Hey there everyone! Well, today, I'm back at work once again. I had been traveling an hour and a half to do some training till Wednesday, but luckily, it finished then. Now I go my usual five minute trip to get here. Anyways, not much new in my life. Mostly been just surviving my mate, lol. Hmm, I guess that's it.

Last time, the group returned to the hospital where Blue and Vash were. There, they found Bakura was fine, along with the Wolf Pack members that were there. Now Illidan sits and waits for Marie to recover. What will happen when the two reunite? Will it be pleasant, or will there be problems?

REVIEW TIME! I missed doing this, lol.

Metal Overlord 2.0: You're welcome. I thought you deserved it since you gave me the idea. Originally, the battle wasn't as long, and not as exciting I guess. It mostly followed the show, and Illidan and Yami won it seemingly easily. But yeah, I like this battle much better. Thanks for the comments again. Oh yeah, if you do the "you're a good boy, yes you are" again, I'll slash you in half and recycle you to make a new toaster!

Tomb Robber Vicky: Yep, it's over at last with Dartz. Yes, there is a little bit more to do. Some unresolved things that is. Lol, yeah, poor Vash and Blue were left out of everything. What happened was Illidan left the two behind to go to the temple. He had left a letter for them, telling them to go to the hospital with Bakura when they woke up. So, that explains it, lol. Lol, Bakura, I don't think it would have mattered if you helped. Only sweet Marie could help save the day, hehe.

Isis the Sphinx: Yeah, there's a bit more to go. And the third volume, arg, it's slow in writing. Thanks.

Ultimate Legendary Master: Thank you. Yep, it's the end of Dartz, and Illidan wanted to help Yami, but he pushed Illidan out of harms way. Nah, not the end yet. There is a little more to finish up, like a few unresolved issues.

x-knight20: Thank you. It's alright. Things happen, lol. Yep, he's gone. Hopefully Marie will be fine. She did exert a lot of energy in fighting Dartz, but she's most likely fine, or is she?

ardee: Thank you. Maybe I did, but I figured I'd show just how much power Marie had that Dartz stole. As I said before, she's stronger than the three Egyptian Gods together, probably even stronger than Anubis alone. That much power coupled together with a mad man does equal bad news. She is much stronger than you think. Like I just said, her power is great, but there is a catch. She can't control it for very long. Like a fire with gasoline sprayed on it. It gets larger for a moment, then it dies down. As for what will happen in TFG, it's kind of a secret, hehe. You know, hush hush, lol. I'll reveal it soon enough.

Wow, that's it at last! I'm sure you all are curious about how much longer this story will drag on, so I'll be honest. After today, I will finish up next Friday, with me posting on the usual days (M, W, F). So, including today, there are four chapters. After today, three left. So, the end is coming soon.

As for The Forgotten Guardians, I'm still working on it. Sadly, I'm not too far along. I'm working hard to try and find time to work on it, but it's rather difficult currently. To be honest, when I wrote TWS, it only took me four months. At the time, I wasn't working two out of four months. I began in February last year and finished that May. I then began TFG in May, but am still working on it. Unfortunately, as I said before, I've not gotten very far. I got a more attention needy job, then got married, along with another attention needy job, coupled with moving. So, not I'm trying to find time at work and home, but it's not panning out too well, lol. I hope to have it done though before the end of the summer. I will begin posting, in the future, but when, I'm unsure at the moment. I hope to get more done on it soon and be able to let everyone know.

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please remember, if you have questions, comments, suggestions, etc, feel free to post a review or email me. Later everyone!

Chapter 67

The next morning, Illidan awoke to see Marie was still sleeping. Sighing, he grasped her hand gently, and squeezed lightly, saying in a pleading tone "Please Marie, wake up. I need you…"

Seemingly responding instantly to his pleading, Marie began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing chocolate orbs. Illidan smiled at the sight of them, and said loving tone "So, you are finally awake."

