A/N: I believe this is officially the longest chapter in the story.

This is also not very well-written; I'll explain what I can in the A/N at the end, but I can't tell too much or I'd give away several plot points... A lot of the stuff in here depends entirely on information that hasn't been revealed yet, or else it doesn't make sense... Well, it makes sense to me, but that's it. ::sweatdrop:: I only know what's going on because I'm the author. That's a bad sign.

But at any rate, since you've gotten this far, I suppose you may as well read this monster-chapter as well. I'll clarify stuff at the end of the chapter!

Thank you to dragonlady222 and Protector of the Nameless!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, there'd be YAOI. (Even though there's none in this fic.)

Chapter Nine: Uncertainties

Yugi couldn't breathe. Something hard and rough was clamped over his mouth and nose, cutting off air. His arms were twisted behind his back. Somebody heavier than him had all their weight pressed onto his shoulders and ribs, pinning him like a rock.

I can't move! He jerked as hard as he could, trying to at least move the person a little, but they didn't budge. He started to fight for air.

"Shh Yugi. Shut up!" a voice hissed. The hand moved from his nose so he could breathe, but stayed over his mouth. Seto peered down at him. "Please, be quiet. If you don't we're all gonna be hanged."

"Mmf?!"

Seto ground the heel of his hand down. "Quiet, I said! There's soldiers here. Ams, Yashsamaat men. They're looking for you."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Kmt mbff?"

"Shh!" Seto released Yugi's head but kept a grip on his arms. He leaned forward slightly, getting a view through the tent flap. Yugi had to lean forward too or get his arms wrenched off.

There were several men on horseback in the camp. They looked similar to the Cult-members he'd seen before in Egypt, except that their robes were decked out with silver chains and intricate designs of green on black. Most of them wore their hoods and face-coverings up, except for the smallest of them. He seemed to be the leader; he was leaning down from his mount, talking to Solomon.

Yugi looked steadily at the spiky gold hair falling to the young man's shoulders. "That's Marik Ishtar!"

"Quiet, I said!" Seto whispered. "Yes, that's right - Ishtar. He commands all of the troops." he let go of Yugi completely. "Stay here for a sec. I'm going to try to hear what they want." He crawled silently out of the tent.

Yugi shrank back a little, listening to the thumping in his ears. Zanebia was gone - probably up hours before - so he was alone in the tent.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Seto slid on his stomach along the sand, not wanting to be seen before he was ready. If he had to get back to Yugi quickly, he didn't want people watching him. He pulled himself into the shadow of one of the biggest tents, close to the semicircle of riders. He could hear them talking.

"…said that there was another one of them. You're the closest camp to where they were found, so we're checking."

"That's fine, Master Isht-"

"I didn't ask if it was all right with you." There was a jingle of thin chains as Marik jerked his head. "Get everyone out of those tents. Line them up. If there's an outsider, I need to find him."

Seto leaned carefully around the side of the tent. He could see two horses standing slightly apart from the others, with two or three riders on them. There was only one Cult-member, holding the reigns, but sitting on the mounts' backs were three people; pale-skinned and dressed strangely. They matched the descriptions Yugi had given him.

"Go on, call them out!" Ishtar told Solomon, lifting one hand.

"All right, all right!" Solomon turned around and walked slowly to each of the separate tents, sticking his head inside and rousing the workers. When he passed by Seto, he glanced at him and muttered, "I'm not going to show Yugi. Whatever you do, don't mention him, understand?" Seto nodded. He wasn't stupid.

Solomon didn't pause by Yugi's tent, just hissed, "For Aat's sake, stay in there," and kept walking.

Everyone assembled into a line. Yugi peered out and could see Shadowwalker's wrapped head bobbing, and Zanebia's long hair, and - there they were!

Tea, Joey and Tristan were sitting on horses. They were tied at the wrists. He could see a bruise formed on the side of Joey's face, and Tea was dead white and rigid, but they were okay! They were here!

