A/N: *rubs hands together eagerly* YASSSSSS. Finally onto Duelist Kingdom, which in my writer's mind is when things will start to get really good. I'm so excited for this! To be perfectly honest, this part is the part I have been looking forward to the most. So my dear readers, keep your arms and hands inside the fic at all times, strap in tight and hopefully I'll get this roller coaster swooping and soaring!

Things are going to be slowly coming together, and I know a lot of you like to speculate. So I'd just like to take a moment to make it clear - I will not be giving spoilers if you message me. As Crowley said, "I torture all my friends. It's how I show love." I would apologize but… I think it's good for readers to be kept on the edge of their seats ;)

Shout-outs to the following reviewers: Drachegirl14, animagirl, Counting Sinful Stars, ChimericWings, She-wolf-Dragon, and xFluffyx you guys all rock! And those of you who started following and favorited, I really appreciate it! Everyone give yourself a big hug from me to you, because you're all amazing people.

So I know that I have been absent for a while, and I do apologize for that. I was hired on into a new job in February, and it's been… Well I have had a hard time adjusting to not having set days off. Some weeks I don't even have two days off in a row, so trying to get my housework and stuff done all in one day… It's a little exhausting. So I thank you all for your continued patience and support. Hopefully, now that I'm out of my 90-day probationary period at work things will calm down.

Another reason for my absence? Panda messed up. I mean really messed up, to the point that I was panicking wondering what I was going to do. See, although I adore the YGO show and manga… Well I never quite got into actually playing the card game. And as I was watching ahead in the show mapping out where things were going - BOOM. Realization that Reila is going to have to duel hit me. So I've been teaching myself how to duel using the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links game. Admittedly I'm not the best duelist. I'm way better at Magic the Gathering where I have instant spells to mess with people's strategies. So for all those who I told that Reila would not be dueling… Yeah sorry, I didn't intentionally lie I promise! But I beg your indulgence now because my writing of duels will probably not be that great.

And now, onto the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any characters created by Kazuki Takahashi. This fic is written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 18

Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed a breath and blew a curl out of my face. "Ydor, I'm telling you that I AM trying! It's not my fault that this isn't coming as easily as everything else!"

Standing on the sand inside my subconscious, I glared up into Ydor's eyes. Well, singular eye - his head was too large for me to look into both of his eyes this close. We'd been making good progress with building my tolerance to magic, and my ability to sense and interpret the emotions within it were stronger than ever, but I was still having problems wielding it. We'd been trying for almost a week now, but I hadn't made any progress. Add onto this stress the fact that I still didn't have a set plan on how to protect Mokuba, Mai, and Seto from Marik and I was ready to pull my hair out in frustration.

Or sell my shoe collection for a solution. That thought alone showed just how much stress I was feeling.

Ydor's eyes - again assuming it's both - narrowed. "You are not trying as hard as you could be. You are allowing the outside world to cloud your mind and displace your focus. I have told you time and again - you must clear your mind when you are wielding the magic of another. Empty your thoughts and block your emotions, or else your emotions and the emotions inherent within my magic will clash and the magic will cancel out. You must become like pure water - clear and transparent, free of any debris."

"You've told me this already! Look I've tried meditating and I've tried all those breathing techniques you showed me, I unlocked my chakras like you said, and I even created a mental map linking each chakra to my hands but nothing works! I have two lifetimes worth of memories and emotions, it's not exactly easy to suddenly flip them off!" I sat down heavily on the sand, refusing to meet Ydor's gaze. "It's one thing to act like I'm not feeling any emotions, it's another entirely to actually turn them off. Truthfully I am a very emotional person, I just don't always show it."

Ydor's head slowly lowered so that his eye was level with my body. "I know young one, and your emotions and your ability to recognize the emotions of others are a great strength for you. However in this one instance, you must learn to block them."

I ignored Ydor for a moment as I fought to get my frustration in check. The longer we wasted at this roadblock, the less time we would have for me to become proficient at it. I had to get this down today. Seto had asked me to come for his final test, meaning that I would be confronted with Obelisk the Tormentor - and if the presence of normal Duel Monster's cards had bothered me at Duelist Kingdom, I'm pretty sure an Egyptian God will knock me flat on my face. If I could just learn to channel Ydor's magic, I might be able to use his magic as a buffer and not make Seto and Mokuba wonder why I had such a hard time being around during duels.

"Let's try again. I mean I have to eventually get it, or get lucky at least once." I said, standing and wiping sand off my pants.

"No young one, I think we will stop here for today. You are growing frustrated and your focus is not where it should be. Tomorrow we will -"

"No! We're trying again!" I said, stamping a foot down. "The tournament will be announced tomorrow, meaning that we have less than two weeks to get this down before Marik shows up! If I can't do this without struggling by then, Mai, Mokuba, and Seto will be in danger! I have to be able to protect my friends, or everything that I've done will be for nothing! Now stop making excuses and let's try again!"

