Author's Note; Thanks for reviewing- seriously means a lot!!! XXXXXX
1 month later
Kari walked to her room; the Kaiba mansion was absolutely massive! Mokuba had spent the first week showing her around and Kari now knew every room and hall- she had always had a knack for memorizing locations; it'd had come in fairly handy in the orphanage! She closed the door behind her and walked to the desk in her large guestroom. Kari flipped open the courtesy laptop, there was one in every room, and typed out her e-mail rapidly;
"Still in mansion, no change yet. Awaiting further instructions."
Upon sending the e-mail, the seventeen-year-old also signed-off with her alias;
"Kari."
Seto's POV
Seto was in his own room, on his laptop, though he wasn't working. (Scary stuff, huh?) He was running through some hypertext documents concerning his enemies; the Aralanti. The clan of assassins had been lying low for the past couple of years, but were still active, with contacts situated throughout the four continents. All members of the family bore a distinctive black tattoo on their right bicep. This tattoo had a rounded top, and two extending arms (like the top of the Millennium Key.) and ended in a symmetrical, pointed spike below. There was a knock on the door and, at the sound of his voice, a maid pushed it open.
"Mr. Kaiba, Ishizu Ishtar and Yugi Muto and his friends have arrived, sir.'
2 hours later (In normal POV)
Kari walked down the grand staircase just as a large group of people entered the hall, headed for the doorway.
"Hi Kari!"
Tea smiled up at her; in the past month, she and Kari had become good friends, aswell as Yugi. Tristan and Joey looked at the new girl, then to each other; they'd never seen this foreign teen before; having either been fighting with each other or chasing some other girl when Tea and Yugi hung out with her. Joey was the first to the foot of the staircase.
"Hiya, da name's Joey, got any plans for tonight?"
Tristan pushed the blond aside, forcefully and spoke in a smooth, calm voice.
"Hello there, I'm Tristan-"
The lad was cut off as Joey jumped on top of him in retaliation to his earlier push.
"Will you dweebs quit scaring her!"
Kari smirked as Seto appeared behind the three tanned individuals. She momentarily froze upon seeing the tattoos on the face of the taller man; they were Tombkeepers! Great; now she didn't just have to keep a step ahead of Seto, but she had to contend with her family's age-old enemies aswell!
"Kari, you okay?"
Tea was looking at her, worriedly. Kari bit her tongue and nodded her head, smiling; secretly her skin was crawling upon being in such close vicinity to the Tombkeepers. Mokuba smiled kindly, realizing Kari must feel a bit out of place.
"Kari, this is Ishizu, Odion and Marik Ishtar."
The girl blinked with surprise; not only were they Tombkeepers, but they were also the head-family! Again, she bit her tongue and forced a polite smile, glad for her long-sleeved hoody that was masking her brand from view.
"Hi, nice to meet you."
Mokuba looked back to the three siblings.
"This is Kari Hirotsh, a friend of ours, from the orphanage…she's from Egypt aswell."
The two males nodded, as did Ishizu, though she was a moment slower. Kari saw her miniscule hesitation and knew the head of the Tombkeepers wasn't a complete thick.
"So, Kari, bout tonight?"
Kari looked to Joey; the teenager was handsome, with dishevelled blond hair and captivating brown eyes………well, she was in Domino for a while………and He was all the way back in Egypt………It was another half-an-hour before the group departed. After getting something to drink, Kari walked back to her room and straight over to the laptop.
"1 new mail message"
She clicked the mouse on the blue link and waited for her inbox to load, it took about four seconds; KaibaCorp computer modems were lightening-fast. (I could do with one-lol!)
"Stay ware u are, keep close and b cautious of TKs."
Kari snorted to herself; it was a bit late to warn her about TKs; that was shorthand for Tombkeepers!
"Why, in Christ's name, did you agree to go out with that mutt?"
Seto shook his head as Kari walked past, later that night, with a sly smirk on her face.
"I wasn't aware I had to clear it with you…"
"But this is Wheeler; JOEY WHEELER! At least have some standards!"
She winked at her childhood friend.
"I almost think you're jealous, Seto."
Seto blinked as she walked to the door; him, jealous? He could have any girl he wanted, why be jealous of his friend? He wasn't jealous…not of Kari anyway…
"Here, catch!"
Kari turned and caught what he threw. She looked at the key, and then glanced at Seto, questioningly.
"It's for the door…in case you're late…"
He raised his hazel eyebrows in a suggestive manner, winking. Kari laughed as she caught onto his drift, and slipped the key into the back pocket of her jeans.
"You're some freak, Seto!"
As he watched the door close, Seto Kaiba blushed slightly; he had just realized what he'd been feeling upon hearing about Joey and Kari's date; oh, it was jealousy alright, but not towards his friend………he was jealous of that mutt, Joey Wheeler………he may be a spas and complete waste of space, but at least he'd had the courage to ask Kari out; Seto, himself, had just denied his feelings, convincing himself it was just brotherly instincts or waving them away as mere friendship………
"Hey Kari."
Joey draped an arm around the girl; he'd been delighted when she'd agreed to the date, earlier that evening. Tristan had pulled some face upon hearing that the new girl was taken, Tea and Yugi had laughed at him for ages.
"So then, Joey, where to?"
"How bout da cinema?"
Kari nodded and let Joey lead the way, nestling closer to him, enjoying the feeling of nervous butterflies in her stomach; she'd never had the option to 'choose' as to whether to go on a date before. Unfortunately, she knew that her and Joey could never go anywhere, even if the cute blond was totally oblivious to that fact.