He scooted backwards, trying not to move the sides of the tent too much, and held his breath. His Item lay gleaming at the other end of the blanket, but he didn't dare move to get it. He'd have to wait. Will Seto be able to help my friends? he wondered.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ishtar scanned the fifty-something people standing before him. "Is this all?" he asked Solomon. The old man looked up at him, seemingly miniscule.

"Yes, sir. You know, we're a small camp -"

"Shut up, I know." Marik looked them over again. All of them were sun-browned and weathered, and all of them were secretly glaring at him from slitted eyes. None of them could be related to those soft-skinned foreigners, but to verson with it, he'd give it a shot. Aat was commanding him to. He turned his horse to face them.

"All right, point him out." He smiled inwardly, remembering when he'd first brought them in front of his master. They'd been frightened and practically spewing information. The fourth one of them had come up in the conversation, and after just a little persuasion, they had described him. And they had used the specific words 'Millennium Item.' And Master had been extremely interested.

Tristan was the first to speak. "He's not here." The other two immediately nodded their consent.

Marik scowled, eyed Shadowwalker suspiciously for a moment, then turned and said to his troops, "Check all of the people." Addressing Solomon, he said, "Where's that leader-in-training you have? Set or something."

Solomon jumped forward, saying, "My lord, we should really be beginning work if we are to make progress today…." Marik rolled his eyes and brushed him off, dismounted, and began pacing up and down the line of people, looking for someone with soft skin, light hair, strange clothing. The other men joined him, hustling the foreigners off their horses.

No one noticed as one of the men backed slowly away, his steps shuffling, melting into the mass of tents. The man's hood was up, obscuring everything on his head save the dark eyes, but he wore a talisman around his neck, something that made him different from the other Cult-members.

He was wearing the Millennium Ring.

Cres-Exe, the priest of Loyein, watched from behind one of the tents for a few moments, paying careful attention to each of the persons lined up. He studied Shadow-walker closely for almost a full minute before he suddenly grinned and whispered, "So, that's where you've been hiding, you lippe." Smiling with satisfaction, he continued his search.

The Ring suddenly vibrated against his chest, causing the fabric over it to tremble. He froze and pushed his hood back off his face to see better, revealing white hair, hacked short, and the whipped ankh - the sign of the Yashamaat - tattooed onto his forehead.

The Ring became warm against his skin, growing hotter and hotter as he turned in a methodical circle. Satisfied, he walked quietly toward the one of the smallest structures, then circled around it, approaching it from the back. He almost laughed. The person inside was silhouetted against the approaching sunlight, making it ridiculously easy to see them. And judging from the fact that his Ring was burning a circle of blisters into his chest, the Item was indeed inside.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Seto glanced around nervously, trying to figure out what was wrong. He could sense someone was missing from the circle of Cult-members, but he had missed which one. Squinting, he counted them again - twenty-nine - there had been thirty to start with. He narrowed his eyes to concentrate. Ishtar was still there, as was the man who'd been holding the reigns. Most men were still examining the faces of the workers. Some were keeping a grip on those three kids.

Shadowwalker turned slightly, staring right at Seto's face. He felt goosebumps rise up along his skin. The old man was trying to tell him something, wasn't he?

Shadowwalker drew a circle along his chest with a bony finger, still looking at Seto – even though the old man couldn't see him. Watching the circle trace itself over and over again, it clicked. Cres-Exe was missing. He could be anywhere.

Damn! Of all people, it couldn't make things more complicated than that priest. The young man had a sixth-sense, something that seemed to guide him to escaped workers and rebels like a beacon. Some said he was psychic. Others said he wasn't human. That went without saying - all the Cult seemed to be practically immortal. But Cres-Exe was heavily favored by the king - totally obedient, totally under control. It was hard to believe he'd once been that rebellious white-haired boy in Shadowwalker's story.

Seto turned around again, getting a good view of the tent Yugi was hiding in. He felt air stick in his throat.