Ydor roared in frustration - I've grown used to it by now, I don't even flinch anymore when he really lets loose with his voice - and dove under the water as I widened my stance, bracing myself for the rush of magic.

Ydor's head surged out of the waves, mouth open as his voice seemed to layer; one part roar, the other part full of the melodious trilling I'd come to associate with his magic. Closing my eyes, I focused on the trilling, trying to grasp onto it and pull it within myself. That was how Ydor had explained I could bring his magic into me, by harmonizing. Although harmonizing was a lot harder than it sounds when I wasn't singing.

Grinding my teeth together, I could feel the flow of his magic around me, but I couldn't grab onto it. The only way to protect my friends was to get this down pat, and I couldn't even do this one simple thing! Frustration began to build within me, and I had to split my concentration to try and block it while still focusing on-

Wait.

With my eyes closed, I could suddenly… See the magic around me, like a wave of technicolor threads. So many different colors, each a distinct shade and brightness. Blues, golds, reds, greens... But the brightest one of them glowed a deep purple, and I could feel Ydor's frustration radiating from it just as strongly as my frustration was radiating within me.

"Harmonize… You weren't speaking in musical terms. You were talking about emotions! Harmonizing emotions!" I almost laughed, but cut myself off when I sensed the strength of the thread diminishing. Holding onto my frustration, I reached out with my magical sense and grabbed hold of the dark purple aura, pulling it into myself to coil in my stomach, right around the solar plexus chakra - where one's will and power were supposed to originate from.

Opening my eyes, I smiled at Ydor, who had a dragon version of a toothy grin on his face. Turning to the right I pulled on the magic again, channeling it from my solar plexus to my arm and letting it out with a flash of brilliant blue light. It raced across the sand, hitting a dune that Ydor had created when we first started and exploding into a shower of sparks that reminded me of light reflecting on the water.

Breathing hard, I couldn't get the wide smile off my face. "I did it! I actually did it!"

"Yes young one, you have finally done it. By sensing the emotions within the magic and finding the ones that match your own, you can pull the magic into you." Ydor returned to the beach, shaking the water off his sapphire scales. "I apologize for not giving you the entire explanation, however this is something that you had to learn on your own. I was sure that you would discover it eventually, you merely needed the right incentive."

"And frustrating me with my own incompetence was the route you chose? Honestly sometimes I think you've got more faith in me then I do in myself." I said, shaking my head. "Your power… That wasn't even the full extent of it, was it?"

"No. You are still not ready to receive the full extent of my power, what you just experienced was roughly a third of my full power. Slowly but surely you are strengthening yourself to the point where even my full strength can be wielded by you without a second thought. But do not worry about the inability to use my full power - I doubt that this Marik is strong enough to withstand the level you are able to wield now."

I crossed my arms and aimed a serious look at Ydor. "Don't underestimate Marik. He's crafty, and the dark side that he harbors within himself is nothing to mess around with. I'll make sure to set aside time every morning for us to practice, because I'd rather be able to wield at least half your power by the time the finals are here."

Ydor sighed. "You give this Egyptian boy far too much credit."

"On the contrary, I plan for any and all eventualities." I said, looking out over the horizon. "I need to be able to cancel out Marik's magic in the event that he tries to send one of my friends to the Shadow Realm."

"So long as you yourself do not end up within the Shadow Realm. You have not heeded my advice, and now it is too late." Thrusting his chin, he gestured to the temple that still stood proudly on the sand, the same one I'd spent so long avoiding. "The inner turmoil that you have continually shut away and refused to deal with is a danger to you, young one. Your stalling could potentially be deadly to you."

"Look, I think between your magic and my planning abilities I can avoid the Shadow Realm. I won't even be around Marik until the finals, and by then the two of us together should be able to keep him from banishing my soul. I'm good at subtlety, so as long as he doesn't know that I'm the one interfering with him there won't be any chance of him targeting me."

"For your sake, I hope you are right. Still, I would feel better knowing that there was no chance of you suffering needlessly." Ydor said, lowering his snout and nudging my arm affectionately.

I reached up and gave him a soft pat. "I'll be fine Ydor. My little adventure in the virtual reality world and the whole Royalty Records fiasco taught me the importance of thinking before acting, so I'm confident that I'll be alright. The finer details of what is supposed to happen might be fading, but I still know the major points to avoid or stop. I only wish I'd been able to find Noah and get rid of him before this tournament."

"I know that you were intent on sparing the Kaiba brothers that particular ordeal, but there must be a reason for them to confront that part of their past." Ydor said, laying down beside me.

