After Astrid, Bakura, and Yugi spent some time asking the museum staff about the slate, Bakura parted ways with them at the entrance. Given his relatively quiet demeanor, Astrid was surprised when she had learned from Yugi that he, too, was dueling in the Battle City Tournament, and was staying in the same hotel as all of them.
'There's definitely more to him than meets the eye,' she thought to herself, though she couldn't identify what it was that was strange about him.
The prospect of learning more about the fascinating nature of these "magic games" was exciting as well. Perhaps it was the alluring rarity of the millennium Items and her interest in ancient Egypt that had drawn her to learn more about them. She had agreed to meet Bakura later that evening - after all, what harm could come of it?
She needed to be more social, she thought to herself.
Her conversations with Bakura had curiously livened up after they had discussed the ancient Egyptian games that supposedly preceded the modern duel monsters card game. More evidence, she supposed, that she should give people the benefit of the doubt more often; maybe she was wrong about him. He seemed quite intelligent, too, and she couldn't help but admit that he was at least decent looking. To say the least.
Astrid thought back to their earlier conversation. Why was it that the whole concept of ancient duel monsters struck a chord of familiarity within her? She couldn't quite place why and brushed it off as the occasional deja-vu experience.
'Must have heard about it in passing or in a book, somewhere,' she thought.
Yugi's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"It's a shame the left side of the tablet was destroyed. I wonder what story it was meant to tell."
"Mm . . . Yeah, I wonder who was supposed to be there."
"Or what was there," he added. "By the way, it seems you and Bakura got to know each other," he said with a faint smile.
"Yeah, he was pretty quiet at first but he kind of opened up after we started talking about ancient Egypt. He seems to know a lot about it. Does he hang out with you guys a lot?"
"Sometimes. Not as much as he did before. He must be planning his deck and strategies for the tournament."
The two walked in silence for a few moments and Astrid gazed at her surroundings.
"You know, Astrid, you haven't really told us much about yourself. Come to think of it, I hardly know anything about you at all. I don't mean to be intrusive, but I'm curious - what did you do before you came here to Domino City?"
"The same goes with you!" she retorted, smiling. He returned the expression, but she could tell that he truly was curious. She wondered why; he wasn't usually this talkative with everyone else, and during the occasional instances in which he was, his conversations were usually related to duels. If anything, his past seemed as mysterious as hers, since he never talked about it either.
"I guess I don't think there was anything that was very important about it. I kind of floated from one place to another and wasn't really sure what I wanted to do career-wise. Still don't know, really. I actually put in an application to the museum while we were there, and who knows? I might even pick up dueling for the fun of it, thanks to your help."
Yes, she had felt aimless for years and, despite her confidence, strangely empty. She noticed that those feelings of emptiness had been growing lately, and it was disconcerting - she had been distracting herself from them by spending time with Yugi and their friends. She wondered when they would catch up with her.
"What about you? What did you do before you got into dueling?"
Yugi's expression dulled. "I don't remember much about my past."
Before he could finish his thought, they heard Tea calling them from down the road. It was odd that he said he didn't remember his past - had she heard him correctly? She mustn't have.
When Tea caught up with them, she decided to part ways and head back to the hotel. A moment before Astrid turned away, Yugi held her gaze. Although she thought he was going to say something, he lightly smiled at her and said goodbye.
The location of the Egyptian's hideout had changed since they had last met, but both criminals knew that this wouldn't inconvenience Bakura.
How convenient this is, Bakura mused to himself with a slight smirk. He knew his ring would lead him exactly where he needed to go; he did want the other millennium item, after all. Perhaps in a few days, he would even find out why Marik desired the supposedly almighty Egyptian god cards.
What a fool, he thought, but he did not discount the possibility that there was more to the cards than he knew of. If that was the case, he would indeed discover what it was that Marik knew of them. Eventually.
Bakura reached a rather run-down looking building, the ring pointed to a door near its front. Upon reaching it, he knocked twice, heavily. He saw slight movement from a dark figure in his peripheral vision and wondered if Marik truly thought he wouldn't notice his minions guarding the building.
The taller Egyptian opened the door, as he expected, and Bakura wordlessly pushed past him to stand directly across Marik, who was sitting stoically at the back of the room.
"When will you have the girl?"
Bakura ignored Odion's question and slowly crossed his arms, still facing Marik, who still hadn't bothered to look his way.
"You will give me the rod after she arrives. Tonight."
Marik's gaze shifted to his.
"I will give you what you want . . . Eventually. Don't think you will cheat me out of my millennium rod that easily," Marik said and stared at him intently.
"That was our deal," Bakura growled. He took an aggressive step forward but stopped when he saw a gleam as the two guards beside Marik brandished daggers.
