Small Note

Sakura: Update time! Please enjoy this new chapter...

Chapter 7

The Ancient Stone

Three days in the hospital would have taken its toll on anyone who was getting better and wanted to get out of there. However that wasn't the case with Yugi who had visitors' everyday all day long that kept him busy. Plus a fiancé who refused to be released from the hospital until Yugi was also released. There was nothing wrong with Yami he just did not see any reason to leave when Yugi wasn't allowed to leave.

Yugi on the other hand was doing better. Most of his burns no longer hurt but he still had to be careful of them and change the bandages at least once to twice a day. He had been taken off the oxygen allowing him to breathe on his own, but the doctor did not want to release him just yet. Nurses were to keep an eye on him and see how well he was breathing on his own before they even thought about letting him go.

At least everyone was in high spirits on that day as Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Ryou were all able to visit the two. While Yami lay back on his own bed reading the newspaper, Yugi was sitting up on his own bed playing duel monsters with Joey. The others found spots to sit around the room to just sit and watch the two duelists.

"All right on this turn I'll sacrifice two monsters…" Yugi took away two monsters and laid down his new one, "And summon the Dark Magician to attack your Kung Fu Fighter."

"Aw man that's all my life points…" Joey groaned as Yugi completely destroyed him again. "Why is my luck so bad…? I can't draw the right cards."

"It's not the luck of the draw Joey," Tea said with a smirk, "It's a difference in skill."

"What're you trying to say Tea?" Joey growled even though he knew she was right. He turned away ignoring her for now as he told Yugi, "Alright one more time."

"You're on," Yugi said as he got his deck ready.

Tea watched as the two got ready for another duel, "C'mon Joey that's enough. Yugi's in the hospital for a reason. He's supposed to be taking an easy." She knew Yugi was doing better and he looked better but he wasn't one hundred percent yet. The last thing she wanted was for Yugi to hurt himself and end up in the hospital longer.

"I'm fine honest." Yugi told her as he took his turn.

"Let them play," Yami said to Tea never looking up from the article he was reading, "Yugi will forget all about the pain if he's playing a game."

Tea knew he was right and Yami didn't appear worried, but both of them were still in the hospital. She couldn't help but want them back to their old selves faster. Once they were out of that hospital everything would feel a lot better. Although she still had other things on her mind and was just glad school wasn't one of those things. Besides two of her friends still stuck in the hospital, she was a little stressed about her boyfriend. Duke was taking the burning down of his Game shop a little hard even if he did not say anything out loud to them. These past few days when they talked he would tell her not to worry and that he was fine. But just the tone of his voice and the way he put all his focus into making sure the insurance went through so he could rebuild. Of course there was a chance the insurance company would not go through given it was Mr. Devlin's fault the place burned.

The whole thing was a mess and sometimes Tea did not know what she could do. So she tried to be supportive where she could and let Duke do what he needed to do. That included taking care of his father who was a wreck. Last she heard there was talk of him leaving Japan to try and clear his head. Apparently Duke's father had a brother overseas that agreed to take him in for a while so Duke would have one less thing to worry about. Somehow she hoped all this would be over with so they could all enjoy the rest of their break.

Looking back toward the two playing duel monsters she could not stop the smile that came to her face. Yugi really did look happy especially since he was putting Joey in his place. Over all she was just glad the two were still with them. Even Joey was lucky to have come out of that fire with only a few burns which were healing up quickly.

"AGH! I lost again! I tell you its bad luck," Joey pouted as he threw his cards down.

Yugi chuckled as he collected his cards back up, "Joey, you're using the same deck you used at Duelist Kingdom, right?"

"Yeah, I beat some strong enemies with this deck." He replied and did not see what the problem was. That deck had gotten him through some tough spots. Although he might have gotten a little rusty in his time between that tournament and now. College had been squarely on his mind for the past few years.

"You should assemble a new one soon. I have a strategy to beat it…"

"What? You do!"

Tristan shook his head, "Yugi, just pretend you don't have one. Joey 's the kind of guy who goes through life clinging to past glories."

Joey glared at his friend, "Shut up, you don't even know how to play." He then looked back at Yugi, "Did you put together a new deck?" There were a few cards he hadn't seen before that Yugi had been playing with.