Cres-Exe was definitely there. He was kneeling behind the tent, reaching for the flap. Seto caught the full glare of the sun bouncing off the priest's white hair in the eyes.

-

Yugi heard a rustling sound, and, before he could turn around, something sharp pressed itself to the side of his head. "Do you want to live?" The knife's point dug a little deeper, making Yugi grit his teeth together. "Then don't. Move." The voice was familiar.

"Ryou?" he asked uncertainly.

The knife disappeared for a moment, then the handle suddenly hit hard him on the side of the head. "Shut up." The voice had changed to a raspy, low sound. Was that really Ryou talking?

A hand pushed him forward by the small of his back. His hands hit the furs spread on the ground. "Move." Someone else edged inside the tent with him, keeping the knife right by Yugi's head. Yugi looked up at him, willing himself not to start crying - jeez, not now - and squinting. Was it Ryou? The light hair was the same, the face was the same shape, but his eyes were a different color. They were dark green.

Yugi didn't get chance to figure that out before the handle hit him again, this time on the shoulder. "Forward more. Go." The man's mouth was moving, forming the words, but the quality remained different. Yugi stared up at him for a moment, then shifted his eyes to the Puzzle lying unprotected on the floor. Ryou - Cres-Exe? - snatched it and stowed it in the folds of his robe.

The blade poked his cheek. "What's your name, kid?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Seto rubbed his eyes furiously, scrubbing away the light and blindness. When he got his sight back, Cres-Exe was gone. Inside the tent, probably. He opened his mouth to yell for Solomon or Zanebia or SOMEbody, but swallowed it immediately. Right, like the thirty Cult-members would just leave him alone. He pulled his sharpened throwing-stick from underneath his belt and started across to the tent on his hands and knees.

At least I have the element of surprise, he thought, and grabbed the tent flap, yanking it open. "Get out of there, you -" He broke off.

Cres-Exe was sitting inside, perfectly comfortable, with one arm around Yugi. He was holding a bow awkwardly with both hands, but he was grinning down the arrow's shaft at Seto. "Hello. Just keep coming in, kid."

Seto swallowed hard against the curse in his throat and edged inside. The bow hit him over the head, cracking itself from the impact. He noiselessly crashed to the ground.

Yugi whimpered. "D - don't hurt him!"

"Oh, I won't." Non-Ryou pulled the flap open again, dragging Yugi forward, and yelled, "Ishtar!"

Marik whirled and then smiled. "Good, Exe." He motioned to his men. "Come on, we're done."

"Wha -?" Tea stammered, then gasped when Cres-Exe climbed upright with his catch. "Yugi!"

"Where?" Joey and Tristan spouted at the same time. Joey twisted around. "Yugi! You okay?"

Solomon winced. If they had kept quiet, he might have bluffed everything off.

Cres-Exe glanced down and then yanked on Seto's arm. The brown-haired boy slid out onto the sand. He looked up at Solomon and said, "Oh yes, everyone's lined up, are they?"

"Put them down!" Zanebia snapped huffily.

Cres-Exe dropped Yugi but kept a hold on his wrist. "Come on."

"Was there a Millennium Item?" Marik asked him, coming over and propping Seto against one of the tents.

Cres-Exe glanced at him. "…No."

Yugi's head snapped up. No? But Ryou has it in his cloak….

Marik obviously didn't believe him either. "No?" he repeated, narrowing his eyes. They were green too, Yugi noted. "Those three -" he jerked his gold head towards Yugi's friends, "- said he does."

"Well, it's not there. Come on already, are we going back or not?" Cres-Exe snapped. He yanked a length of rope from his horse's saddlebag and started winding it around Yugi's arms. Even when the kid twisted, Cres-Exe just clamped his arms to his back and kept knotting.

"Stop that!" Tristan yelled at him. "You're gonna break his arm!"

"That's his problem."

"Exe!" Marik grabbed his shoulder. "I know that it was in there. What did you do with it?"

Solomon shuffled forward slightly. Marik's head snapped toward him. "You stay where you are!"

