Thank you for these characters and their stories, Kazuki Takahashi. Requiescat in pace.

Chapter Forty-Six

Dria

Down, down, down into darkness I fell, or was I just floating in darkness? I couldn't tell anymore. My only relief was that the throbbing in my head had finally stopped. That relief quickly faded when I realized I had probably passed out in the virtual world and, if I was lucky, didn't hit anything as I fell from the rafters. I closed my eyes as the darkness surrounded me. It seemed like there was no end to this fall, no matter how long I fell. How long had it been already? Had it been 5 minutes or 5 hours?

"Well, this seems bad, even for us."

I opened my eyes and looked to my left. Great, now I was seeing double, just what I needed at this moment. The other me was dressed as the queen I had been once: a white dress with a purple sash, the simple diadem with emeralds and golden earrings, and a staff with a sword at her side.

"Well, what else did you expect? We're always finding trouble."

Looking to my right, there was yet another me, which was even better. She was dressed as an Atlantean priestess, another of my earlier lives: a bright blue dress with red geometric designs, a single blue gemstone in a silver circlet around her forehead, and arrows at her back with a staff at her side.

"Not that I don't enjoy seeing myself right now, but could you leave? I'm trying to think."

"That's why we're here. You're overthinking this entire situation. Magic or not, you can't stay on the sidelines. There's too much at stake for everyone involved."

I glared at myself for the unhelpful advice and crossed my arms, looking back up at the dark tunnel I was falling through. There was something I was missing about this entire adventure. The Big Five had claimed that we were in a virtual world. Therefore, nothing about it was real. If that were the case, then how could my Pendant be working as usual, according to its own schedule? I felt my eyebrows furrow together as I thought harder. Naturally, just as I was probably on the verge of discovering something important, my necklace whisked me away into another memory.

I sighed as I sank down into the warm bath water after discarding my cloak on the nearest seat. Meetings with the Pharaoh and his Royal Court often consumed an entire day, leaving me exhausted from standing nearly the whole time. The warm water seemed to massage my aching muscles as the soothing scent of oil and my lotus flowers relaxed my busy mind.

"Must you simply drop your cloak, my Lady? The Pharaoh had the finest linen brought in just for you."

My maidservant, Mereret, always scolded my unladylike behavior when the opportunity arose. Originally brought to the palace to work as a maidservant for one of Pharaoh's concubines, she came before me and begged to allow her to work under me instead. After much pleading with the Pharaoh, I reminded him that I was in need of a new wardrobe organizer and the job was passed to Mereret. I enjoyed her company greatly, especially because I didn't belong among the other women in the palace, nor did they want me in their ranks. Mana and Isis were both very kind to me, but they never allowed themselves to forget my position; Mereret, though respectfully, often ignored those boundaries.

"I placed it nicely on the nearest stool. I didn't fling it to the ground to collect dust. You tease too often, Mereret."

She merely smiled in return as she gathered my hair to comb it and arrange it with various pins. I sighed again as she lightly massaged my head and gently pulled through the knots. She knew I didn't mind her honesty and bluntness, so she felt free to speak as she wished and wouldn't find herself sold into slavery. Even the slaves who served me knew they could speak their minds with me when it was required, while many others were compelled to remain silent before their masters due to their status.

Sudden voices filled the bathing room as many more women entered, gossiping and giggling loudly. I lazily opened my eyes to see Sekhmakh, the favorite amongst Pharaoh's concubines, and Pyhia, a young princess born to the Pharaoh by another concubine. Beyond her and the Prince, the Pharaoh didn't have other natural children, though he always considered me a daughter given to him by one of the goddesses. Sekhmakh looked rather displeased as she led the harem women inside.

"Why has my milk bath not been prepared yet? The Pharaoh loves my skin after a milk bath! Is there anyone here capable of completing a simple task such as this? To think, the royal princess Pyhia has graced us with her presence, and she has been disappointed and dishonored by her own servants!"

