Chapter 3

Yugi's hand passed over the page he was reading. Biology coursework, great. A deep blush inset itself into his face as he was forced to read on the reproductive cycle, reproduction and pregnancy. Was the aim of this course to embarrass the crap out of him? Because it was working!

He heard a chuckle in his head, and Yami's voice echoed through their mind link, "Aibou, they just want you to know the details before you go off making babies."

The red on his cheeks deepened and through his mind he sent an image of him holding up the middle finger, to which there was another chuckle before Yami retreated, leaving Yugi with a smile on his lips.

Another pain shot through his forehead and he gripped the pencil in his hand so hard it snapped in two and splintered on the desk. It was momentary, but he didn't seem to be the only one affected. Ryou, a few seats away, had furrowed his eyebrows in pain before they relaxed again, then turned to his work again.

Joey watched as the teacher left the room for the moment then turned, "Yug', are you alright?"

He looked up and blinked, then gave a smile, "Yeah, just a headache."

Anzu, a few seats away, looked like she was about to be sick. She had flinched at the same instant that Yugi's head had become painful, and she now had a hand pressed over her mouth. Her skin was pale, and without even saying anything to the teacher, she jumped up from her seat and dashed from the room.

Yugi watched her go with concern.

'What do you think that was about Mou hitori no boku?' he asked Yami, who appeared beside him in a translucent form.

"I don't know Aibou. We should ask her when she gets back."

Mizuko was watching the door where Anzu had just run through with a thoughtful look on her face. Glancing to the desk next to her, where Anzu sat, she noticed something black and gooey on the desk. Wrinkling her nose, Mizuko turned back to her work and thought no more of it.

At the other side of the room, Mattie finished her last sentence, then set her pen down in favour of staring out the window, watching the traffic on the road in the lunchtime gridlock. But her mind wasn't on the cars hooting. It had wandered from the now finished classwork to Kaiba again, that tightness rising in her stomach again.

What was wrong with her? She wasn't sick was she?

Kaiba finished his last paragraph with a flourish of his pen and set it down, putting his work on top of Mattie's for the teacher to collect on her way around the room. But instead of putting the pen away, he scrawled a message on a piece of paper and passed it to her.

She unfolded the paper and looked at the neat words. Is your cheek still hurting?

On the back of the message she scribbled a reply. A little but that's to be expected.

After reading the reply, he delved into his pocket with one hand and grabbed her own with the other, her eyes widening. Then he took out a blister pack of pills and pressed two painkillers into her open palm, and offered his bottle of water.

She smiled at the gesture and accepted the pills and the water, and momentarily slipped into her second language to thank him. "Danke schön."

"You're welcome," he whispered back, then went on to read the next section they'd be working on.

Hunched over the toilet in front of her, Anzu heaved and struggled to breathe properly. The bowl in front of her was filling with a strange black, tar-like substance that was scaring her, and had she been able to stop being sick, she would have gone to the medical room.

She shivered, absolutely terrified. What was making her sick, and what in the name of hell would make her throw up black gunk?

When she was finally able to stand without feeling nauseous, Anzu lifted herself to her feet and stood in front of the mirror, looking at her features. Her face was pale, with almost a green tinge to her complexion. Her eyes pauses at her reflection's eyes, and she froze in the motion of removing some mint gum from her pocket.

In the mirror, where her eyes were normally a warm blue, almost a mix of turquoise and azure, they were now almost ice blue, and had a violent, almost murderous appearance that hadn't been there before. And as she noticed this, waves of dark thoughts entered her head, and she yelped as she fell to her knees.

Yugi's always in the way...he's the one who stands between me and my love. He's nothing but a pathetic little child.

No...she didn't think of Yugi like that! Yugi was her best friend, her buddy, the one she could go to with her problems and he'd always be there!

All he ever does is force Yami back, trying to keep him for himself...

She shook her head and covered her ears, trying to block out the thoughts, tears running in rivers down her cheeks as she heard the words echo in her head...

Anzu stumbled a little as she walked out of school. Another girl had found her throwing up in the bathroom, and she had been sent home by the school nurse. Anzu clutched tightly onto her bag, trying not to think about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. It worked until she was about halfway home when she was suddenly hit by another wave of nausea.

She collapsed to the pavement with a groan, breathing heavily as she wrapped her arms around herself, almost a form of comfort as she let out a sob. The street was practically deserted. No one who would care about her….