Marik smirked. "No. Your end of the bargain was to bring me the Pharaoh's God card and the girl - but instead, I've decided there is no need to bring me the card. The girl should suffice . . . Under one condition."
Bakura's expression darkened.
"You will stay here until the pharaoh gives me what I want. Then our deal will be complete."
"What?" Bakura spat.
"A fair price for such a rare reward. The pharaoh and his foolish friends will be looking for her - their trust in you will be invaluable."
Bakura glared but considered the proposal. Taking the rod by force was one current option, but he was patient. The Egyptian was also right, to some extent. "How long?"
"A week. Two at most. I will retrieve the god card soon, but there is no need for clumsy mistakes."
"Two weeks and I will have the item," Bakura stated. He abruptly turned, pushed past Odion, and shoved open the door. "Be ready tonight."
With that, he slammed the door shut.
"We will need to watch him," Odion said. Marik inwardly agreed, but his gaze bored into his millennium rod. Bakura was proving to be more aggressive than he had anticipated. A shame he couldn't simply control his mind like all of the others, he thought.
He had also considered taking the girl hostage simply by controlling her mind; this would have allowed him to exclude Bakura from his plan completely. However, he changed his mind when he realized that may interfere with her memory - her knowledge of the pharaoh through their friendship might prove useful.
Marik stood and nodded to Odion, who then wordlessly left the room. They both knew what he was going to do once Bakura arrived with her.
Astrid had spent the rest of the day wandering the city. During the hours she spent walking alone, she had found herself ruminating over Yugi's question; why was she here in the city? The obvious answer was that there was no reason not to visit - especially since she had never known what stability felt like. She couldn't imagine living in only one place; the idea felt stifling, and yet reflecting on her nomadic lifestyle was depressing. She wondered if she would still be in touch with Yugi and the rest of their friends in a few years, or whether her friendship with them would fall into the same pattern of isolation that her previous relationships did.
By the time she arrived at the hotel, it was already dark; the day had been spent relatively leisurely, but she found that she was nevertheless exhausted.
'I'm going to need this,' she thought to herself, as she pulled off her boots and ran a bath, setting the temperature to be as hot as possible.
She suddenly heard a knock. 'Now's totally a perfect time for this,' she sighed to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was have a draining conversation while feeling this shitty. For a moment she debated pretending she wasn't in her room but changed her mind.
When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Bakura. She had actually been looking forward to hearing about the strange artifacts, so he wasn't necessarily an unpleasant surprise.
"I hope I'm not bothering you," he said, his gaze moving to the slightly open bathroom door.
"Oh not at all, come in," she gestured toward the room. "Let me turn that off".
He smiled and stepped into the room as she walked to the bathroom. When she came back, Bakura was leaning back into the couch with an uncannily smug expression on his face. His demeanor seemed to have changed entirely since he was at the door. Nevertheless, she took a seat near him.
'Why does he look so pleased with himself?,' she wondered.
"So you're curious about the millennium items," he mused with the same pleased expression.
"I've always found ancient Egypt fascinating; you obviously have always been interested in it as well," she stated. His smile deepened.
"Oh yes," he drawled. "But tell me . . . "
He leaned forward. Astrid began to feel uncomfortable.
"What is it that you are hiding from your friends?"
She was taken aback by the frankness of his question.
"What . . . ?"
"You and I both know there's something you're hiding from them. Perhaps, even . . . a side of you. Others may not see through your mask, but I can."
He was still smiling and starting to really freak her out, but Astrid was mainly focused on the fact that he was, indeed, correct.
As if to answer her next thought, Bakura spoke.
"Don't worry, they don't suspect a thing."
"Bakura, I really don't know what you're talking about. Why do you think I'm hiding something?"
"Don't play silly with me. I'll let you in on a little secret . . . My millennium ring allows me to glimpse into the darkness of mortal souls . . . and yours, Astrid, is quite dark."
He stood abruptly and walked to the door. Before he opened it, he threw her a glance over his shoulder. "Maybe you will eventually tell me why."
And just like that, he left, leaving Astrid puzzled about his statements regarding both her and his ring.
"Well that was fucking weird," she said aloud. Rude, too, she thought.
Still, the encounter left her very curious about him - did the ring really allow him to sense the troubles she had been running away from for most of her life? No, she refused to entertain the silly idea that there was something 'magical' about the millennium items.
After she stripped and finally sank into the steaming water, she also pushed away all thoughts about the darkness he mentioned; nothing good would come of them right now. She reflected on her friendship with Yugi and the others but couldn't help but wonder whether she'd ever feel comfortable enough with them to tell them about the memories she didn't want to think about. Regardless, she knew she was grateful that she had met them.
What she did not know, however, was that the key to her room was no longer on the table she had been sitting at with Bakura.