A small smile played upon her face as she nodded and began to stretch out. Slowly, she sat up, saying "I'm finally back, at last."

Illidan smiled at this as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She tried to stand, only to wobble, and then fall back down on the bed. She raised her legs up to look at her feet, and her brow furrowed.

Looking back at Illidan, she asked "Have you been playing dress up with my unconscious body?"

Illidan about did an anime fall down, but smirked at this, saying "No my dear, I didn't dress you."

Her brow still furrowed, she asked "Then who the heck put me in these stiletto boots!? And not to mention, I'm wearing leather pants and a tank top. I wasn't wearing this when I lost my duel to Blue, so who dressed me!?"

Sighing, Illidan replied "Forget about your clothes for a moment. Let me ask you a question."

Seeing how serious Illidan's tone was, she nodded, and Illidan asked "What do you remember last?"

Thinking for a moment, she finally said "I remember… I remember helping you and Yami out in the battle against the Leviathan. That's the last thing I really remember clearly. After that, I have fuzzy memories of talking with you prior to that, but not really clear ones."

Nodding, Illidan replied "Well, something happened at that point."

Looking away, he stood and walked over to the window. Slightly worried, Marie asked "What happened?"

Still looking out the window, Marie grew slightly irritated and stood up, with great difficulty, and slowly managed to walk over to Illidan. She gently wrapped her arms around his body, making him flinch in pain.

Noting this, she asked "What's wrong?"

She then saw a few bruises on his face, and asked "What happened to you?"

He still refused to turn completely around, so Marie grabbed him by the right shoulder, which caused Illidan to flinch in pain once more. Seeing this, she grabbed him by the left shoulder instead and forced him to turn around. She tried to look into his eyes, but he continued to look away.

"Talk to me! I'm worried, and I want to know what happened to you!" she said with concern in her voice.

Seeing her great concern, Illidan sighed and looked at her sorrowfully. Finally, he said "I… I was in a fight."

Glad that she finally got some kind of response, Marie asked "With whom? When I find out who it was, I'll tear them in half!"

Looking away from her again, Illidan began to pull away, but she pulled him back to her, saying "WHO WAS IT!?"

Sighing, he looked at her sadly and said "It was… you."

Marie slightly gasped and asked "How? I've been unconscious since…"

Placing a finger over her lips, Illidan shook his head and sorrowfully said "No, it was you… Let's sit down, and I'll explain."

Nodding, Marie slowly walked back over to the bed and sat down on it, as Illidan took up the chair he had been sitting in. Once on the bed, she reached down for her boots and unzipped them, allowing her to easily slide them off.

Looking back at him, she asked "How?"

Sighing, Illidan slowly said "From what I understand, when you were captured by the Seal of Orichalcos, your soul was found to be too strong for the Great Leviathan. You were capable of freeing yourself and managed to speak to Blue on a few occasions, as well as me once."

Again sighing, Illidan looked downwards and said "For those reasons, Dartz, the guy who was in command of the souls as you know, returned your soul to your body. But when he did, he said the Orichalcos has released the darkness in your heart, which consumed you then."

Shaking her head softly, Marie replied "But I have no darkness in my heart."

Still looking down, Illidan slowly said "You do, but you may not have realized it…"

Looking up in her eyes, he said with sad eyes and great sadness in his voice "You… you told me about it. You told me that my father killed your family and tried to kill you."

Marie lightly gasped at this, and looked away. With a soft voice, Illidan continued, saying "I… I didn't know that he had done this, till you told me. Please Marie, I need you to tell me about it. The darkness that was controlling your heart didn't show me everything in the visions. It hid something from me, and I think it's something that the darkness didn't want me to see."

Looking back at him with tears in her eyes, Marie nodded, and asked "How far back do you need to go?"

Lightly wiping away her tears, Illidan said "I need you to go back to the beginning of the meeting with Raijin, my father, and Furion."