As the two sat in the half-full, darkened room, Kari looked up at Joey; she did feel a bit guilty about her vows back home, but she was in Japan now. As she directed her gaze back up at the large screen and returned her attention to the movie, Joey glanced at her, tentatively placing his arm around her shoulders. Kari Hirotsh was good-looking; about 5"6", slim build, long raven hair and tanned skin. Kari saw him looking at her and met his gaze, hazel eyes looking at hazel eyes. It was utterly unspeakable, but Kari pulled closer and kissed him anyhow; who would know? It wasn't a deep kiss, but it was enough to make Joey smile widely and for Kari to blush.
Ishizu's POV
"Hirotsh………Hirotsh………"
The name kept returning to her head; she knew that name, but it was totally impossible. Since the reign of Pharaoh Seto (again, Priest Seto.), the Hirotsh family have stood at the head of the Aralanti, but ten years ago, Aknu Hirotsh and his wife, Salari, broke away from the clan for some, unknown reason………within a fortnight, the you couple had been hunted down and killed by their own family. To this day, it was still a mystery as to why the two had broken ranks; Aknu had been the leader of the entire clan, with no opposing enemies.
At the moment, from Intel reports, a distant relative of his was now commandeering the family. All of the Aralanti were related in someway, except the females; not once, in five thousand years, had a baby girl been born into the clan, all wives had to be married-in. The Aralanti was still a very traditional Egyptian clan; all marriages were arranged and the youngsters studied the ancient scriptures and all were fluent in Egyptian. The children were trained by their assassin relatives from an early age and knew many different tactics. The most worrying aspect of the Aralanti clan was the fact that they had kept in touch with their heritage; the family could use countless dark magic spells and were skilled in most forms of other magic aswell, they could read hieroglyphs and, most disturbing, all of the clan members were still capable of summoning their Ka, the duel monsters that shared their souls.
"Such a pity our two families are at war………there is much to be learned from each other………"
Ishizu sighed as she spoke this; the Tombkeepers had long since lost the ability to summon their own Ka, a power she, so wished, they could have retained throughout the five millennia.
"Ishizu."
The young woman spun to see a familiar individual standing a few feet away. Whereas, this had once-upon-a-time startled her, Ishizu Ishtar had long become accustomed the unexpected arrival of her age-old friend.
"Hello Shadi, what brings you here?"
The young-looking man smiled politely, yet spoke in a serious tone.
"Kisara will return; the wheels of destiny have already been set in motion, you must protect the heir with vigilance. I will speak with you again, once I know more."
With that, the millennia-old spirit vanished.
"She's back…maybe she will be the one to end this war…"
The whole Tombkeeper/Aralanti war had begun five millennia ago, about a girl name Kisara. When the young Priest Seto took the throne as Pharaoh, succeeding his cousin, Atem, the peasant family, the Aralanti, had opposed him…all because of her. The young woman with porcelain skin, sapphire eyes and colourless tresses had been the heir to the Aralanti leadership, being the daughter of their current leader and the first ever female to be born, in the history of the clan, but she was kidnapped at an early age and held prisoner. A boy, young Seto, from a village nearby, heard the girl calling and had set her free upon discovering her locked in a cage-like structure, the lad gave her his horse and sent the young girl in the direction of the next village. For the further five, or so, years, Kisara wandered the kingdom, being treated as an outcast and freak of nature because of her looks, many thought her an omen for bad luck and threw stones at the meek young woman. The girl had never been aware of her assassin-heritage, for she was far too young when kidnapped, she had been so young, that she did not even have the telltale tattoo on the right bicep and never knew of her family and their opposition to the Royals of Egypt…maybe if she did, she wouldn't have died………
At the same time, a young Aralanti male was causing havoc across Egypt, by opposing Pharaoh Atem. He even succeeded in the summoning of their God; Zorc, but was defeated, being destroyed in the process. The family took this as a heavy blow, already holding a grudge against the Pharaoh Atem, for his father's annihilation of their hometown; Kul Elna, to create his sacred Seven Millennium Items. The peasant clan were further enraged upon discovering Kisara's lifeless body in the royal courtyard; apparently, she had been born with an intertwined Ka (soul) and Ba (mind), resulting in her untimely death, upon the two being separated by Aknadin, the father of Priest Seto, and Royal Guardian of the Millennium Eye. Then, it came to light, that the noble young Priest who was to succeed to the throne, Seto, and tragic Kisara had become infatuated with each other and fallen in love; the unknowing young assassin heir had died, being pierced with a blow that was meant for him. The Aralanti saw this as a murder of their young prodigy and, since that day, millennia ago, the two families have stood opposite each other on the battlefield.
Ishizu heaved another, heavy sigh as she took down a large tome, containing the rituals and traditions of the Aralanti clan.
"Hirotsh………Hirotsh………"
She would keep a close eye on Kaiba's friend, but 'Kari' was not an Aralanti name, and if so, she would be living in Egypt and already engaged, due to the arranged-marriage aspect of the family………but no female had been born to the clan in five thousand years. The young Egyptian woman pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the book in front of her.
a/n did u like dis chptr? Again, if confused about Kari and labelling of this fic, pleeez continue to read. Reviews would be highly appreciated peeps! And, if you have any, some constructive critisism...flames are totally allowed, as I'll only pm you back and give some of my own Irish versions...lol! XXXXX