"I suppose a part of it could be considered character building, but already I'm seeing a difference in Seto. Though he hides the changes in him well, I can tell that he's learning to trust others a little more." I said, looking up at the blue sky. "I mean yeah it's only if you really know him, and it's really only me that he's trusting… But it's a start. I'm just worried that the tournament will put him right back where he was before."

"The elder brother is an intriguing person. Forgive my scepticism, but I believe your assessment is correct. He is a remarkably driven young man, and his desire to be the best could potentially undermine your hard work in helping him."

I sighed as I gave Ydor another pat. "Thanks for the pep talk you big lug. But if that's the case then I'll just have to work a little harder. I may not be able to erase the scars that Gozaburo gave him, but I can still soothe them and take away some of their intensity… I hope." Stretching my arms over my head I smiled as my back popped. "Alright, I need to get going. I have to get ready to go to Seto's so I can see his triumphant final test. Joy."

Ydor laughed. "I will see you tomorrow young one."

Coming out of my trance - well that's what I call it anyway - I stretched again, sighing as I looked around my room. The truth is, I wasn't telling Ydor everything - he may be able to view my memories of the original story line, but I knew that I might have to get a lot more involved in this then I really wanted to.

Ydor himself had said that by learning to wield magic I would paint a target on myself. The minute that Marik sensed a threat to him or his plans, he would be sure to come at whoever it was with everything he had. Plus I was already planning on interfering with him banishing Mai's soul, if it came to it. There was no way I was letting a friend of mine go through that ordeal, not if I had the means to stop it.

I was still undecided just how much else I was going to interfere though. A part of me wanted to spare a lot of the people the fate of being sent to the Shadow Realm, even temporarily. Or even better, to avoid many of them being turned into mind slaves. Tea and Joey were two that I knew would eventually fall under Marik's control, but could I actually save them while not letting it be known that I could protect them against him? And how much would it cost for me to protect them, save Mai, and keep Mokuba and Seto safe?

No, better to stick to my original plan and only worry about Mai's, Mokuba's, and Seto's safety. Aside from them and my family, I couldn't waste time worrying about the fate of the world. So long as those special to me were safe the rest of the world could rely on Yugi and the spirit of the puzzle for their protection. I had enough on my plate and I wasn't going to break my back trying to do it all alone.

Nodding my head resolutely, I got off my bed and wandered to my closet. I was currently wearing jeans and a loose sweater, but figured since there was a chance of people seeing me I should change into something a little more business casual. It was steadily becoming common knowledge that my first studio album would be coming in the near future, and already I was seeing an increase of paparazzi following me.

Looking through my clothes and trying to find something appropriate, I heard a knock on my door. Calling for whoever it was to enter, I wasn't too surprised when Hojo poked his head into the open closet door. "What's up little cousin?"

"Just trying to find something to wear. I'm supposed to go see Seto's final test on his new dueling hardware, and on the off chance that I get followed by some paparazzi I want to be in something a little nicer than jeans and an oversized sweater." I turned and gave a quick wink. "You know, since I have to be more concerned with my appearance now."

"So you're changing your clothes for the paparazzi." Hojo said, and I could hear an undertone of disbelief in his voice. Glancing over at him quickly I saw that he was purposefully avoiding looking at me. Briefly frowning I ignored it and went back to hunting through my closet, finally settling on a pair of grey slacks and a fairly simple off the shoulder cream top with blue patterned birds on it. I figured if I pulled my hair back from my face and put on a little makeup it would look like I'd come from the office rather than making a special trip into town.

Grabbing a nude pair of pumps I laid out the clothes before sitting at my vanity and began putting on my basic makeup routine - a basic tinted moisturizer, a little powder to minimize shine, simple eyeliner and a brush of mascara. I don't go overboard on a day to day basis, and big bold looks were saved for big events.

"I don't see what was wrong with what you were wearing before. What's the point in getting dolled up for Kaiba anyway?" Hojo said, sitting down heavily in my armchair. "I mean you're acting like you're going on a date, not taking time out of your hectic schedule to satisfy his ego."

I paused in pinning my hair out of my face to study him in the mirror. What was with him lately? "I'm not getting dolled up for Seto - I'm making myself presentable to the people who will be seeing me. We have images to uphold, and since news has already broken that my record contract has been signed I'm under even more scrutiny than I was before. You yourself said so just a few days ago, remember?"

Hojo gave a vague wave of his hand. "Right right. Forget I said anything."

As if I could forget. Lately he'd been a lot more hostile to Seto then he had before, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why. Still glancing at his reflection in the mirror I continued getting ready. "Seriously Hojo, what is your deal? It seems like every time I mention Seto you suddenly develop some nasty attitude. When did you start having a problem with him?"