Sniffling lightly, Marie nodded and closed her eyes. She began concentrating and her Millennium Necklace began to glow. Instantly, the two were thrown backwards in time, going back five millennia to a time where their last lives were lived out.

They instantly landed into the ready room of the Pharaoh, and Illidan saw his father, as well as Furion entering the room. He then saw that Raijin was in his chair as usual.

Once the doors were closed, Raijin bellowed in great anger "I WANT HER DEAD! I want her and her whole family dead tonight!"

Both Furion and Shando looked at one another and sighed, seemingly knowing what the other was thinking about the Pharaoh when he was in these moods. They both knew it was pointless to argue, but they knew they had to.

"But my Pharaoh, she's but a little girl. The people will revolt if they hear of this." Shando said in a calm voice.

"Father…" Illidan said in a slight whisper. "He did try to save her…" he thought instantly.

"I don't CARE! If we let that child live, she will become far more powerful than Yami, Illidan, and Set combined!" Raijin screamed as he pointed at both with shaking fingers.

After a moment, Furion spoke up, saying "Well, she is a girl after all. Couldn't we just, I don't know, betroth her and Yami? That would add a lot of power to your family line."

"As if Raijin would listen to reason." Illidan instantly thought.

Growling angrily, Raijin spat back "You both know of the prophesy made at Yami's birth. It was said he would be the last of my family line. The reason could be due to Marie! I WANT THAT 'LITTLE PROBLEM WAITING TO HAPPEN' DEAD! IF YOU TWO WON'T DO IT, I'LL FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL!"

"Yep, I was right." Illidan said smugly in his mind.

"But we don't know the reason for that." Shando quickly interjected.

Taking a deep breath, and trying hard to quell his anger, Raijin replied "If you don't do it for Yami, then do it for your own son, Illidan. He will be a part of Yami's Shadow Court, as will Set. Our sons' fate is linked together, and if something happens to Yami, the others will more than likely have something happen to them too."

Shando sighed, and finally said "I understand Pharaoh. By tomorrow, they shall be dead."

Both Shando and Furion bowed and left the room, their faces both looking grim.

The vision then paused, as Marie looked at Illidan sadly. "He tried… to save you. That was what the darkness hid from me." Illidan said with sadness in his voice.

"Can you show me the next day, please?" Illidan asked, still hating to ask that question.

Marie sadly nodded and concentrated once more on the next vision. The scenery changed, and they were instantly in the streets of Egypt. Illidan saw his father, with Furion and three others walking down the streets. He then noticed his father was gripping the hilt of his sword rather tightly.

"So, I was right. Father was greatly troubled by this. He always gripped it when something bothered him." Illidan thought sadly as he watched them approach a house.

He watched as the three others left, one returning soon to report about the exits. Nodding, he then motioned for the other two to stand in position, and for him, Furion, and the other man that had returned to proceed.

Shando knocked on the door lightly, and was greeted by a tall man. He invited the three in, and profusely kept telling Shando how happy he was that Marie would be serving the Pharaoh and his son. Illidan watched his father grip the hilt of his sword tighter at these words, seemingly making him feel worse and worse.

Furion, Shando, and the tall man took seats at the table in the room. A woman, who was very pregnant, walked in, followed by little Marie. The two brought in water and eateries. The woman's face was both happy, yet sad as well.

"She thought she was losing you, didn't she?" Illidan asked Marie.

Marie sadly nodded, saying "She thought I was leaving her, and she had been crying earlier in the evening, but she put up a strong front. She didn't want me to be sad, or to know she was sad. Mom always tried to be strong in front of me."

Nodding, Illidan said with a small smile "Ali did truly look like you as a child."

Marie smiled warmly, happy to hear of something less depressing and replied "Yes, she did. I realized it when I first saw her as she got older. She was truly my duplicate in so many ways, other than her attitude, which she got from her father, and her eye color."

Illidan smirked at Marie, and replied "I slightly resent that. My attitude was always positive."

