Copyright M.N.A.

You steal my story – I hunt you down!

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I'd like to say thanks to my newest reviewer – JuubiOokami and all those who've bothered to read my story and appreciated it enough to add to their alert lists ^^ Thanks! It means a lot!

Alright, so if I do say so myself, this story has begun to get pretty interesting! And the best part is – it's Kaiba centric which makes it even better ^^ I know that Kaiba hasn't been much of a main character in the past few chapters – he's been more of a co-main character along with the others, but seriously, I had to do that to help develop the plot. I promise you'll see more of him in the future! And don't think I forgot about the Seto x ? :)

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh and anything related belongs completely to Mr. Kazuki Takahashi for his incredible idea of YuGiOh. If YuGiOh never existed, my childhood wouldn't have been as entertaining as it had, and Seto Kaiba would've never have existed either [and we all know there's no world without Seto Kaiba!]

Please read and review!

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Previously: Kaiba shut the phone off and exited his study, leaving the rod where he had previously placed it – on his desk. "Mokuba," he called.

"Yes big brother," he could hear Mokuba jogging towards him.

"We're going to Egypt."

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Kaiba was sitting in the pilot's seat of his Blue Eyes White Dragon jet, his mouth set in the same determined shape as when he had been going to Pegasus's castle in search of a card to beat Yugi's Egyptian god cards. The only difference was Mokuba was with him this time and he wouldn't be rivaling Yugi in a card game, he'd be discussing magic with him. Kaiba mentally laughed at the ridiculousness of the thought. But there was no denying it. There was magic.

Finally, Seto Kaiba landed his BEWD jet on top of the Cairo Airport in a spot that was reserved, naturally, only for him. He exited the aircraft and Mokuba followed suit, the pair walking towards an elevator to take them to the lobby of the airport.

Mokuba eventually got sick of the silence. "Big brother?" he asked quietly after they had entered the lift.

"Yes Mokuba," Kaiba glanced at Mokuba, worry lines creasing his forehead as he tried to figure out what was wrong. The golden rod was in his left hand, his right in a pocket in the white trench coat.

"Why are we here?" When Kaiba looked at him questioningly, he continued. "I mean in Egypt. I thought you said you'd given up Duel Monsters and that you'd never take part in any of this again," Mokuba asked troubled. He glanced at the scepter in Kaiba's hand. "And didn't Yugi already put that back when the Pharaoh returned to the Spirit World?" Unlike Seto, Mokuba was easier to believe in these things and didn't mind admitting it.

"That's why we're here Mokuba," came the simple answer with a kind tone Kaiba reserved to only for Mokuba. "To find out."

At that moment, the elevators doors opened, at the brothers were greeted by familiar faces. Yugi, Pegasus, Ishizu and her brother Marik all stood in front of the elevator doors, awaiting Kaiba.

"Kaiba," Yugi greeted him, nodding his head slightly.

"Yugi," Came the cool response. Although Kaiba cared naught for the Dweeb Patrol, Yugi fell under the category of the rare few people that Kaiba respected. He acknowledged the fact that Yugi was a better duelist and had no longer maintained a constant goal of defeating the reputable King of Games. Kaiba had resorted to living a simple life with Mokuba -or as simple as life could get for a CEO of a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company.

Seto looked around at the others, giving a slight nod of the head at them.

"Kaiba," Ishizu motioned towards the doors. "I think it's best if we discuss matters back in our home, she said, referring to the Ishtar's Egyptian abode.

"Very well," he replied coolly, and the ends of his flaring trench coat was the last thing they saw of him as the rest of them attempted to keep up and follow through the airport's doors.

Pegasus looked questioningly at Ishizu. "Means of transportation?" he asked.

At this, Ishizu began flusterdly. "Well I had prepared for us to go home in my car, but I hadn't expected Kaiba nor his brother and well..."

CEO of KaibaCorp., Seto Kaiba had already taken out his cell and begun dialing.

"What are you doing?" Pegasus asked curiously.

Kaiba signaled a finger at him to be quiet. He nodded a few times on the phone, stated his name and waited patiently as the man on the other end complimented and praised him nonstop. It appeared said man had finally stopped, because Kaiba spoke. "Cairo Airport." And with that, he flipped his phone shut.