"With all respect, sir," he tried to lie convincingly, "that's my grandson."

Yugi stared at him. Grandpa remembers me! he thought. Wait, Grandpa remembers me?

"He was transferred from another camp, y'see."

…He didn't remember Yugi. He was just trying to bail him out.

Yugi looked up at Joey, specifically at the bruise on his cheekbone. It was roughly the size of a hand, and he could see shallow scratches where the fingernails had scraped. He swallowed. He was never good at dealing with pain….

-

Cres-Exe fumbled with the rope. A familiar pounding was entering his head - colors began to pulse, dimming and then brightening with every heartbeat. He first tried to ignore it, like usual, but it never worked. The cream-colored sand beneath his feet turned blood red, then bright green; the sky was suddenly pure white.

You lied… didn't you?

Cres-Exe finished the knot and picked up the small boy, who kicked him. He hadn't been expecting that. He nearly doubled over, but managed to shove him up in front of the girl.

Are you waking up yet? He didn't know this voice. But who other than Master could enter someone's mind like this?...

Cres-Exe shook his head hard and tried to concentrate on what Ishtar was saying to him. He could see the shorter man gesticulating, scowling at him, but all he could hear was a strange, whistling thump-thump in his ears. Blood rushing?

A new voice in his head now, one familiar and welcome. Don't listen, Exe. Only listen to me. I am God, remember.

Yes, Master, he said to himself.

Ryou, wake up! I know you can hear me! It's me….

He flinched and then eyed Shadowwalker.

Exe? his master called. Loyein's voice was low and dangerous. You have the Item, don't you?

Yes.

Who is that old man?

I don't know… but he's… he's talking to me. Master, help me!

There was a brief wash of emptiness, and then Cres-Exe felt his eyes open. The pounding stopped. He knew this feeling of weightlessness: Master was using his body, commanding it - a welcome rest from thought and movement - because thoughts led back to memory, and memory led to - no.

Marik cocked his head. Cres-Exe's eyes had suddenly turned so dark green, they were almost black; a ruby-colored ring had formed around the irises. Hastily, he swallowed his astonishment and bowed. "My Lord."

My Lord? thought Solomon, edging over toward Seto, who was stirring. Oh… Loyein, the Yash. He's inside Cres-Exe. His hand mechanically shook Seto's shoulder. Poor crazy bastard.

Ryou – Cres-Exe – looked different to Yugi. Taller, with a self-confident smirk. He sauntered up to Shadowwalker. The people, antsy already, practically jumped out of the way.

Cres-Exe was small. He had to look up to meet Shadowwalker's covered eyes. "Take that off," he ordered. Everyone stared at him. What was he, nuts? Shadowwalker didn't respond. "Go on, do it!"

The old man slowly reached up and undid the bandana. The length of white cloth fluttered to the ground, where Cres-Exe stepped on it. He cocked his head in speculation and glowered up. Without asking, he reached up and traced his fingernails over the pale scar slashed across the wrinkled face, over the blank eyes. He grinned.

"So here you are, then." He glanced down, the green eyes laughing. He reached for the tunic's fastenings.

Shadowwalker grabbed his wrist. "Stop it, Ryou."

Cres-Exe flinched and snapped his head up. For a second, his eyes changed to a deep mahogany - then swirled back into green oblivion. "Don't call him that!" he hissed, snatching his hand back. "And don't touch me! This is my disciple!"

"Loyein, he's not yours."

"You will call me Aat! Yashamaat! Stupid mage," he growled, and yanked the shirt open.

Tea yelped. Burned into the brown skin of Shadowwalker's chest was the symbol of an ankh - like a cross, with a loop crowning it instead of a line. Badly healed scars marred the pale lines that formed it, old cuts. One was circular, appearing in the exact center of the ankh's loop.

Cres-Exe nodded once and turned away. "Take him too."

"What?" Solomon cried. "Why?"

"Master?" Marik asked cautiously.