She gasped again as the nausea increased, a few tears slipping out of her eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" she suddenly heard, and found herself being supported by a pair of tan arms. She looked up weakly, and her eyes shot wide open as she took in the features of the person above her, someone she never thought she'd see again.

'D-Dark Magician Girl?' she thought, and was about to say when a third wave came and Anzu sagged in the girl's arms. The girl looked exactly like Dark Magician Girl! Except for the fact she had a rich Egyptian tan and markings around her eyes just like Malik's.

"W-woah, you look really sick! I'm going to take you to my place, ok? You need to get sorted out," the girl said, a worried expression on her face as she hefted Anzu up into a piggyback. "Don't worry, I'm actually staying with my cousins at the moment, and Ishizu is usually at the museum. And that's not too far from here!" The tanned Dark Magician Girl look-a-like said cheerfully, and Anzu started at the sound of Ishizu's name.

"I-Ishizu?" she mumbled. The Ishtar's were back in Domino? What for? And in that case, just who was this girl?

As if she could sense the questions going through Anzu's mind, the girl smiled again and laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry! Here I am, carrying you off, and you have no idea who I am! Not that I know who you are either…" they both sweat dropped at that. "My name's Mana Ishtar. Nice to meet you!" the newly introduced Mana smiled over her shoulder.

"I-I'm Anzu…Anzu Mazaki" Anzu managed to croak out, even managing a smile of her own. Mana beamed back.

"Well don't worry Anzu; I'm going to make sure you get home just fine, ok?" Anzu smiled gratefully, the nausea seeming to almost recede.

"Thank you…" she murmured softly, before dozing off on the girl's back.

Ishizu was all for unpacking the next box, desperate for this moving in lark to be over so she could rest her feet, when strange noises started coming from the hallway leading up to the room.

"Alright...I gotcha-WHOAH!" the noise was followed by a loud crash that echoes through the hall, and she recognised the voice of the girl.

She stepped up to the door and let it swing open, to find Mana flat on the floor and a brunette girl lying half on her back, whiter than a sheet and looking extremely tired. "Mana, what's going on?"

The tan blonde looked up and gave a little wave to her relative, "Hey Ishizu...um, do you know this girl, by any chance? She pretty much collapsed."

The girl in question moved a little and Ishizu raised her eyebrows at the sight of her bright blue eyes. "Anzu?"

Quietly Anzu sipped from her glass of water and watched as Mana helped to shift some of the boxes aside so they could get to the chair that had been buried under all the stuff. When there was enough room to sit, both Ishtars sat down on the seats. Rishid had entered the scene at some point, sorting out the drinks and quickly finding a place for Anzu to sit, whilst the two female Ishtars foraged for themselves. Anzu had felt embarrassed with the oldest Ishtar fussing over her like that. But she had appreciated the kindness and concern he had given her. It made her feel safe.

"Are you feeling better now?" Mana perked up, tilting her head very slightly in sympathetic question.

Anzu nodded, but in actuality she wasn't actually sure. Throwing up black gunk had been one thing, but thinking about hurting Yugi? That wasn't like her...alright, so she OCCASIONALLY thought about smacking Jou in the face, but he had been asking for it...asking her bra size...then when she'd shouted at him asked if she was PMSing...while the thoughts whizzed through her head she faintly picked up on Mana and Ishizu's conversation amidst the white noise of her mind.

"I keep getting this really dark feeling. Are you getting it as well, Ishizu?" Mana's tone was one of curiosity and mild worry, "It's like a weight, but it keeps getting heavier the more I fight it."

"Mana, this was the entire reason we moved into Domino, and why I brought you along in the first place. I've been sensing the presence of an evil entity," the young woman replied. Her eyes were surrounded by a slightly dark circle, telling anyone she hadn't been sleeping right for a few days at very least, "Something keeps following me within my dreams...and it involves everyone including you, even if I'm not sure how yet."

Mana nodded, smiling slightly, even if there wasn't much feeling behind it. "I was surprised when you called me. Ishizu, sister to the head of the Tombkeeper Clan, with connections in both the Egyptian and Japanese Governments wanted me to come with her family back to Domino. It was just completely out of the blue! But somehow…when I saw this girl…it felt right that I had come here."

With a thoughtful look on her face Mana turned to look at Anzu, who had seemingly slipped into a daydream, her eyes unfocused and soft but at the same time intense. And for some reason that dark feeling nagged at her once again, like she was missing something and what was actually causing the feeling was teasing her, and with it came more of an understanding of why she was here in Domino, even if the details weren't clear yet.