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Finally the group had reached the Ishtar home. Odeon greeted them all at the door, and walked them to the small living room. There were two couches – a love seat and a three seater, both a navy hue and incredibly comfy. Naturally, Kaiba strode towards the two seater, Mokuba attempting to keep up behind him. Pegasus took the seat on one end of the longer couch – the furthest away from the Kaiba brothers. Marik sat in the middle, and Yugi on the other side. Ishizu was standing in front of them all, and in the silence the six could hear Odeon clearing dishes in the kitchen.

Ishizu was the first to break the silence. She looked the same as she had before, not changing in the past few months. A golden circlet centred with an emerald was placed on her head, oddly resembling a halo. Her front strands of her on either side of her face were wrapped in long gold cylinders and her Millenium Necklace embraced her neck. She wore kohl on around her eyes, as was tradition for Egyptian women. "I think... we should begin by describing how we all found our items again. In other words, how they returned to us."

Kaiba's eyes flashed to the rod he had placed in the corner of the room. He could sense something strange about the object and preferred not to go near it.

Yugi voluntarily went first with his experience. "Well, I was coming home from a friend's-"it was best not to mention Joey around Kaiba. He didn't want the brunette insulting his best friends, albeit the fact he considered Kaiba to be one of them. "-when in front of the game shop I saw the Millenium Box. Inside I found the Millenium Puzzle again, and it was disassembled, so naturally I began assembling it again when I got the call from Ishizu." Ishizu nodded her head, taking the details in. Kaiba glanced around at the others in the room. So wait... I'm not the only one to find one of the objects again?

"Oh," Yugi added as an afterthought, seeming reluctant to share the next part. "The Pharaoh isn't back."

The room was silent for a minute. The Ishtars were confused. Then who was to be the savior of the world this time? And who was the savior's guide? Pegasus sympathized with the boy. He knew what it was like to lose one close to the heart -after all, it was losing his darling Cecilia that had driven him to become infatuated with the Millenium Items in the first place. However, he had later on realized thanks to Yugi and his friends that he was going down a bad path and was able to stop himself.

Maximillion was the next to speak. "I found my eye," he said, surprising everyone by -instead of pulling back his long white hair to reveal the object in question- pulled out the spherical item from his pocket, wrapped in a handkerchief. "In the corner of my room just as I was about to leave for dinner. That's when I called Ishizu because I was unsure of what to do with it."

Ishizu nodded once more. "I think it's best you put that on, Pegasus," she said.

Maximillion Pegasus looked at her in shock. "This eye made drove me mad, Ishizu. And showed me things and drove me to the edge on hopes that were never possible to fulfill. I can't possibly put it on!" The fear and disbelief in his voice were clear to everyone in the room.

Ignoring his worried tone, Ishizu spoke calmly. "You can and you will."

Pegasus reluctantly put the eye on, cringing for a moment as if expecting an explosion or something of the sort. He sighed in relief when nothing happened, and the revelations continued.

Ishizu decided it'd be best if she spoke already. "I found my necklace around the same time as the rest of you did your items," she paused momentarily. "In my soup." She was prepared for the chuckles at how ridiculous that sounded. She herself could hardly believe it, and so she joined in lightly as Pegasus, Yugi and Mokuba doubled over in hysterics. "Well Kaiba." Ishizu looked pointedly at the Millenium Rod. "It's your turn."

Seto Kaiba clenched his teeth. He didn't speak for a minute and everyone in the room watched him expectedly. "Very well," he began. "I found the Millenium Rod," he spoke the name with a sneer as if he didn't believe whatever was going on -after all, he had a personality to uphold. The others simply nodded in response, they were accustomed to Kaiba's pride and acts of disbelief. "In my study. It was leaning against the wall. I'm not quite sure how it got there however." His eyes narrowed as he looked around at the other Item holders in the room. Their expressions showed no superior outlook on the fact that he had admitted something so unbelievable to them, nor did anyone crack any jokes. Ishizu looked worried, Yugi solemn and Pegasus scared. He already knew he could trust Yugi, but apparently the others seemed trustworthy as well. Surprising them all, he spoke again in the silence. "There's something strange about the rod," he said, an unknown emotion could be heard behind his cool tone. "When...I held it...it shocked me." Still no laughs, no cracks that he was a lunatic. His shoulders let loose some of their tension. Everyone looked questioningly at Ishizu at this fact.