"He's the mage. The Holder that ran away. He's Shadi."

Shadowwalker glanced from side to side, the blank veil sliding away from his eyes. They turned bright, slate-blue. Yugi stared at him.

"Shadi?" he called. The horse under him pawed the sand. Tea's chest swelled as she took in air. Shadowwalker looked up at him as black-robed men circled around him, now being much more cautious. "Shadi! You're - I mean - you're not dead! How come you aren't dead, you're 3,000 -"

The green in Cres-Exe's eyes intensified. "Shut up. He's not dead because he sold his soul to the gods. I, at least, earned immortality."

"Yes, by killing the Holders and using the Items!" Shadowwalker - Shadi? - said to him, wrenching his arms out of the Cult-members' grasp.

Cres-Exe muttered for a moment, then said, "That wasn't my original plan." He swung himself up onto his horse, which, startled, stumbled backwards and whinnied. The dark emerald eyes fixated themselves on Yugi. "But this time… I'm going to get it right." He reached inside his robes and pulled the Puzzle out of them, fastening it next to the Ring around his neck. "I'll have her back." Talking to the other members of the Yashamaat, he said, "Come on already, get him tied up and let's go!"

"What the hell are you all talking about?" Joey snapped.

Cres-Exe didn't bother to turn, but said impatiently, "Three thousand years ago, when I first gained control, I still needed one of the Millennium Items. He," he gestured to Shadowwalker, "had it. We tracked him for months until we caught him. I remember how an arrow hit him dead-center in the chest, right in the circle of the Millennium Ankh. And how one of my men cut him across the eyes with a spear."

One of the men reached for Shadowwalker's arm. He pulled away, and in that second-long pause, Zanebia decided to take out the Cult. She pulled back her working tool and swung as hard as she could, swiping the man's legs out from underneath him and laying him out flat. "You leave him alone, ya big meanie!"

"Zan-!" Shadowwalker yelped, then dove onto the man and wrestled him off of Zanebia. Seto jerked awake and knocked Solomon's hand away.

"Shadowwalker!"

For some reason, now everybody was freaking out. Workers were tackling Yashamaat men, and Yashamaats were whacking workers with sticks, and nobody noticed when Yugi's horse got kicked and started galloping away.

Well, except the riders.

"STOP THIS THING! I'M FALLING OFF!"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW!"

"WELL FIGURE IT -" Tea didn't finish her sentence; somebody had noticed them and ridden after, grabbing her by the hair and jerking both of them backwards off the horse. Yugi landed flat on his back and dazedly watched it race off upside-down.

Marik leaned over, blotting out the sun, and glared down at them. "You morons. Why can't I at least capture halfway intelligent people, then I might actually get paid to round them up." He hoisted Tea to her feet by the neck of her school uniform. She squeaked.

Yugi glared at him from his undignified spot on the ground. "Don't touch her!"

Marik peered down at him. "Pardon?" he said sarcastically.

Yugi struggled to get up to his knees; his head had hit the ground first and things were spinning. Unfocused, he scowled at a spot several inches to Marik's left. He found himself saying automatically, "If you hurt Tea, I'll have Yami kick your ass!"

Instead of cracking up, or rolling his eyes or saying "I'd like to see him try" or something equally brilliant, Marik just stood there for a minute, one hand still on Tea's neck, the rest of him unmoving. Then he suddenly unclenched his fist. Tea stumbled. "Ow!"

Marik's green eyes were glassy, thoughtful for a moment, then his mind and body were in complete agreement: Yugi found himself dangling a good four feet off the ground, with his hair feeling like it was about to be yanked out of his head and Marik screaming, "CRES-EXE! GET OVER HERE NOW!"

"Ouch that hurts LEGGO!"

"How do you know that name?" the gold-haired person whispered fiercely.

Yugi felt his face turn bright red and tears spring to his eyes. Being held up by your hair wasn't exactly a picnic. "LET GO OF MY HEAD RIGHT NOW!" he yelled as loud as he could. People in the camp, fifty feet away, turned around.