Hojo was silent, his gaze fixated on a picture of me and my parents. Finally, he broke the silence. "Just leave it alone Reila. I might be wrong, and if I am then I don't want to put ideas in your head."

Hojo's statement confused me, and I turned to push further but his look silenced me. Hojo was being serious, and there was a look in his eyes that said he was done talking about it. Shrugging I decided to leave it alone - again. But one of these days he was going to have to explain himself.

Finishing up with my makeup, I hesitated before adding a little lipstick - nothing flashy, just a little darker than my natural color. I headed into my bathroom to change before adding a little perfume as well - might as well finish off everything if I had gone through this much hassle. Besides, I love the smell of Siren's Call.

Entering the room again, I saw Hojo was still there and looking lost in thought. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Hojo looked up and nodded, although I was sure there was still something bothering him. But I know my cousin, and he won't budge an inch when it comes to talking when he didn't want to. I grabbed my purse and bent down to kiss his cheek before heading out, pausing in the doorway. "One of these days Hojo you're going to have to talk to me about what's bothering you."

"I keep hoping that we won't have to have that talk." Hojo said cryptically, and it bothered me that he was being so evasive. Hojo was my best friend, and knowing he was keeping something from me hurt.

Why do I have to have such stubborn men in my life?

Seto looked up from his laptop as his office door opened and Reila sauntered in. Glancing at the clock, he realized that it was already 5:30, exactly when he'd asked her to be here. Her punctuality helped to ease the tension that was building in his shoulders - if this test didn't go perfectly he'd have to push back the tournament even longer. He wanted his title back and the longer it took him to defeat Yugi, the more it irritated him.

Saving his progress on the report he'd been working on, he stood and nodded his greeting to Reila, studying her outfit. It wasn't unflattering, but… "You're looking rather subdued, compared to the last time I saw you."

Reila rolled her eyes. "As if I would wear a costume all the time. Business casual is a quick answer to a lot of situations" She gestured to the white coat he wore. "Although I think you're upstaging me in the pizzazz department. Seriously where did you get that coat?"

"Custom made." He said, grabbing his final duel disc prototype and leading her to the elevator. The soft music streaming through the speakers made the ride comfortably quiet, and Seto spent the ride going through last minute calculations and contingency plans. Reila for her part left him to his thoughts, and Seto was again grateful for the fact that she never pestered him to speak. She could read his moods almost as well as Mokuba could, and she knew when to keep quiet.

The doors opened to reveal Mokuba guiding the developers through last minute systems checks. Spotting the two of them his eyes lit up. "Big brother! Reila! You're right on time. They're just doing last minute checks now."

Seto stepped to the control panel to view the results of the system checks while Mokuba and Reila said hello. Everything looked in order, and if all went according to plan he would announce the start date of the tournament tomorrow night. Already the duel discs had been packaged and loaded into trucks - as soon as he gave the go ahead they would be delivered to the check-in points that he'd rented and he would be that much closer to his ultimate victory. But if something went wrong he'd have to start over from scratch. And given that he had already sent out the notices to the chosen duelists he was taking a huge gamble; but he was confident in his abilities and products.

"I'm going down." Seto said, heading to the elevator again and leaving Mokuba and Reila in the control room. Before he entered though he bent down and gave one final directive to one of the workers. "Turn off all safeguards. I want a true test, not a watered down version."

The man was smart enough not to question Seto, who then made his way to the testing area. As he took his place, he looked up and saw Reila and one of the technicians in what looked like a serious conversation that had her irritated, judging from the frown on Reila's face. Taking the headset off the tech's head she looked down to where he stood as she spoke into the microphone.

"Seto Kaiba, are you serious? You took off all the safeguards?"

Mokuba chimed in, and Seto momentarily regretted having them here to witness the final test. "You're crazy if you go through with this Seto! If the safeguards are turned off, the monsters in this duel could really hurt you."

"Are you kidding me? This is one of the most harebrained ideas you've ever had Seto! Why not have someone else do the final test so that you're not putting yourself in danger… Again." Reila crossed her arms as she stared down at him, but Seto could hear the twinge of fear in her voice.

"Enough whining. Let's go." He said, placing the duel disc on his arm and watching as it lit up and reformed from it's prone position to the battle position. He'd designed this hardware from the ground up, and he would be the one to test it. No one would take this from him, the thrill of seeing his vision take shape and work flawlessly. He had to be sure the satellite tracking system was working perfectly, for his hardware relied heavily upon the system's design. Not to mention it would give him real time updates if someone used one of the two remaining Egyptian god cards, and this test was the perfect time to test just how powerful Obelisk the Tormentor truly was.