Yugi nodded, "I left my best monsters and replace the rest of the cards. In collectible card games you've always got to keep updating and refining your strategy. Grandpa bought by some new cards and my deck for when I got bored." He smiled at his lover who was paying them no mind, "Yami helped me refine my deck to make it even better than it was in Duelist Kingdom."

"You should ask Seto to help you…" Yami mentioned off hand since in truth he had been listening to them.

Joey rolled his eyes. "Like I'd ask him to help me. I'm more than able to make my own deck. He may be my boyfriend but on the dueling field were rivals."

"I'm just saying he has a large collection of monsters, spells, and traps…" Yami reminded Joey, "and besides it's not all about being rivals. Just like Yugi and I, it's something we both love and can do together."

Joey agreed he did have a point there but still, "Yeah, but he never has the time to sit down and relax. Like tonight it's just me and Mokuba because he's got some late night meeting."

"Who has a meeting that late?" Ryou asked what they were all thinking.

Yami sighed as he closed the paper, "My brother would have a meeting that late. But it's not him who called the meeting, "He turned to a certain part in the newspaper and hand it over to Yugi. "He's meeting someone from the Egyptian council of Antiquities. Seto called and told me about it yesterday."

Yugi took the newspaper to see the article which talked about some Egyptian Exhibit that had come to the Domino Museum. On the article was a woman and beside her it said her name was Ishizu Ishtar. "Why would Seto meet someone about this?"

Yami shrugged, "Probably to see if Kaiba Corp will sponsor the exhibit. My father once dealt with Antiquities back in Egypt before he died. Could be someone from the council recognized us from television or a newspaper and wants us to be a part of it. Exhibits like that always look for big companies to promote things like this so people will want to go see it. If it's not that then I have no clue why they would want to see Seto."

Ryou took a look at the newspaper and that's when he noticed the woman's necklace, "Hey check that out." He pointed it out to Yugi who hadn't seen it at first.

At first Yugi had to do a double take before he realized what Ryou was looking at, "Wait you don't think?"

"Could be…"

Yugi handed the newspaper back to Yami, "You don't know her do you?"

Yami shook his head, "I only know a few people but their probably old by now. I was just a kid when I met most of my father's co-workers. She must be new to the council." He took a look at what Ryou and Yugi saw and noticed what he had overlooked, "Hold on is that a millennium item." Right there around her neck was a necklace with the same eye that was on Yugi's puzzle and Ryou's ring.

"It might be, but we don't know who she is and why she has one." Yugi sat there thinking it over. If someone else was coming to Domino with a millennium item, it could mean trouble. That was the last thing they needed when things were looking up for them.

Ten o'clock in the evening the lights outside the Domino museum lit up the structure in the night with the setting of the sun. A limo pulled up outside the front stairs as the driver informed the rider that they had arrived. He got out of the vehicle and quickly opened the back doors for Seto Kaiba, who stepped out silver briefcase in hand.

A second person moved around the vehicle from the other side to stand beside his boss, "This late and at a museum of all places…" He looked toward the building which was closed for the day, "Mr. Kaiba what kind of business deal is this? Who is this man?"

Most Kaiba Corp employees would never think of questioning their boss, but these two were two of his most trusted guard who followed him to ever business deal to protect him. They were also workers in the company and did anything Kaiba needed of them day or night.

"It's not a man," Seto informed them to both their surprise, "It's a woman and an important person in the Egyptian government." At least that's what he was told when he got the phone call earlier that day. Today was a day he would have been able to go home early so he could visit the hospital and see how Yami and Yugi were doing, then enjoy a hopefully relaxing evening at home with his own boyfriend and younger brother. Those plans were quickly killed with the phone call and he swore if this meeting turned out to be something completely ridiculous and unimportant someone was going to pay.

When the three walked up the stairs and approached the front doors, a young woman with her own guard stepped out to greet them, "Welcome. You must be Mr. Kaiba…" She said referring to Seto and offering her best smile, "It's an honor to meet you. I am aware of Kaiba Corp's remarkable strides in the high-tech gaming industry."