I accidentally let out a few giggles at Sekhmakh's words. She should be grateful that the servants waited until she arrived at the bathing room to pull together the milk she had requested. Otherwise, it would curdle and sour in the heat, which was incredibly intense this time of year even with the mud roof covering our heads, causing the whole room to smell terribly. Then, all her milk would be wasted, and she would have to wait until enough had been collected again to bathe.

"How can the Pharaoh keep that woman around? All she does is complain and order the servants around as if she herself were Queen. Those poor donkeys were purchased and reserved specially for her."

Sekhmakh must have heard Mereret's comments because she quickly turned her loud voice against us.

"I am the Pharaoh's favorite, enough to behave like a Queen. You will remember your place, servant, and never dare to speak about me in such a way again. Otherwise, all I must do is ask and the Pharaoh will have you exiled or executed. Which method you end up with will be my choosing."

I stood from my bath and turned to face the rather vociferous woman, who had interrupted my otherwise peaceful bath. Mouthing off about her own problems and complaining was one matter; threatening my friend, entirely another.

"Mereret is my maidservant, and she will remain as such until she decides to leave. Surely by now you have realized that you have no real power over the Pharaoh nor did you ever at any point. Yet, you continue to shout and order others around as if you did. If I may ask, silence your nonsense and bathe like every other woman who walks into this room. You are being an annoyance."

Watching her face change colors was a joy. I had learned much about the human body and its capabilities during my wanderings, but the range of color was quite a surprise. Pink from seeing me unclothed, pale when she knew my words were true, and fiery red when I finally hit a nerve.

"You may be a princess now, but when the Pharaoh realizes he cannot allow the Prince to marry such a suspicious woman, you will be cast out like the filth you are and you will die in the desert alone. That is the fate you deserve for weaseling your way into the palace and stealing Princess Pyhia's rightful place as the Prince's bride and future Queen. She is his true sister after all. You are no more than a desert snake."

I smiled at her insults. Her words were only partially true. The Pharaoh himself had invited me in, even when I reminded him it was a questionable decision to let a stranger into the palace, even a small child of 3 summers. Yet, he had trusted me and made me his daughter and a member of his Court. Only fools questioned the Pharaoh's judgment.

"While you have entirely missed the mark on your first point, I cannot argue much with your second. Her Highness is far more closely related to the Prince than I am, and therefore, according to the ancient customs, she would be the more logical choice. Highness, I cannot express the jealousy I feel towards you. If I could be the Prince's true sister, as you are, I would count myself among the happiest individuals, those who are both alive and dead. Unlike you, however, I will not question the judgment of my Pharaoh, nor will I reject the love the Prince has shown towards me."

Pyhia's face dropped at my words as a light blush raced across her nose. Then I understood. It had not been her plan to pick the fight, but Sekhmakh's. Ignoring the rainbow of colors that continued to appear on the latter's face, I turned back towards Mereret, who had brought me a thin linen cloak to cover myself now that I had completed my bath. Before I could grab it, however, the curtains burst open once again, this time with a singular masculine voice.

I groaned a little as I reopened my eyes. I was slowly bouncing in time, as if someone was carrying me on his or her back. A wisp of blonde hair told me it was Joey's back. Before I could say anything, he suddenly took off with the others, running down the middle of what looked like a warehouse district.

"Tristan! I knew we'd track you down pal."

"Why don't you kids run along?"

It wasn't Tristan. It was the Machine King who had stolen his body from the duel and was now prancing around in Tristan's body like it was his own. For revenge against Seto, these professional men had attacked a group of teenagers. That fact had yet to stop irritating me. I saw 'Tristan' slowly raise a wooden sword and dash towards Seto, whom I determined the group must have just run into.

Feeling my old muscles working once again, I leapt off Joey's back, grabbing a nearby pipe, and blocking the strike at Seto. I heard various voices call out my name as the machine man and I squared off. Although it wasn't a very long fight, I found I could still use a one-handed style relatively smoothly. Still, I would have felt more confident with an actual sword and not a virtual pipe. The machine geek had clearly never trained with swords because all his movements were the same. Swing down, swing left, swing right, repeat. Even with rusty skills, he was still easy to block.