He couldn't leave something this critical up to someone else, for he alone knew the theoretical perfect scenario.

Shaking off memories of Ishizu's fantasy story about ancient powers and Yugi being some reincarnated pharaoh, Seto watched as the duel robot booted up and began loading the new tournament rules. The only thing Ishizu had gotten right during her little vacation from reality was that he would face Yugi again, and with a powerful new deck there was no way that he would be defeated again.

"Setting skill level at max - we're ready to begin at your command." The technician to Mokuba's left spoke, having taken his headset back from Reila, who stood close to Mokuba with her arms crossed. Her eyes were fixated on Seto, and Mokuba could see a glint of fear in them. Mokuba felt the same way; he couldn't stand the thought of Seto being harmed over a test. But Reila looked like she had been on edge from the moment they'd stepped into the control room, and Mokuba was worried. The last time she'd been around for a duel, she had been Pegasus's captive, and now the young Kaiba wasn't entirely sure she had recovered from it.

"Seto, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Mokuba asked, trying his best to keep any hint of apprehension out of his voice. But he was sure it rang through regardless, because he felt Reila give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Keep the medics on standby, probability of injury ninety percent." Another technician said, and Mokuba ground his teeth together. How could the people who worked for him not care about Seto's well-being?

Mokuba turned to tell him off, but stopped when he saw Reila had already grabbed the man's coat and pulled him towards her sharply. "Why don't you take the time to realize that's your boss you're talking about and act like you care about him, instead of treating him like a statistic you imbecile?" Her voice was low and cold, and the man was visibly shaken by her sudden hostility.

"Ms. Sarota I'm just doing my job. Since the duel robot has been loaded with the same deck that Mr. Kaiba used in Duelist Kingdom, the probability of injury is high." The man said, regaining his composure and pulling Reila's hand off his lab coat.

Mokuba let out a soft gasp. "You put all three Blue Eyes in the duel robot's deck?" Those three cards were Seto's most powerful combination, and without the safeguards… No wonder the medics were on standby. If the duel robot managed to create the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Seto wasn't going to walk away from an attack like that unscathed.

"Right, those were Mr. Kaiba's direct orders." The man said, and Mokuba saw a twinge of sympathy in the man's eyes.

"Seto you better know what you're doing, because if you get hurt I'll kill you." Reila said, glaring at the screens in front of her. "Of all the arrogant, pig headed ideas…"

Reila's rant almost got a laugh out of Mokuba, but instead the young boy turned his attention to Seto as his older brother loaded his new deck into the duel disc. Mokuba tried to remind himself that the probability of the robot being able to summon all three Blue Eyes and fuse them were pretty high. But given that the Ultimate Dragon was Seto's trump card, that deck was built around getting it onto the field quickly.

Mokuba pulled the microphone away from his mouth and turned to Reila. "Seto knows what he's doing." He wasn't sure if he said it to assure her, or to assure himself. Either way Reila nodded silently, brushing a comforting hand through Mokuba's hair as the two of them watched the duel begin.

I did my best to keep my composure and remain calm, but inwardly I was freaking out - with every turn, I was coming closer to confronting the magical energy of an Egyptian god card for the first time. And with all these witnesses around, it would be hard to explain why I was reacting so strongly to it. Ydor was silent, and I was pretty sure he was using this as a test to see how strong my resistance was. If I couldn't stand one Egyptian god… Well I knew that duels would come in the future where two or more of them would be on the field at the same time. I had to keep any indication that it was affecting me quiet and out of sight from everyone.

In hindsight, I really should have come up with an excuse to avoid this.

As Seto summoned his first monster, I felt a little relieved that it wasn't affecting me like the monsters had the first time I witnessed Seto duel. Although in his next turn when four monsters were summoned, I could feel the heaviness in the air ramp up a couple of notches. But still I was able to harmonize with them much quicker than I thought I would, given how low their power was.

But it was when the robot summoned the first Blue Eyes that things got intense. I'd forgotten just how powerful the magic surrounding a Blue Eyes was, and it weighed heavily on me. Because I'd become better at reading magic, I could feel… Pain and loneliness emanating from it. But beneath that was an iron will and a desire to protect, a shimmering aqua thread that was the strongest of them all. Reaching out and harmonizing it with my own desire to protect Seto, Mokuba, and Mai, the pressure lessened until it felt like sunlight on my skin.

You are doing well young one. Remember, harmonizing with the magic will lessen the effects on you. Ydor's voice was soothing, and I could hear pride in it as well.