It was quick to see that boasting about his company was not putting Kaiba in a better mood so she went on to introduce herself properly, "My name is Ishizu Ishtar. I came from Egypt to oversee the dynastic exhibit that will be held in this museum." She did look every bit Egyptian from the dark skin, to her clothes, and the accent that Seto could just slightly hear. It slightly reminded him of his mother who had been half Egyptian and when he once lived in Egypt. Of course he quickly pushed those memories to the back of his mind. There was no point in remembering the past….even though those were some of the best memories he had.

"Please come in…" Ishizu thankfully changed his thought process by turning to reenter the museum. He followed her hoping to get this over with so he could move on with his life. Egypt and everything about it was no longer a part of their lives.

Of course that was little hard when Ishizu felt the need to show him the new exhibit that would be opening the next day. "The supreme council of antiquities is a government agency formed in 1859 to protect artifacts from grave robbers. We observe excavation throughout Egypt and exhibits like this one around the world."

"If you're looking for someone to find mummies, I'm sorry to disappoint you…" Seto was already ready to leave. He knew all this from when his father was alive and worked for the council. He had no plans on being a part of any of it. Kaiba Corp would have nothing to do with finding old artifacts or sponsoring any exhibits. He merely came there so as not to be rude since Ishizu would not come to his office for the meeting. "My focus is technology, high-performance silicon chips for electronic game design. I don't have the least interest in ancient stones from thousands of years ago."

Ishizu stopped in her walking but did not turn to face him as she said, "Don't worry. I don't intend to keep you here all night merely to lecture you on Pharaonic culture. However I understand that you play duel monsters. What if I told you that the game originated in ancient Egypt?"

Now for a moment that did grab Seto's attention. It had been something he had only thought Pegasus had created which helped Kaiba Corp in its holographic technology. If it wasn't for duel monsters, Seto would not have had such a big break when he took over the company from his step-father.

"Of course you know Maximillion Pegasus, the game designer created the present form of duel monsters. But it's little known fact that he came up with the game after a trip to Egypt…" Ishizu turned her head slightly to look at Seto over her shoulder, "What I'm about to show you is a carving-a palette- from the mortuary temple of a pharaoh from the 18th dynasty. Perhaps this palate will trigger some inspiration in you as it did for Mr. Pegasus."

'What is she up to…?' was Seto's thought process as he began to follow her again until she stopped outside a dark doorway. Inside the room was pitch black with no telling what was inside.

"Please after you…" Ishizu offered letting Seto enter the room first before she followed him this time. She went right to where she knew a light switch was and said, "Behold the origin of duel monsters…."

The light turned on and Seto found his eyes widening as he beheld a rather large stone with carvings all over it. 'Th-These rectangular shapes on the stone slab. They're exactly like duel monsters….' He thought as he took it all in. Some of the monsters carved into the stone looked very familiar as duel monsters he had seen in the game before. One happening to be the five card monster of Exodia.

"The ancient Egyptians like many cultures thought misfortunes were caused by evil spirits. These spirits of evil, fear, and suffering were believed to live in the people's hearts. To bring peace the pharaoh's magicians tamed the evil spirits. They gave them names and physical forms trapping them in stone slabs on walls. But within the stones the trapped monsters slowly became more powerful. In time a group of priests acted against the pharaoh and unleashed the evil power of the stone slabs, starting a conflict that shattered the kingdom." Ishizu did not give him time to fully take it in as she moved over to the next slab to show him what she really wanted him to see. "This palette illustrates that conflict. This is what I wanted to show you…"

If Seto thought he had been surprised he was put into an even more state of shock when he moved over to see what she had wanted him to see. At first he had to do a double take to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him. 'That carving looks just like Yami!' One of the figures carved into the stone looked like his brother's real twin rather than himself and right above him was an almost perfect copy of Yugi's Dark magician.

"The young king wields the Black Magician and the white beast handler confronts him…"

'Th-The white beast? Could it be…?' He took in the dragon above the second figure, 'The blue eyes white dragon….' But that honestly did not bug him as much as the figure did that looked like his brother.

"This palette depicts the 'diaha' the duelist battle as it was known in ancient times…"

"This can't be…" Seto interrupted her to get her to shut up for a second, "What's Yami doing on an ancient relic?"