She shook the feeling off. "Anzu?" at the call of her name, the brunette slipped from her daydream and looked up, "You alright now?"

Anzu gave a shaky smile. "I think so...I don't know why I'm feeling so ill. Maybe I'm coming down with a virus or something."

Ishizu smiled sympathetically. "I think the best thing is for you to go home and rest. Try and sleep a little and maybe you'll feel better." Even as she spoke the words to the girl, who nodded a little and thanked them both before walking slowly from the room, something nagged in her mind that something wasn't...quite...right. She looked over at Mana. "Mana, please keep an eye on her. I may not have the necklace anymore, but I can feel something dark coming from her. We can't leave it unchecked." Mana nodded, before running after Anzu to see her off. Ishizu sighed.

This was going to get complicated, she could just tell. And it was now, one of the rare, rare moments when she wished she still carried the burden of the Millennium Necklace on her shoulders.

Anzu unlocked the front door and walked in. She felt a little better; maybe it had been the walk home, but she was still curious as to why the Ishtars were back in town. Something must have been going on to make them move ALL the way back from Egypt.

She smiled slightly as she read her mail, checking one letter about her dance exam thoroughly and grinned at her A- grade. Last time she'd gotten a B, so it was an improvement.

With a sigh she looked to her side where her bag was hanging from her shoulder. "I suppose I'd better get on with my work then..." she mumbled to herself, traversing up the stairs and up to her bedroom, not noticing as she walked past the reflective glass covering the photographs on the wall that her own reflection appeared to be glaring at her...

Her fingers clicked at her keyboard, typing in her password and logging into her computer before picking up her pencil and scribbling down on a post-it to remember to buy milk after she was done, and stuck the sticky paper to on corner of her screen so she didn't forget about it.

Anzu dragged several books from her bag and lay them out open at the pages she needed, and picked up her pen, flicking it between her fingers deftly before touching the tip to the page of her notebook and starting her biology coursework.

Or she would have...if her fingers would move.

She looked down at her hand and tried to let go of the pen, but her fingers wouldn't move.

Now she was getting freaked out again. She shook her arm, trying to make her finger unleash the death grip on her pen when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and gasped again.

Her eyes were the same cold blue as they had been in the school bathrooms, and a glare was on her reflections features.

Anzu didn't know what to do, and didn't even think as she opened her mouth to scream. Hoping it would catch someone's attention, only when she tried to let out her shriek of horror, nothing came from her throat. She was completely mute.

As quickly as her voice had left her, she coughed and choked, feeling as if she would be sick again, so she let her feet carry her with speed to the bathroom, tripping on some stuff in the hallway as she hurried to reach it before she threw up on the hallway landing.

As soon as she was in the room, she grasped at the toilet bowl and retched, more of the black stuff pouring from her mouth, her body convulsing in her attempt to purge whatever substance that was making her ill from her system. But even as she was sick again, the voice in her head...the same one from the school bathroom...started shouting things at her inside the cage of her mind.

Pathetic...you can't even handle the truth, you poor little bitch. You're cowardly. He's under your nose but you still let the little son of a bitch keep him from you.

When she finally stopped feeling sick and sat back, Anzu tore at her hair in frustration.

Just tell him a lie...you're good at lying...you do it every day when you deny your feelings for him...when you say your 'fine' with the little twerp keeping him away from you. Just one little lie and he'll be yours!

Trails of tears trickled down her face once more, and Anzu felt herself going limp. She didn't have the strength to fight the words anymore...no more...

With a dull thud, her body slumped to the bathroom floor in a heap with a final murmur... "No..."

~*Ancient Egypt*~

"I hope Nila's feeling better soon…her encounter with those thieves seems to have really shaken her up," Mana said sadly, as she walked through the market place with Heba. Heba was a fellow magic student of hers, a cheerful boy who looked remarkably like the Pharaoh. He was a much better student than her however, already able to summon his own Ka, even if it wasn't very strong yet.

It seemed to grow every time he faced a new enemy, but just when they thought he was improving, his Ka would return to its smaller form as soon as all enemies had been defeated. Heba himself was the only one unbothered by this.

"Well I think being attacked by thieves like that would be enough to scare anyone," he said, glancing around the marketplace in case he saw anything they needed. "Speaking of attacked by thieves.." he muttered, and suddenly dashed off. Mana ran after him, confused. She had no idea what he'd seen, until she noticed the two girls collapsed on the ground, one of them holding her body protectively over the other.

