She's here and she needs the both of us to rescue her.

"Ok, let me get this straight." Mokuba sat on the arm of the chair, occupied by one of his brother's former classmates. "Three years ago, months after Yugi and the Pharaoh dueled, Pharaoh comes back, alive this time, but no one questions it because who the hell cares. Everything is good until a week ago when one of the Pharaoh's tombs were open, causing my brother to have insomnia because of memories of his past life that are giving him a guilt trip. Did I get all that?"

"In a nutshell."

Mokuba scrubbed his face. "And I thought being CFO of Kaiba Corp. was stressful." He thought for another moment. "So why is this girl…Queen." he corrected "Why is she so important?" He looked at the Pharaoh for the answers. "And where is she for that matter?

"Preserved." Atem answered, skipping the first question entirely.

"Preserved? Like jam?"

"Mahod casted a spell upon her death to preserve her body so it wouldn't decay."

"Woah! woah!" Joey chimed in. "How do we revive the dead?!"

"She is not dead, technically. Her spirit is in the shadow realm."

"Are you serious!? For 5,000 years she's been trapped!"

"Yes."

"Is that such a good idea to revive her after all this time?" Marik asked, knowing the toll the shadow realm takes on a soul.

"I pray that she has found a way to protect herself, but I don't know what condition she'll be in let alone if she'll be the same person."

"We can't worry about that. The real worry is reviving her. I don't know about you, but a recipe for reanimation isn't on my resume." The young Kaiba looked at the Ishtars, who both shook their heads.

"Our duty was to protect the tombs. We do not know magic of that kind." Ishizu realized that this journey was going to be harder than expected.

"She has it. The Queen, somehow, she knew what tragedy was going to strike that night. She wrote down all the necessary tools and incantations."

"Great! Where are they?" Mokuba started to see some way out of this seemingly dead end.

"On the coffin."

"…ok…where's the coffin?"

"At the Domino City Mesuem." Mokuba gave a deadpan stare. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"You all are as hopeless as ever! Nothing has changed but Yugi's height!" He got up to pace the floor. Thankfully, his brother was now resting, so that was one thing he didn't need to worry about.

"Are you all really this stupid?" Seto came from behind them, dressed in his normal casual navy suit.

"Big brother." Mokuba ran to greet him. "Are you okay now?" The last several days had been hell for the both of them and he wanted to be sure that he was ready for what they may have to deal with.

"I'm fine." He said with a dismissed tone. A sign of weakness was something the elder brother wasn't fond of showing to the other. Once he had finally come to grips with his own reality, Seto felt it was time to leave his bedroom to find out why Atem and the others were lounging about in his mansion.

The billionaire stayed in the hallway, undetected from the others as they discussed the plans for their next mission, no matter how half-assed and unorganized it was. They were all idiots as far as Seto was concerned. Seven brains rattling together and not one of them had a half decent idea on how to solve their current problem. The only thing they did right was seek him out of help. Atem and his friends would fail without him.

But Seto was fighting with himself. Did he really want to assist? Years ago, he would have said no. It was none of his business and he had an empire to run. That was still true today, though Kaiba Corp. was running by itself smoothly, even with other projects still in the works, he had a full plate in front of him already. However, everything was pushed to the side while he tried to deal with his mini breakdown…and failed miserably until Atem came along.

There was once a time where he wouldn't have even entertained the thought of reincarnation and that still remained, somewhat. The younger and the more naïve Seto would have chalked up everything as nothing more than stress and probably take a few days off from work to get himself back together. Now, with the dreams, how realistic they were as if they were once part of his memories that were long forgotten and his sudden desire and feelings for a woman that he never laid eyes on in his entire life. Seto started to think that Atem was right; but there was no way he was going to admit that.

The young man rolled his eyes when he heard more of their dumb ideas. He grumbled and made a mental note that once this was all over, he wanted them out of his and his brother's life for good.

He looked down at his brother. Mokuba was worried sick especially since he could do nothing to relieve his anguish. He touched the top of his head, giving his dark hair a soothing stroke with his hand.

"Wouldn't it just be easier if Seto calls the museum and asks for the Sarcophagus?" Joey sat in one of the plush love seats as his eyes wondered about. Looking at the all the wealth that decorated just one of the many rooms.

"And say what?" Mokuba sneered. "Oh, hi... this is Kabia Corp. We just need to borrow the Egyptian coffin you've just paid for to revive a supposed dead woman inside." The teen rubbed the sides of his head with his fingers, easing the headache that was edging on. He knew he shouldn't have let them through the door.

"It may be just that simple." Yugi suggested. "Well, maybe not the last part. But maybe we could convince the museum to let us borrow it for a few hours." The room erupted into murmurs, contemplating the young teen's idea.

"It's not like we can break into the museum. I don't know about you, but I like my freedom." Yugi waited until his friend finally quieted down.

"We could say that my grandfather wants to do a little more research. Possibly bring in more publicity for them. It shouldn't take long. Right?" He looked on at Atem.

"I'm not sure." Atem shrugged. "I haven't seen the inscriptions in over five thousand years. It may take longer than a few hours. Days perhaps."

"I have an idea." Ishizu spoke up for the first time since they had arrived at Kaiba's home. "I'm still on the board of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. Mr. Muto and I will view the inscriptions, gather all the information that we need and then return at a later date to complete the ritual. It's our best outcome at this point. By the time we translate the spells, we'll have an idea how to get around security and get her out without being seen."

"That's if she's in there." Mokuba wagged his finger in the air. They were all sitting in his living room, plotting and scheming and all the while, they could very well be wrong.

It was very possible that it was the wrong person in the coffin. As Atem had said, his uncle was spiteful and hated the former Queen of Egypt. How easy would it have been to have her buried elsewhere and the person they may be reviving was someone completely different.

Or worse, no one was in the coffin at all.