The other Yugi had a serious expression on, as well as Anzu. Akia knew that they had seen something similar to what she was shown. When the other Yugi saw Akia, he took her by the wrist and led her far from both Bakura and Anzu.
Bakura tried to follow them, but Anzu stopped him. "He wants to talk to her alone... Sorry, Bakura-kun."
When they were far enough from their two friends, the other Yugi stopped and looked Akia in the eyes. "You talked with Ishizu-san too, didn't you?"
Akia nodded.
"So you know... that I'm the spirit of the nameless pharaoh," Yugi confirmed with her.
"Among other things, yeah," Akia replied.
"Other things?"
"Actually, she also revealed to me who I was back then."
The other Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. "You're also involved into this? What did she tell you?"
"She told me that I was the daughter of some lunatic who worshipped the Dark Lord, whoever that is. Apparently I was granted the ability to read the Millennium Spellbook to summon that seemingly evil entity. Other than that, I think she told me what she told you. She also mentioned the Egyptian god cards."
"Yes... According to Ishizu-san's words, the three Egyptian god cards are the first step to recovering my lost memory."
"We definitely need to find them then. Let me guess! She also told you to participate in Kaiba's upcoming tournament."
The other Yugi smiled. "That's right. I guess that means we'll be competing together like last time. According to Ishizu, we should head to the town square this evening."
Akia grinned and gave the other Yugi a thumbs up. "That's pretty convenient, since it's right in front of the museum."
"Oh! One more thing..." the pharaoh mentioned, "I must ask you not to speak of this to aibou. He doesn't know that I went to the museum today. I'd rather tell him myself when the time is right."
Akia blinked a few times. She didn't expect the other Yugi to want to keep what happened a secret from her brother. She actually thought that her brother knew about it already. She however agreed to the other Yugi's request, understanding that he had a valid reason for that. They both headed back to Anzu and Bakura. Bakura didn't look happy at all. Akia knew that the Spirit of the Ring was the one in control. She frowned back at him.
The group started walking together until they ended up in the town square. Akia was keeping her distance from Bakura. He acted as if he didn't care, but, deep down, he was furious. Furious that everyone was keeping secrets from him, which meant that they were relevant and important secrets, and furious that Akia was ignoring him.
The other Yugi then suddenly stopped and looked around, slightly frowning.
"What's wrong, Yugi?" Anzu asked him.
"...No, it's nothing." He had sensed a hostile aura, but he couldn't quite place it.
"Hey! Yugi! Akia-chan!" Everyone turned towards the familiar voice.
Akia's face lit up when she saw who it was. "Mai-san!"
Kujaku Mai was running towards them while smiling and waving happily. "Long time, no see! How are you guys doing?"
"Mai-san, you're doing as well as ever I see," Anzu said with a smile.
Akia was so happy to see Mai that she ran up to her and hugged her. "Mai-san! I missed you!"
"Akia-chan! I missed you too!" Mai replied with an equally squeaky voice.
They both kept squealing while hugging each other. Anzu, Yugi, and Bakura just had an exasperated expression on their face as they witnessed the scene. Mai then looked at everyone else who was there and seemed to get it. She then poked Akia's cheek and smiled teasingly. "Are you on a double date, by any chance?"
"N-No! I'm not! Anzu was on a date with Yugi, though," Akia quickly deflected.
"I-It's not a date!" Anzu exclaimed with blushing cheeks.
"It's a double date! I knew it!" Mai reaffirmed.
Bakura was speechless at the sudden claim.
The pharaoh downright ignored it. "Anyway, Mai. What are you doing here?"
Mai looked surprised at Yugi's question. "Huh? Why? You're here and you don't even know?"
"Someone told me I could find my future here," the Spirit of the Puzzle replied.
"The future, huh? Could be true. A few days ago, some news got out on the internet. 'Go to where the ancient Duelists and their card engravings rest.' Some kind of message," the blonde woman informed them.