Taking a deep breath, I kept watching as more creatures were summoned and destroyed. The less powerful monsters barely registered now that I'd harmonized with the Blue Eyes, something that gave me a lot of comfort. Even when the other two Blue Eyes were summoned and fused into the Ultimate Dragon, I was able to harmonize with it quicker than the first one by focusing on the desire to protect. I was concentrating so heavily on the magic in the air, I was barely paying attention to anything around me, even though I could hear Mokuba shouting. I saw from the corner of my eye that Mokuba was giving me a concerned look, but I couldn't think of anything to tell him at the moment. I was too busy gearing up for the inevitable-

Suddenly the warm magic of the Blue Eyes was replaced with the presence of Obelisk the Tormentor.

It felt like bolts of electricity were racing painfully up and down my spine, and the emotions… So much fury, with no direction to it. Rolling, thundering aggression flooded my senses, jagged lines of harsh red nearly blinding my magical senses, and I barely stifled a cry as it battered me. I could hear the shakiness of my breath as I took an involuntary step back, my eyes wide as I took in Obelisk's form.

"Reila, what's wrong?" I felt Mokuba tugging at my wrist gently, but I could only glance at him momentarily before I closed my eyes tight, struggling to keep myself from collapsing as the weight of Obelisk's magic crashed down on my shoulders. If the Blue Eyes had been sunlight, Obelisk felt like an avalanche - swift, powerful, and deadly. And as Seto sacrificed his two other monsters to power up Obelisk even more, it became too much for me to bear.

REILA!

Ydor roaring my name was the last thing I heard as unconsciousness took me.

Seto laughed triumphantly as the duel disc and duel robot powered down. Obelisk was even more powerful than he had realized, and his confidence in being able to take Yugi down had never been higher. With this ultimate weapon in his deck, there was no way that he could lose. And when he got the other two God cards in his possession, there would be no one who could stand against him. Stowing his new deck away, he froze as he finally heard what was coming through his earpiece.

"Get a medic in here now!"

"She's not responding! Did anyone see if she hit her head?!"

"REILA!"

Mokuba's fearful cry sent a jolt of fear down Seto's spine as he raced to the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. Bursting into the control room, the smoke from the fried computers stung at his eyes but he ignored it as he moved quickly to Reila's side. Mokuba was on the floor with her, cradling her head in his lap as he kept her head tilted to ensure her airway wasn't blocked.

"What happened?" Seto reached out and placed his fingers against her neck - he could feel her pulse strongly, even it was a little faster than he thought was normal. Studying her face he noticed it was paler, and her eyes were flickering beneath her lids rapidly, like someone caught in a dream.

"I don't know! She seemed fine when the duel started, but as it progressed she got shaky and pale. And then just before the final turn she suddenly collapsed!" Mokuba looked panicked, and Seto frowned as he took in the information. "Could… Could she be having flashbacks to Duelist Kingdom?"

Seto didn't answer, because he didn't want to think about that. Reila had been present for his duel against Pegasus, when the old coot had convinced him that his soul had been taken - but Reila was too intelligent to believe that sort of thing. He had been dazed by the defeat and the thought of being unable to help Mokuba… There had to have been some sort of chemical agent involved that had immobilized him and left him unconscious. That explained what had happened, not some fantastical story about his soul being taken. Reila couldn't have been affected by it so badly, could she? No, she would have dealt with it long before now if she had. She was probably just sick, a stomach bug or something along those lines. Maybe the smoke from the computers had affected her badly.

Taking off his duel disc and handing it to Mokuba, he scooped Reila into his arms and moved her to the hallway where there wasn't any smoke in the air. He made sure to jostle her as little as possible, and set her against the wall. The light was brighter here, not filtered through the residual smoke and he saw that the color was slowly returning to her face. Still she hadn't woken up, and he was beginning to worry that she was associating Duel Monsters with that maniac Pegasus and all that mystical mumbo jumbo. As the medics arrived, he snapped his head towards them. "Is this how long it takes for you to respond to an emergency when you're on standby?"

The medics took a step back at the harshness of his words, but before he could snap at them again he felt a small hand settle softly on his. "Seto, I'm alright. Please stop shouting, you're not helping the headache."

"Reila!" Mokuba softened his cry of relief as he knelt beside her, hugging her gently. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"My ego is bruised, and a minor headache but other than that I'm fine." Reila finally opened her eyes, and Seto studied them closely - there was some pain, and a flicker of fear but she seemed alright. The medics tried to approach again but Seto froze them in his tracks with a glare.

"Seto stop scaring your employees, it's bad business sense."

Seto turned his focus back to her, his gaze sharp. "What happened?"

"A dizzy spell." She said firmly, and Seto was tempted to push the matter further; but considering what had happened the last time he pushed her, he decided to let it go for the time being.

"Will you be able to make it through the tournament or not?" If Reila couldn't make it through one duel, then there was no way she would be able to handle the finals. And he couldn't afford to have his time and energy split by worrying about her when winning the tournament was his main focus.