Shadowwalker took the opportunity to dive and catch Cres-Exe at the knees. The priest pitched forward, taken by surprise, and somehow managed to catch Seto's heel in the forehead, stunning him.

Shadowwalker yanked the knife out of Cres's hand and had it to his throat in a second. "Listen to me!" he shouted. Everyone turned from Yugi to him, like a ping-pong match. ( Heh. Couldn't resist. I love ping-pong.) Cres-Exe's eyes dulled back to blank brown.

"Get back. All of you; I'm not playing!" Shadowwalker ordered. The no-longer-empty blue eyes darted from one black-robed man to the other. "I'll kill him. I will!"

Marik lowered Yugi back to the ground but didn't release him. The green in his eyes flared into a brighter shade as he considered the two men: one with his arms and legs and weapon locked around the other, the smaller one half-unconscious and trying to pry the much larger man off of him.

Cres-Exe had pluck, Seto noted, he had to give him that.

Shadowwalker sounded young again while he talked. "Ryou, unhook that Puzzle and put it on the ground." Cres-Exe didn't move. Shadowwalker shook him. "Do as I say."

"Don't call me that."

"Ryou, do as I -"

"Don't call me that!"

"Whatever, I don't care what I call you, Ryou, just -"

"Shadi please, please don't call me Ryou!"

"Shadi?" Solomon swung his head back and forth. "What are you talking about? Shadi was one of the people in Shadowwalker's last story…." He stared. "Shadowwalker? …That story was from 3,000 years ago…."

"Like Yami," Yugi added. Marik-Loyein twisted his hand to make him shut up. He didn't want to hear that name. Not now, not when he was so close to getting his wish….

"Can somebody tell me what in heck's going on?" Joey said.

"Hey, look Joey, that priest guy is Yami Bakura," Tristan observed. Somewhere far away, a fanficton author did a faceplant.

"Go on."

Everyone stared at Marik. He was standing differently now. Pale blue lines had begun to etch themselves onto his skin, and when the flickering sun hit him, you could see long dark hair, a gold circlet, jewels and indigo ink.

"Go on," Loyein repeated, using Marik's mouth. "I can always get another priest."

"Another priest," Shadowwalker panted, "not another Tlanra."

"I'm a what?" Cres-Exe ground out breathlessly, wrenching at the thin arm around his neck.

"Shut UP Cres!" Marik snarled. "And I don't need him anymore," he said to the formerly old man. "I have what I want. I don't need him. In fact, I'd be glad if you took him off my hands; he's a nuisance. He was a traitor before and he's still the same."

"Master, I was never -" Cres tried.

"I told you to shut up!" Loyein-Marik snapped. "Before you wind up like your brother!"

"Maste-" Cres-Exe didn't finish his sentence. His eyes suddenly expanded to glassy, opaque circles and he started to tremble. His brother? What brother? NO! Don't think about that. Don't remember it!

Shadowwalker glanced down at the Millennium Items Ryou was holding. He figured that, without much handling, the protective spells wouldn't have worn off. He wouldn't be able to touch either of them without being burned.

He looked up again, slowly scanning the nonmoving people. He was starting to form a plan in his mind. He'd love to kill off Cres-Exe, but that might not be the best course… Considering how this timeline had turned out, he was hesitant to stay with it, but if he tried again things might turn out worse… Yet he might not have a choice.

This was the last chance. He could play things safe or risk a different timeline. If he could get some things to change, tweak some aspect of the course of events, then things might not turn out like this. Without Loyein controlling the world, naming it after his dead wife, making a mistake with the Items, being unable to bring her back to life – making himself immortal instead… without Ishizu and Bakura and Yami dying… maybe he could save Fatale after all.

He weighed the choices. The years in this form had made him weak, damaged his powers and twisted his self-awareness. He would only be able to send one other person back in time. Who would it be?