As expected, she spoke to answer their question. "Well Kaiba... this seems to have established one thing. You are the true holder of the Millenium Rod." When he glared at her, she said without flinching, "I think it's best that you keep the rod with you for now – as it is best for everyone else here to keep their items close to them." Her voice no longer held the softness in it, she spoke as if a queen who was giving an order. Her tone then resorted to it's explanatory mode. "I believe that the items have returned to us... because we are destined to wield them."

Yugi interrupted. His voice was deeper than it had been a few months ago, oddly reflecting on the Pharaoh's. Had the group not known that the Pharaoh had returned to the Spirit World, most of them would've bowed at the power in his voice. "It makes sense," he began. "I mean, Ishizu -Isis," he fixed. "Controlled the necklace in the Pharaoh's time. Kaiba was the owner of the rod, and the Pharaoh himself was well...owner of the puzzle." His voice stood strong though it cracked at the mention of the Pharaoh. "But one thing just doesn't make sense to me... it was Akunadin who held the Eye in the Ancient Times...not Pegasus." He gave Pegasus an apologetic look as he spoke the words.

"Yes well..." Marik finally spoke for the first time. "I had a theory about that. See, Pegasus is the only person in this time to have used the Millenium Eye and therefore the Eye is accustomed to him and suits him, thus he may wield it's power. Such as, if the Priest -Pharaoh- Seth's reincarnation had not existed, the rod would have found it's way to me instead." He did not speak bitterly, as if jealous that the rod had not returned to him. Rather, he seemed … relieved.

Pegasus was unaffected by the facts. "Yes well..." he drawled. "...we've still one thing to figure out. Why are the items back in the first place? Didn't Yugi-boy return them to the stone?"

Marik and Ishizu shared a knowing and worried glance. "I believe Marik may have an inkling or two who's behind all this..." she trailed off, allowing Marik to continue.

Sharing his experience at the museum with the purple haired man, everyone's brows were creased in confusion. Everyone that is except well... Kaiba. "That's simple," Kaiba stated coolly. "It's Zyvar. Villence Zyvar." His tone was not worried, and for once his coolness was almost sincere, as if he was not hiding anything, that this man really was nothing to worry over. "He's a spoiled brat incapable of even taking care of his father's company properly."

Mokuba didn't know what was going on but if it involved his brother, he wanted to help. "He doesn't know much," he added. "He dropped out of high school in the first year."

"Well," Yugi spoke again, many of the others flinching at his deep voice. "Even if Zyvar is not a threat, we've gotta return all the Millenium Items to the Millenium stone and we still don't know where the other three are!"

Pegasus flipped back his hair lightly. "Yugi-boy, you said you had seen into the Pharaoh's world, yes?" Not waiting for a reply, he continued. "And there's no one else reincarnated from the Pharaoh's world, yes? Since no one else has ever used the remaining Millenium Items, the three of them are still in the stone." He concluded, giving an unspoken meaning to his words. If the 3 items do not have an owner...then it's likely Zyvar has them.

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Villence Zyvar repeatedly slammed his head against the wall of a nearby motel he was staying at. How the hell was he going to find 5 items in this vast area known as the world? Perhaps the items did not manage to stray too far from the Millenium Stone. But he was not going to go chasing them around himself. Villence Zyvar picked up the tacky third world country phone that was in the cheap motel. He recalled a meeting a few years earlier with a hooded gang who wore the same symbol that was upon the Millenium Items. Perhaps they would be of use to him. The Rare Hunters.

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Mana looked at the two figures on the ground in shock. One was Mahad -her friend, incredible sorcerer and mentor who had given up his life to protect the Pharaoh. Mahad had merged what had been left of his soul with his Illusion Magician to form the great Dark Magician so that he could always faithfully serve the nameless Pharaoh. How is he alive? She asked herself in shock. Nevertheless, she was thankful that he was.