Suddenly, a little brown monkey jumped on 'Tristan's' head, distracting him from the fight. He pulled on hair, bit fingers, and almost managed to poke the body stealer in the eye before being thrown off to the side. Joey soon joined in, delivering a powerful kick to the imposter's side. He flew into the side of a building whose wall quickly crumbled.

"Joey! It's still his body!"

While Tea might have been right, I was beginning to have serious doubts. I was no expert in technology. That department I would leave in Seto's capable hands. But my necklace still worked and so did the Puzzle; if everything was virtual, how was it possible we could touch or feel anything?

'Tristan' quickly came speeding out of the building on a motorcycle, kidnapping Mokuba as part of his revenge against Seto. Before anyone could stop him, both disappeared into a tunnel and sped away into the darkness. Dropping the pipe, I followed the others as they chased after the motorcycle carrying away my little brother. A second motorcycle came flying up behind us.

"Seto!"

Duke quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side as Seto raced down the same pathway his brother had just disappeared into. Briefly glancing at me as he drove by, I saw the pain in Seto's eyes. Mokuba was the most important person in his life, even more so than me. Losing him would hurt Seto so deeply; he would never recover if Mokuba was gone forever. I wanted to stretch out my hand to him and tell him we would rescue his brother, but he was gone as quickly as he had come. Surely, he knew that I would stop at nothing to help him retrieve Mokuba.

"It's that robot runt again."

I turned around to see the little brown monkey jumping up and down excitedly, as if he were trying to say something.

"Maybe we should just take this guy apart."

"Yeah, we could unscrew his head and take out the batteries."

Here I thought I had been cruel to my enemies in the past. That was a fate worse than death for the little monkey, who was more than grateful to Serenity for defending him against his big scary foes.

"The Big Five may have Tristan's body, but his mind has to be around here somewhere."

"Zip it! I got my eye on you, ya robot varmint!"

I smiled widely. Leave it to Joey to start a fight with a robotic monkey in a virtual world. This generation was far more entertaining than many of the others I had endured. I could only hope I was strong enough to defend them when the true evil arose. Shortly after Seto vanished, the little monkey directed us towards a truck in the warehouse area. I offered to drive, but was quickly shot down by Joey, who took the wheel.

"Dria, you just fainted not too long ago. You should be resting instead."

I pouted a little, not enjoying being told what to do, but complied with Joey's words. Yugi, Duke, Tea, and Serenity climbed into the bed of the truck while I rode shotgun.

Are you alright, Dria?

The Pharaoh's ghostly form appeared next to me. He was clearly worried about me, which I couldn't really fault him for. I had just passed out and fallen from the second story of a warehouse and landed on who knows what.

I think so. I'm not really sure what happened. One moment I was jumping down to join everyone, the next I was falling through the darkness, talking with two other Drias. It was an experience I'd rather not repeat.

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of me seeing other me's, but thankfully did not press the matter further.

Did the lack of the magical energy you spoke of earlier cause your fall?

I wish I could say, Pharaoh. Something about this world is not as it seems, and it has been bothering me the entire time. If it is virtual, why can we touch even the smallest things and feel them as if they were real? Why can my necklace and the Puzzle still work? Why ca-

My train of thought was broken by Joey slamming on the brakes of the truck and coming to a stop.

"Look Yug, what is that?"

"It looks like some kind of rocket."

Duke was right. My eyes widened as I watched the rocket fly into the air. That wasn't just any rocket. If Seto was dueling, he was in grave danger. Forcing open the passenger door, I jumped out of the truck and started running down the road, ignoring the shouts from the group behind me.

Seto, please be careful.

Yugi

"Dria! Come back! Where are you going?"

"What's gotten into her? What was that thing, you guys?"

"Who do you think launched it?"

We watched as the virtual rocket disappeared behind the clouds. Was Kaiba dueling? Or was this just part of Noah's virtual world? I didn't know of a card that was a rocket, but maybe that was why Dria took off. She would know better than anyone, and if she was worried, maybe we all should be.