Gah, I really hate Seto when he's in dueling 'I-have-to-win-at-all-costs' mode. It's a major test of my patience with him. "I'll be fine Seto." I said more firmly as I slowly made my way to my feet.

Ydor had pulled me into the safe haven between consciousness and unconsciousness where we met to practice magic just in time to prevent me from fully passing out, but I still hadn't been able to know what was going on around me. Thought from the looks of things I hadn't been out of it for very long, and I could play it off easily enough.

Looking down at Mokuba, the worry in his eyes made me feel bad. "Sorry for scaring you, it was just a dizziness spell. I should have sat down when it started but I'm fine now."

"Reila that was more than a dizzy spell. You could barely breath and your eyes got so big, and you were so pale…" Mokuba hugged my waist tightly. "I was really worried."

"Ms. Sarota, from the looks of things and the symptoms Mr. Kaiba is describing, it's possible you suffered an anxiety attack. If you'll allow it, we'd like to take you to the medical wing for a quick evaluation." One of the medics stepped forward, edging away from Seto's penetrating gaze.

"I appreciate the concern but I'll be fine. I feel much better now, and would rather not waste time with pointless worry." I said, stroking Mokuba's hair as he hugged a little tighter.

"With all due respect Ms. Sarota, it would be better if-"

"She said she's fine. You're dismissed." Seto cut the man off, and although I appreciated the man's concern I appreciated Seto's interference more. The less time spent focusing on this the better. I was already ashamed to appear so weak, and knowing that I wasn't strong enough to handle the presence of an Egyptian God card was disturbing.

Those beasts are more powerful than I gave them credit for. It appears that I have underestimated the Egyptians - we will increase the intensity of your training to ensure this will not happen again. Are you prepared to take on a tougher training regiment?

I have to be - I can pass it off one time as a fluke, but if it continues then there will be questions that I'm not sure either one of us are ready to answer. Seto's eyes caught my gaze, and I could see the tiniest hint of concern in their depths. I might be able to play this one off as having a flashback to Duelist Kingdom, but that will only make me appear weak in their eyes. And if I appear weak in their eyes, they will act protective and draw more attention to me.

I care not for how he views you, I only care if you can survive another encounter like this one. Perhaps it would be best for you to not accompany the boy and instead stay home and focus on your training.

That isn't an option Ydor and you know it. I'm not leaving them alone to face Marik and Noah without me. Besides, if I'm not there Mai will be sent to the Shadow Realm, and that means that Dartz will be able to brainwash her into thinking she's alone. I have to save her in order to weaken him.

Ydor grumbled beneath his breath but faded back so I could focus on the present. "I'm sorry I missed the end of your duel - I take it everything went well?"

Seto nodded, bending down to grab his duel disc and place it back on his arm. "Let's eat, then go over the plans for the announcement of the tournament."

I nodded and the three of us made our way back to his office, Mokuba holding my hand tightly and Seto walking on the other side of me. But rather than be angry at the obvious protectiveness, I was kind of touched - Mokuba was open in his worry about my well-being, but I could tell Seto was concerned too from the way he stayed close to my other side. Even if he did have to walk much slower to match my smaller steps.

I sighed and pulled deep from my patience reserve. "Seriously Mokuba, I'll be alright. I appreciate the concern but I'm not a fragile doll. If I didn't feel up to it I'd let you know."

Mokuba put his hands on his hips and gave me a look that was far too mature for his age. All through dinner he'd been watching me like a hawk and asking me every five minutes if I felt alright. I didn't want to snap at him but the hovering was driving me crazy. I had half expected him to cut my meat for me - it was embarrassing to have someone younger than me trying to take care of me.

"Mokuba, seriously. I'll say it one last time - I. Am. Fine." I said firmly, placing my own hands on my hips to mimic him. My actions managed to get a smile that he tried to hide.

Mokuba sighed dramatically in the end. "Fine, but the first sign of you not feeling well you'd better get yourself to a doctor right away, do I make myself clear? Don't make me call your uncle to keep an eye on you."

I rubbed my temples and looked to Seto, but the look in his eyes told me plainly that he completely agreed with Mokuba. "Alright, you mother hens. I'll tell you if I don't feel well, I promise."

Mokuba walked up and held his pinky out at me. "Pinky swear it, and if you don't keep your promise then you'll have to pay the consequences."

I shook my head but smiled as I wrapped my pinky around his. "Alright, pinky swear. I should have never told you about pinky swears, you're cruel to use them against me."

"I just worry about you Reila. You push yourself as hard as Seto does, and the two of you drive me crazy by not taking care of yourselves." Mokuba released my pinky and hopped into the limo waiting to take him and Seto home. I held my hands up in surrender as I turned to my own car where Seto stood waiting.