Shadowwalker himself, naturally, would go without question - the only thing that would happen to him was that he would become slightly younger; all memories would be intact. Fatale, obviously, would demand to come. Perhaps Malaise would be there. But which mortal?...

Cres-Exe was a warped version of Ryou, unstable. Shadowwalker didn't trust him anyway. Seto was likewise unsound - he might not survive the process. Someone who hadn't been changed with the course of time, and who knew enough about Khemet's inhabitants to make correct decisions….

Mutou boy, rang a voice in Yugi's head.

GAUGH! What? Who - what - huh?

It's me. Shadowwalker. Shadi.

Oh. Um…yes?

I need you to brace yourself. I am going to send you back in time, back to when you were before.

…Oh God, again?! Listen -

Yes. I will tell you what to do when you are there; this is important. This place, these people… this is wrong. Things should not be this way. You have to help me fix it. I will try to make this last chance stable.

Yugi flinched. Loyein-Marik glared at him. …Fix it? Help? …O - Okay… will this hurt?

Yes.

I - don't know if I should do this!

You want to help Yami. Then be silent and let me concentrate! I'm going to push Exe away to distract them. When I do, dive to one side to make Ishtar let go of you.

…But… all right.

Shadowwalker waited a moment, listening to Cres-Exe breathe and planning. Then he snatched the knife away and shoved the priest as hard as he could. In the moment of confusion, Yugi pulled to one side and sprang lightly towards Tea. Shadi swallowed air, closed his eyes, and -

And so ends Part One.

And thus begins Part Two, in which we go back to ancient Egypt - FAR back - to explain the events that led up to the situation we saw in Chapters 3-6. Basically, it won't involve Yugi, Joey, Cres-Exe or the other "modern" people, but there will be a lot of Ryou, Bakura, Yami and Marik. And all the things that happened to them before the fnal battle against the Yashamaat.

ANYWAYS! Explanations:

1) But they're 3,000 years old! - The members of the Yashamaat, including Loyein, Marik Ishtar, and Ryou (now called Cres-Exe) all appear to be immortal. But apparently, that's not what Loyein originally intended to do when he took over Egypt.

2) Cres-Exe - Ryou, now that he agreed to be loyal to Loyein, is now called Cres-Exe ("Silver-Hair"). He's not exactly possessed, but under Loyein's power enough to not really remember hs past, though some things can trigger memories: for example, his own name. He currently uses the Millennium Ring to find things his Master has lost, like other Items.

3) Green eyes - possession. If a character's eyes have changed to green, or blue markings appear on their body, or sometimes other signs, that means that Loyein is projecting himself into his/her body. He can't do this unless the character has agreed to it, or is part of the Yashamaat. Marik and Ryou/Cres-Exe, for example, are almost constantly possessed, or at least are connected to and influenced by Loyein's mind.

4) Shadi/Shadowwalker/??? - So, apparently, Shadowwalker is actually Shadi, the only Holder (of an Item) who managed to escape the final battle in Egypt. And he seems to have performed a spell or taken some measures to ensure a very, very, very long life. But he's made some references to Malaise(!) and Fatale (oooooh, who is THAT? 0.0), and seems to have the power to change/travel through time, which supposedly only Malaise has. So is he Shadi, or isn't he...?

I can only say this: he's Shadi... sort of.

::is shot::

5) "How do you know that name?" - the names of Yami, his father, various other figures and the Egyptian gods are forbidden in this crazy little future of Loyein's. The fact that Yugi knew Yami's name tipped off that something was greatly amiss.

6) Protective spells - In my mind, the Items probably have some sort of defenses against unworthy people picking them up and screwing with them. I figured that it'd be something cool, like burning anyone besides the one destined to have the Item. So, Shadowwalker can't just snatch 'em away from Cres-Exe.

...But then why can Cres-Exe handle them...?

Ahhhh, even if the writing sucks, I am proud of all the twists and turns in my little fic. And it will make sense eventually.

Love you all, thank you so much for reading this far! Please review!

Oh, and happy Valentine's Day.