"I'm way cooler than that Romeo-wannabe Duke Devlin."

Was that Tristan's voice? But where was it coming from? The only culprit was the monkey, but how did that make any sense?

"If I stay stuck in this robo-chimp's body too long, I may start chowing on bananas and bugs!"

"Tristan?"

Before we could determine whether or not the money was Tristan, Joey started the truck again and continued down the road, driving slightly faster than before in hopes of catching up to Dria along the way.

"Hey! I'm a monkey, not a mad dog!"

I felt a little bad for Tristan, if it was actually him. While Duke was smart to be suspicious, the voice was familiar, and he had saved Kaiba earlier from the imposter Tristan. I didn't know exactly what we owed him but giving him the opportunity to prove himself seemed like a good place to start. I saw a figure standing not too far in front of us as we drew close to a gap in the road.

"Dria! Kaiba!"

Jumping out of the bed of the truck, I ran up to Dria's side as both she and Kaiba turned towards me. Glancing at Dria for a moment, I was surprised at what I saw. Worry seemed to be pouring off her, from her wide eyes to clenched fists and stiff posture. What was she so concerned about? I considered reaching out my hand to touch hers, but I knew that I had no way of easing her anxiety.

"Kaiba's up against one of the baddest deck masters of all time!"

I would have thought that was the worst of Kaiba's troubles, but Dria's eyes didn't even glance at Jinzo. They darted between the duel and the sky, as if she was expecting something to come crashing down.

"Satellite Cannon, begin firing sequence!"

A bright, white beam shot down from space, obliterating Kaiba's face down monster. It had so much power that I felt my body being pushed back from the force of it. The waves of the sea below raged like they were in a terrible storm, washing up as high as the road we were on.

"The Satellite Cannon orbits the Earth at an altitude of about 240 miles, higher than any other monster is capable of reaching. It's nearly untouchable. That's why it has no attack or defense points until it attacks."

I looked back at Dria as she explained the situation. I sighed. Sometimes I wanted to shake her and demand to know why she had created certain cards. This would definitely be one of those times. The Pharaoh chuckled at my thought, silently agreeing with me. She could be so cunning and mischievous that it was frightening sometimes.

Jinzo continued the duel by telling a story about Kaiba's early business experience, specifically the days leading up to his takeover of Kaiba Corp: how he gained the support of the Big Five under his stepfather's nose, how he slowly acquired enough of the company to take control, how he threatened and betrayed Mokuba, and how Mokuba stayed loyal to his brother despite the pain Kaiba had caused him.

There was no way Kaiba had done all of that, not to Mokuba. While I knew how much Seto loved Dria, I also knew Mokuba was more important to him than anyone. He wouldn't do that, not even for success in his business. Dria's fists clenched even more tightly, so much that I wondered if she was cutting into her palms with her nails.

"Leichter has it wrong. Seto may be conniving and cruel when it comes to business strategies, but he would never purposefully hurt Mokuba. He would never risk losing his brother over something like that. How dare he even suggest that."

Now Kaiba was furious. What had seemed like a victory for Leichter soon became an equal duel. Everything began falling apart for Kaiba's opponent.

"Kaiba's monster's not strong enough to reach that high!"

Joey was right. How was Kaiba going to destroy that cannon if his monsters couldn't even come close to touching it?

"I'll take down your little space cannon."

Everything rode on Kaiba' next draw. I saw Dria clasp her hands together and tightly shut her eyes. She was worried for Kaiba, more than I had ever seen her before. She had so much faith in his abilities. Still, a little prayer for luck couldn't hurt. The sky echoed from the roar of the dragon as the Blue Eyes soared high into the sky. Could it reach the cannon? It was the only monster in Kaiba's deck that could reach that height. If the dragon couldn't reach it, Kaiba would lose.

A bright light appeared behind the clouds above us as the cannon came crashing down from the atmosphere. Streaks of light flew through the air as pieces of the cannon separated from the main body and fell into the ocean.

"You'll never see your brother again, Mr. Kaiba!"