"Are you ok?" Mana gasped as she and Heba reached the two girls, who turned their heads over to them. They were twins, Mana realised, the only noticeable difference being their eyes. The twin lying on the ground had warm blue eyes, but the other girl hovering above her had icy blue eyes, which were narrowed in suspicion at Heba and Mana.

They quickly melted into concern as the other girl moaned slightly, her face contorted in pain. She rested her hand against the girl's cheek in concern. Mana turned to Heba, who crossed his arms across his chest, eyes closed as a bluish light surrounded him, and a mage dressed in white and blue appeared in front of him.

Heba remained silent for a few more minutes, before opening his eyes and nodding once to his Ka, who immediately flew off in the direction of the palace.

"Silent Magician will get help," He told them, before also kneeling down beside the girls. The icy-blue eyed one growled slightly, and a faint shape appeared shimmering behind her. Mana's eyes widened. 'A ka?' she wondered in amazement. She blinked, and the shape was gone. Had she imagined it?

Brushing that concern from her mind, Mana knelt down beside Heba to offer her own hand out to the girls. "Don't worry, we don't want to hurt you," she said slowly "My name is Mana, and this is Heba. We're training to be magician's in the Pharaoh's court."

"I'm Anuksu," The icy girl finally muttered in reply, her eyes still full of suspicion. She turned her gaze to her twin. "And this is Teana, my younger twin." Teana's eyes flickered open again, and she caught sight of Mana, her face breaking into a weak smile.

"You…have amazing hair…" she murmured reaching out her fingers to Mana's blonde hair. "So do you!" she laughed slightly, having caught sight of Heba. She struggled to sit up slightly, which immediately prompted Anuksu to start fluttering around her, trying to make her lie back down, pressing a hand to Teana's forehead to feel its temperature.

Heba looked up at the sound of people coming towards them, and smiled at the sight of Atem, Mahado, Nerifa and several slaves, four of them carrying a litter. The Silent Magician was leading them.

Atem broke into a run when he spotted the four of them, coming to crouch beside them. Heba dismissed his Ka, satisfied that they had arrived. "Are you all alright?" Atem asked, glancing around at each of them in turn. His gaze fell on the twins and he smiled. "You must be the girls who were attacked by the thieves. Heba sent a message with his Ka." He flashed a smile at Heba here; whose cheeks turned a few shades darker. Mana raised her eyebrow at the two of them.

Looking over at Teana and Anuksu, her eyes almost bugged out of her head as she saw them gazing at Atem with much the same looks of sudden admiration in their eyes, their own cheeks darkening. 'This looks like it could be getting interesting…' Mana mused, a wicked smile just curving the corners of her lips. By this time the other slaves had arrived, and the twins were swiftly lifted onto the litter, and the whole little procession made its way back to the palace.

Mana had noticed the prince-pharaoh-and Heba move towards each other, their hair almost merging together as they chatted quietly to each other. It looked like she'd have to find some other way to entertain herself. She skipped up beside the litter, pulling one of the curtains slightly out of the way so she could look in. Anuksu had Teana resting on her lap, her fingers brushing Teana's hair from her forehead again. She quickly stopped when she noticed Mana, glaring slightly.

Mana just smiled cheerfully, "Don't worry about Teana. She'll be fine once we reach the palace, the healers will take care of her!" This seemed to relax Anuksu slightly.

"And what do you do in the palace?" she asked, and Mana laughed.

"I'm supposed to be training to be a magician in the pharaoh's court…but I'm not very good yet. I can't even see or summon my Ka yet…" Mana told her. "Ahh…but it looked like you already have a Ka," Mana continued "That shape that appeared behind you before. Can you make it any clearer?" Anuksu looked at her blankly.

"A…Ka? I don't know what that is. What is it for?" Anuksu asked, curious now as to what Mana meant.

"Well, it's not exactly for anything…you can use them to battle, and they each have a special power. No two Ka are the same because they grow differently depending on the person's heart." Mana explained slowly, wishing now that she had paid more attention to her lessons. "You can use it to defend yourself and others too."

"Protect?" Anuksu said, once again tightening her grip on Teana. "Could I use it to protect my sister?" Mana nodded slowly.

"Yes, I think so. If it was powerful enough," Mana said. Anuksu's eyes narrowed.

"Power...huh…" She muttered, and something in her voice made Mana shiver. Anuksu turned so that her body was angled away from Mana, who took that as her cue to leave. 'Well…' she thought, 'it looks like things are going to get interesting around here.'