Ishizu looked at him completely serious as she replied, "I don't' know any Yami. This depicts a battle between the pharaoh and a priest-magician. But I know that battles like the one in this three thousand year old carving still live on today in some form…." She waited a second to see if he would listen before she went on to say, "The age of the pharaohs ended more than two thousand years ago with the Greek and roman conquests. But before that my home country, Egypt, was rule by a line of dynasties for more than three thousand years. The figure here is a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty."

"Pharaoh!"

"Yes, this cartouche… this nameplate indicates that he is a pharaoh but the name itself has been defaced," Ishizu explained as she pointed out the cartouche below the pharaoh but it had been marked out. "This is the only pharaoh whose name has not been found either in his tomb or the king list in the temples. In other words he has been completely erased from ancient Egyptian history…."

"A pharaoh?! Stop talking nonsense!" Seto found himself shouting since this woman was really started to piss him off saying all this nonsense. He knew his brother and he did not know what kind of sick joke this was putting something like that in the museum, "That's Yami! My brother and I think I would know if he was some three thousand year old pharaoh. How do I know you didn't just make this slab a few days ago? There's no proof it's three thousand years old. Even carbon dating doesn't work perfectly on rocks!"

"Seto...Do not let your heart waver but if you face this palette it should speak to you in some way…" Ishizu stated calmly watching as the scowl on his face did not lift. It was easy to see he was one of those nonbelievers. "The young priest who fights with the pharaoh, the beast he has summoned…is it not like…"

"Shut Up!" Seto did not want to hear any more of this. He saw the beast and he saw the priest below it. None of this was real and was just some cheap joke which was seriously not funny. Yami was no pharaoh and he was not the priest! "Nonsense! This is a joke! Duel monsters were invented in the mid-nineties. There's no way its three thousand years old!"

Ishizu was still not fazed by his shouting as she simply said, "Just like the famous western magician Aleister Crowley is said to have used icons from the book of Thoth to create his Thoth tarot so was Maximillion J. Pegasus led by fate to create duel monsters. So perhaps fate still leads the souls of the king and the priest depicted here even now after three thousand years…"

"Ishizu," Seto was no longer shouting but he had turned away ready to get out of there and away from the crazy woman, "If you a government official of the Egyptian supreme council of antiquities called me here to lecture me on the occult you're wasting my time. I'm busy developing the next generation platform for duel monsters."

However before he could full walk away Ishizu pulled him back if only for a second, "I know. In that case allow me to move to the main subject…" She turned to look at him to make sure he had stopped before asking, "Seto are you aware of the legendary rare cards Pegasus created?"

Now that had Seto's attention as he turned back to her, "What?"

Ishizu pointed back up toward the slab, "Take a look…"

That was when Seto finally notice the three beasts carved above the pharaoh and priest that he had failed to see. Too busy trying to deny all the lies Ishizu was spouting. However when new powerful duel monsters were mentioned she had his full attention.

"Do you see the three palettes carved above the heads of the King and the Priest?" She asked even though she knew he had seen them now. "They depict the three hidden gods of Egypt around the millennium puzzle. Maximillion Pegasus created three unique cards based on these carvings. From right to left they are the God of the Obelisk also called the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon also known as Osiris, and lastly the Sun Dragon Ra."

Seto of all his dueling life had never seen or heard of such cards. It left a million questions in his head wondering if that part of her tale was even true. If that were the case then he wondered where in the world were they and who had them. He was actually listening as she went on to explain about them not once interrupting.

"The three god-beasts are believed to represent the polarities of the universe. Obelisk…light and dark. Slifer…good and evil. Ra… heaven and earth. It is said that the one who acquires these three cards the supreme and victorious one, the duelist of duelists will reign over the world of cards and deserve the title of Duel King."

'Duel King!' Now that certainly had his attention because that could be his shot at getting his title away from Yugi. Sure the smaller duelist was becoming a member of his family but they were still rivals. "Where are these three cards? Who has them?" He could not stay quiet any longer as he hoped she knew something if she was mentioning it. If not it was a waste of his time.

"That is why I need you to find out," Those were not the words Seto wanted to hear as she went on to say, "Pegasus eventually repented of creating these three cards. He said it was his greatest mistake because the cards gained great power as if the gods themselves dwelled in them. It is for a reason that these cards are forbidden. They can be used for good or evil. If used by an evil heart, they could take the opponent's life. They are the ultimate weapon of duel monsters."