Lightly chuckling, Marie replied back "Yeah, positively stubborn."

Illidan was about to reply, but went silent. He saw his father take a deep breath, seemingly trying to gather his wits about him. Casually, Shando asked "Is Marie your only child?"

"For now." Marie's father said with a small smile. He then patted his wife's rather large belly, and said "We wanted to wait a little while till Marie was older so she could help a bit with a baby. I guess now that isn't going to happen."

Sighing slightly, the man then said "Marie said that you couldn't test her. I've never heard of that happening before."

Shando stood up and turned away for a moment. He was grabbing the hilt of his sword once again, making Illidan realize he was ready to make his move at last. He could see the pain in his father's eyes, but said nothing.

To his surprise, a small Marie walked up to Shando and grabbed his leg. He looked down in surprise and stared into her brown eyes. She then said "Mister, whatever is bothering you isn't what you should be worrying you."

Illidan quickly realized what had happened, and asked "Were you using your Shadow Powers on my father?"

The vision paused, and Marie nodded. "Yes, I did, for I wanted to know what was wrong. I then saw what was going to happen, and what would happen to him as well as me. I could have reacted to it, but I decided against it, for I had foreseen I'd survive and live on. So, I accepted my fate."

The vision then resumed, as tears filled little Marie's eyes. She said "I know what you're here to do."

She then looked away, as Shando asked "How?!"

Suddenly, one of the men outside whistled loudly, which was the signal to start. Like lightning, Furion rushed across the room and reached out his hand and blasted small Marie hard with a blast of Shadow Magic. She had no time to react or defend, and was knocked unconscious instantly.

Both Marie's mother and father stood as the other guard from outside ran in. Her father went to attack Furion, but the guard reached him first and plunged his sword into the man's body. The man looked in shock at Shando and fell to the floor dead.

The woman began to scream frantically, causing Shando to cringe at the sound. The other guard, who had accompanied them within the house, quickly silenced her by cutting her head off with a single sweep of his sword.

Illidan looked at Marie with sad eyes, and saw tears falling from her face. They then heard the eerie quiet fall over the house. Shando looked down at the young Marie lying in the floor, and noted that she was still alive, if barely at that. He glanced over at her dead parents and grabbed the hilt of his sword.

In a single cold command, he yelled "Out! I will kill the child and be out in a moment."

Seeing the sadness in Marie's eyes, Illidan walked over and held her close to himself, allowing the warmth of his embrace to help her. He watched carefully as the men left his father alone with the young girl.

Shando said in a voice barely above a whisper "How? How can I do this? You seem so much like Illidan. Can I really kill a child for no real reason?"

Illidan felt his own heart break, as his father appeared to be struggling to do what he had been ordered to. "Father never wanted to do this… No wonder he was haunted by this memory for many years."

Tears began to form in Shando's eyes as he drew his sword. He raised it above young Marie's heart. In a sobbing voice, he said "Forgive me child. May the gods forgive me for all that I do!"

In the silence, the sound of oil being dumped could be heard. Within an instant, Shando closed his eyes and thrust downwards with all his strength.

Illidan sighed in relief, seeing that his father had jammed his sword into the ground beside the young girl's body.

With tears in his eyes, Shando sobbed out "I… I can't do it. But if you don't die, the Pharaoh will be angry, and… he might take it out on Illidan. He would then find someone else to kill you."

Staring at her intensely, Shando said "I've never seen anyone get up from a blast like that, at least not for a few days, yet you survived the blast."

Bending down, Shando kissed the young girl's forehead as soft tears fell from his face onto her. Whispering barely loud enough for himself to hear it, he said "I'm sorry."

Standing back up, Shando took up his sword and stabbed it into the man's body, allowing it to become bloody. Pulling it back out and glancing at the blood, Shando sheathed his sword and walked out without looking back.

As he walked, he could hear the flames igniting, but never once looked back as he and his men left the building afire.