I reached out to grab the handle, but Seto's hand caught mine before it could make contact with the metal. Looking up at him I could see that his face was set in a serious expression, probably fine tuning what he would say.

Seto gave my hand a light squeeze, something that caught me off guard. "Mokuba's right - stop pushing yourself so hard. It would look bad if one of the tournament committee became ill."

I felt a blush creeping up my face and fought it down, clearing my throat. "I told you both I'll be fine. I wouldn't dream of letting myself get sick this close to the tournament."

Seto nodded, releasing my hand and letting me climb into the waiting car. This is exactly why I hadn't wanted to appear weak - now I would have to deal with the two of them acting like I was some weak little damsel. I know the concern came from a good place, but I was the one who was really worried - this tournament would be the most dangerous event we'd faced, and so many things could go wrong. I almost envied them the bliss of ignorance.

When I got home, Mai greeted me with an envelope in one hand, a letter in the other, and a grin on her face. "So you really weren't kidding that a big tournament was coming, were you? And here I was beginning to think that you were leading me on just to get me to stick around longer."

I shook my head while smiling. "As much as I adore your company Mai, I would never lie to keep you pinned down somewhere. I didn't know the exact date because it depended on how quickly Seto could finish up a secret project. Otherwise I would have just invited you back a few days beforehand, if you had somewhere else to be."

"Hey you've given me free food, a free room, and transportation to and from a few minor tournaments. A girl could get used to this kind of life." Mai said, winking and putting the letter down on the table in the foyer. "So will you be participating in this tournament?"

"Strictly on the board, public relations and all that. Seto's not exactly the easiest person to get along with and the city officials appreciated meetings with me more." I said, kicking off my pumps. "Did you honestly expect me, a complete novice to be invited to this tournament?"

"Well, after I found this…" Mai reached into her back pocket and pulled out a deck box, one that Mokuba had given me. I groaned as I recognized the design - it was a deck that Mokuba had let me build from his spare cards in an attempt to teach me how to play the game.

It's not that I'm a terrible duelist - in fact I did alright playing trading card games in my first life. But that game, although similar to Duel Monsters, was fundamentally different in the sense that you weren't really held to a restricted turn phase. I mean sure you had your standard turn - untap, upkeep, draw, pre-combat, combat, and post-combat. But the ability to use spells and traps at any given time was what really gave me an edge, plus in casual games there wasn't really a limit to the amount of monsters, spells, or traps you had on the field. Duel Monsters… It's constricting, and I found the constriction hard to work around.

"So, Reila has been dabbling in dueling. I hope you don't mind but I looked at your deck and… Well it could use some work." Mai said, motioning for me to follow her. I groaned and slowly followed, not looking forward to another run around the same tired track of why I don't do so well with this particular game.

Sitting down in the living room Mai took out my deck, beginning to separate the cards into three piles - monsters, traps, and spells. I frowned as I realized that my monster pile was pretty close in size to my trap pile. I hadn't noticed that little tidbit before. Even from my MTG days I knew that having such an even spread led to a big problem. If you didn't balance your cards just right you could end up monster-screwed.

"You do realize that you have almost the same amount of traps and monsters? I take it you find that there are times you can;t draw a monster to save your life." Mai said, gesturing to the piles.

"I'm less of an attacker and more of a reactionary player." I said, frowning.

"That's fine, and it can work - if you use the right cards. Why not focus less on traps..." Mai began taking cards away from the pile, and pulled out a case I knew she kept spare cards in. She shuffled through them, adding a card to my monster pile every few that she flipped through, "and focus on monster effects? It's like having a trap and monster in one if you use them right."

I… Hadn't thought of that. Granted I didn't put much thought into dueling to begin with, but I should have thought of monster effects right from the beginning. I almost always used a monster's abilities to my advantage in my past life, whether it be to keep my monsters out of range or free from the threat of spells being used against them. I wanted to smack myself for being so narrow minded.

"I… How on earth did I not think of that? Mokuba even explained them to me but I…"

"Easy mistake. It takes a skilled duelist to be able to use monster effects well enough to use them in place of traps. But, given that you're a genius and already used to planning seventy steps in advance, I doubt you'll have too much difficulty with it." Mai pulled her cards out from the pile and put them back in her own case. "Tell you what, tomorrow before the announcement I can take you out and help you get some more cards to strengthen your deck. Then I can use you as a guinea pig to test out my new deck."

I made a face. "I knew there was a method to your kindness." Mai just laughed as she handed me back my deck. "But that sounds fine with me. Seto wanted me on the ground tomorrow anyway to help with his announcement, so I'll just go with you to the meeting spot."

"It's a date then." Mai said, winking as she left the room, my laughter following her out.