The other person before her was the one whom was stirring. She wore light robes of a peasant, and had long silvery white-blue hair. Mana had an inkling of whom this girl was. The other's of the Pharaoh's court had spoken about her. Her soul contained the great White Dragon and she had given up her life for the Pharaoh Seth.

The girl had awoken and she was staring around the Valley of the Kings in confusion. Mana shocked her by saying cheerfully, "Hi, I'm Mana! Who are you?"

Kisara, realizing that someone was speaking to her, looked around in surprise. "Ummm... hello," she began softly. "I'm Kisara... do you have any idea where we are or what we're doing here?" Her tone was kind, clear and worried.

At this Mana's forehead creased in confusion. "I'm not exactly sure...but oh well! Nice to meet you Kisara!" When Kisara's gaze fell upon the man still asleep, Mana answered her unasked question. "That's Mahad, he's not awake yet."

Kisara's eyes led her back to Mana. They were a bright blue, and her face was pale. Completely different from Mana who had an aura of happiness around her, bright brown eyes and medium-length brown hair. "Well... Mana. If you don't mind my asking, who are you?"

And so the two girls shared stories of their past. Mana's suspicions were correct, Kisara was the wielder of the Blue Eyes White Dragon and had given up her life to save Seth from the evil controlling Akunadin. Mana had shocked Kisara, revealing she was not the happy-go-lucky girl completely that she had appeared to be. Apparently, after the Pharaoh Yami -or Atem as they had learned later on had left once rescuing the world, Mana seemed to have lost a piece of herself. There was a hollowness within her after that day, but when she had returned home to the palace, she found the strangest surprise of all. There was a baby boy with tri-colored hair in her room! A newborn by the looks of it. Since no one had claimed him, Mana had raised him until he became a young boy. Then, since Seth did not marry or have children of his own, Mana had given Seth the child she raised, so that he could have an heir. That day, she had left Pharaoh Seth and the others of the royal court a note, and sent herself into battle against an enemy country. Her spirit had been locked away in a stone tablet... and there her story ended.

Kisara sympathized with the girl but didn't know what to say. As Mana ended her tale, Mahad -who had not really been asleep for the past few minutes- jerked his head up. "Mana you did what!" he exclaimed, furious.

In surprise, Mana looked up at Mahad. "Oh Master Mahad, you're alright!" she gave him a hug but Mahad pushed her away. "How could you send yourself into battle -and alone! You knew you wouldn't make it out alive! And what's this about a child?" His eyes narrowed. He hadn't been awake to hear the beginning, that she had found the child.

She shamefully looked down at the ground from Mahad's scolding, but her carefree side got the best of her. "Oh Master Mahad! You wouldn't believe it! The child looked exactly like Yami – I mean the Pharaoh! It was so strange!"

"Mana, answer my question." He wasn't about to let her change the subject.

"Well... after Yami left, I just... I didn't know what to do..." she trailed off helplessly and he nodded in understanding.

"You loved him," he said quietly. Then his eyes took on that fatherly glare again. "But Mana that's no reason to go ahead and kill yourself!"

"I-I'm sorry Master Mahad." She apologized, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Wait..." Mahad finally looked around in realization. "So you're Kisara," he said nodding at the girl. "Didn't you say you gave yourself to protect Priest Seth?" In response, the blanchette gave a slight nod. "And if Mana died... and Bakura defeated me and I got locked in stone..," Mahad stared around in confusion. "Then how are we here?"

"I'm not sure," Kisara's quiet voice spoke up.

"Well then," Mana perked up, forgetting up earlier. "Let's explore!"

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Wow! Who would've known... Mana loved the Pharaoh?!?! I'm sure you've all got a ton of questions right now, like why the child looked like Atem and so forth... well you'll just have to wait for your questions to be answered in the next few chapters!

NOTE FOR THE FUTURE (And I will repeat it again in case you missed it): Mana has a serious side...but she is mainly a happy person most of the time. Do not think I just simply threw together a bunch of random emotions that in no way refer to the character. It'll make sense. Trust me.

Anyways... Please Review ^^

Sincerely,

Your Devoted Writer,

MNA