'The ultimate weapon… Could they have that legendary power of dealing direct damage to the opposing player…?' That had never been allowed in tournaments before but that would be an idea for the players to make the game even harder. His new system he had been working on for the past year could make all of that possible.

"Pegasus tried to eliminate the three god cards himself but in the end he couldn't do it. Then he thought of putting them to eternal sleep by burying them deep in the Valley of the Kings the place from whence their spirits came." Ishizu informed him, "At Pegasus's request, Egypt's supreme council of antiquities sealed the cards in three different locations in the Valley of the Kings, but someone stole them…."

The news of that was upsetting to know but Seto knew ways of finding things that were lost. He had done a lot just to get his Blue Eyes White Dragons cards. With a little time and money he could find them and get them if only he had a small led at who had stolen them, "Who would know about the existence of cards so secret that even Pegasus feared them? Who could have…?"

"The Ghouls…." Ishizu replied before Seto could even finish his sentence, "You've heard of them haven't you Seto?"

Seto's eyes widen when he recognized the name, "The rare card hunters who operate behind the scenes all over the world? It was them?" That certainly was a snag in the plan as they were a tough group to find. "Stealing rare cards by stealth or force… selling them on the black market for profit… Recently I've heard rumors that they're even making bootleg cards…." People like that pissed Seto off, he had learned his lesson the hard way and would never walk down that road again. 'In Islamic legend the ghouls are monsters who dig up graves and eat dead flesh. Like their namesake they're rotten to the core. If they have the three hidden god cards I won't allow it.'

"Seto we need your help," Ishizu spoke up pulling his attention back to her, "For the honor of the Egyptian government and to carry out Pegasus's wishes we want you to get those rare cards back." She turned away from him to look back up at the stone slab, "We held the museum exhibit in this town to display the palette showing the origin of the cards. I believe this palette has a power that attracts duelists."

"So you're making this town into a stage for a duel monsters battle royale…" Seto said with a smirk. He had already been thinking about a new tournament to launch his new duel system and something like this would be perfect. It wouldn't take long to do either since his new system was already finished with a few final tests to go through. "The ghouls will surely sniff out and target a large gathering of duelists. They'll want my Blue Eyes White Dragons too…" Pulling the duelists in and making them stay would make it that much easier to pull in the ghouls too and get those rare cards back. Plus he could never pass up a perfect chance to face Yugi and prove who the real King of Games was.

"One more thing…" Ishizu reached into her pocket and pulled out a duel monsters card handing it over to Seto, "This is for you…"

Seto actually dropped his briefcase in shock as he carefully took the card that was being handed to him. He was staring at and holding one of the three gods that he had just moments ago thought all been stolen, 'The God of the Obelisk! What's she doing with it?' One minute she was saying they were gone the next she was giving one to him.

Of course Ishizu had an explanation for it as she explained to him, "We were able to prevent this card from being stolen. To retrieve the other two I am entrusting you with the God of the Obelisk."

'So this card is bait…' Seto thought not believing his luck. His deck would be unstopping with this in it and any tournament would be a breeze. However there were still those terms, "Are you sure you can trust me Ishizu?" He asked her with a smirk now on his face, "What if I retrieve the three rare cards but refuse to let them go?"

"I trust you." She told him with a completely straight face.

'This will be interesting…' Seto thought as he turned without another word and left leaving Ishizu to her artifacts. His mind was already filled with ideas and plans to get this new tournament going in motion before the end of the summer. No doubt the museum would not have the exhibit for long so he only had a small window the ghouls could possibly be in town. He had to keep as many duelists there was long as he could in order to find the last two remaining god cards.

Before the end of this tournament he would be the new Game King because as much as he liked the idea of the god cards the title was all that matter anymore. He was not the same man he was before so Ishizu was right in trusting him.

Sakura: So I kind of focused on Seto in this chapter like it does in the manga to give him a little spot light. He's changed a lot and for the better. Only after the Gods cards long enough to get them and gain the title of King of Games. Which belongs to Yugi, but Seto doesn't think that way. Anyway next chapter I'm going to skip a chapter in the manga with Seto dueling the computer and put some focus on Yugi and Yami with them getting out the hospital and finally getting to see their new home.

Yumi: Please Review!