"Ancient Duelists and their engravings?!" Yugi exclaimed.
"That's...!" Akia realized as well what that meant.
The siblings were thinking of the same thing: the stone tablets.
"The date is today, the time is right now. They're supposed to announce a huge duel tournament here. Yugi, you must have sensed it by now," Mai pointed out.
"I can feel the hostility of duelists in the air," the pharaoh agreed.
"Really? I'm not feeling it," Akia expressed.
Mai and Yugi look at Akia and sighed.
"That's because you're naturally clueless," Mai teased.
"Yet, somehow, you're the Queen of Games," the other Yugi chuckled.
"Hey! Don't make fun of me!"
"Don't worry, Akia-chan. It's part of your charm," Bakura smiled at her.
"Don't agree with them!" Akia called him out, making everyone giggle at her reaction.
They all then started looking around, recognizing some of the duelists in the area.
Anzu gasped, "that's Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki!"
"Yes," Mai nodded, "and that over there is the duelist with 'special abilities', Esper Roba."
"Kajiki Ryota-kun is here too!" Anzu added.
"Who?" Akia asked.
"It's one of the duelists that I fought back in duelist kingdom," the nameless pharaoh replied.
"Oh! Is it the one who used the water deck that you told me about?" The red-eyed girl specified.
The other Yugi nodded. "They're all here for the tournament, then."
Anzu then looked up. "Yugi! That's...!"
"Kaiba!" The Spirit of the Puzzle exclaimed.
Akia looked up as well and, on the huge display screen, Kaiba's face was there. "Ugh, it's the rich douchebag..."
"Rumour has it that he's the one who spread the information to come here," Mai explained.
"Fellow Duelists, listen carefully! In one week, in this very town, Kaiba Corporation will host a Duel Monsters tournament!" Kaiba declared. The crowd started cheering at the announcement. "Duelists must meet two prerequisites. They must have a deck of forty cards, including one rare card. Also..." The screen then switched to Kaiba's wrist, which had a strange device attached to it. "They must have in possession this new Duel Disk!"
Akia's eyes lit up at the new device. "I'm starting to get pumped for this!"
"Duels will be played by Battle City rules. And there's an ante rule. The loser must give the rarest card in his deck to the winner," Kaiba continued his explanation.
"Rare card ante?" The pharaoh repeated in question.
"In other words, the final champion will acquire the rarest cards of all those he battled," the rich teen precised.
Akia grinned at the rule. "My deck will be so good if I win this tournament!"
A loud sound of spinning blades got closer above the contestants, sending a gust of wind their way. Everyone looked up to see Kaiba hanging from his helicopter door, looking as confident and as arrogant as always. He then raised his arm, pointing at the sky. "The stage of the battle will be all of Domino City! In one week, this town will become Battle City!"
Akia was so excited that she couldn't wait for the tournament to start. "We gotta get our Duel Disk thingies and register for this tournament as soon as possible! Alright, Yugi?"
"...Yeah." The other Yugi still couldn't get used to Akia's high levels of energy, but he still tried to manage.
Marik, having heard the whole announcement from two of his pawns, grinned. "Battle City, huh?"
"Yes, Master Marik. Duelists from all over the country have gathered in Domino City," one of the cloaked men relayed the information.
"When all of your prey have gathered in one place, it's very convenient. How interesting. Gather the Rare Hunters of the Ghouls from around the world."
"Yes!"
"Our next target is Domino City!" When he was left alone after giving out his orders, Marik clenched his hand around his Millennium Rod. Something was nagging him. Ever since he heard the name Akia, he hadn't stopped thinking about it. Was she also going to participate in the tournament? He didn't even remember what she looked like. He doubted he'd even recognize her if he saw her. This was all a very strange thing. He didn't know why he cared so much. Granted, earlier in his life, all he could think about was meeting her again, but that all changed. Or so he thought...