Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plots ideas I put them in. Thanks to all those who've been reading as well as your continuous support. Special thanks to those who actually take the time to review and to all, have a good day.

Profiles and Penance

At the request of one of the readers and to help those who might be somewhat confused as to who everyone is at this point this is for you. I realize with all of the original characters, plus their former selves things might get confusing, even I do occasionally. So here they are with quick bios for your reference. If they are others you want more info on you have only to ask.

Ri- is Rika's former self and an Egyptian princess, sister to Yami and lover of the High Priest Seto. She owned the necklace currently in Seto Kaiba's possession.

Aries- Yami's bodyguard and close companion. He was also involved with the carrier of the Millennium Necklace, Isis after Yami was trapped into the puzzle.

Isis (past)- the carrier of the Millennium Necklace she was considered an honorary sister to the High Priest Seto. She was at one time the lover of Aries and is now reincarnated under her original name.

Latoya- a healer in Ancient Egypt she was sealed away in a card until present day, now living with Pegasus.

Freya- Yami's former mistress and a dancer in his court. She was sealed away in another card after assassinating Yami's half brother Rameses. She now lives with Bakura in present times.

Joshua- a former slave made Ri's personal bodyguard he was also sealed away for attempting to help the royal family escape. He now lives with Serenity and Joey in present times.

Sirus- Yami and Ri's younger brother in Ancient Times. He was a great magician and was also sealed away and has yet to return to the living world.

Rameses- Yami and Ri's half brother. Pretty much rotten to the core he took over Egypt once Yami was gone and is responsible for Joshua, Latoya, Freya and Sirus being sealed away. He was killed by Freya.

Nefeteri- Rameses's mother and second wife of the former pharaoh

Suna- Ri and Sirus's mother and third wife to the former pharaoh

Now back to the story

"I believe that she's the reincarnation of your sister Ri. Oldest child of your father and his third wife." Seto said simply, his mind racing to try and define exactly what Ri had been to him. With his flashbacks the way they were he wasn't at all sure what they'd been to each other either. He knew what he thought they'd been but he wasn't about to reveal any of that. At least not if he didn't have to.

"And to you?" Yami asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. After all, to say he hadn't been born yesterday was an understatement. "You seem to know a lot about her."

"She appears to have been my most constant headache during that period, if my visions are correct." Seto replied, that being true enough. As it was he had to force his face to remain impassive as he recalled a dream in which he'd compared being in love to her as being like a headache. Of course she'd been no better comparing hers to a stomachache. "I was stuck caring for her safety when you got the idiotic idea to go off and leave Rameses in charge of the palace."

"That wasn't his idea! His father insisted upon it." Isis argued then blinked, her eyes reflecting her confusion. "And I have no idea how I knew that."

"This is too weird." Was Joey's opinion as he watched and listened from the sidelines. Normally he'd have found this rather cool but since he'd gotten stuck with his sister constantly being around Joshua his sense of humor had suffered for it. "If it weren't for all the stuff that happened when we were kids this would seem majorly bizarre."

"And the answer we need to find is why." Yami said as he looked around at all the people who's fates seemed destined to be entwined with his. For now he'd put off arguing with Seto but he had a feeling it was inadvertable for some reason. The question was why did he have a feeling he had a real bone to pick with him some time arch nemesis? But right now there was something more important to think about. "Why were we all brought back to this time, this place and together?"

"Rika, you're really starting to freak me out here." Mai informed her cousin as she jogged to keep up with her. Rika had just suddenly changed directions while they were out walking and it was like she was in some sort of daze or something. Every time she tried to stop Rika the girl just pushed through or skirted around her. "Can you even hear me?"

"The music, I have to find who's playing it." Rika answered, picking up speed as they entered the park where she'd had her first vision. "They're here, I can feel them."

"Who's they and what music?" Mai demanded to know, straining her ears to hear more then the usual noises found in any city park. She couldn't hear anything even remotely musical.

"I don't know, but they're calling for me." Rika said softly, her eyes unfocused as they'd been since the sweet strains of music had reached her ears. "Every bit of my being is telling me to go to them. I can't explain it."

"And what if they're bad guys? You know, like this half brother you keep dreaming about?" Mai argued, not about to give up. The way things stood right now she was pretty sure it was an understatement to say they needed to be on their guard. "What if this is some sort of trap or something?"

"It isn't. You can go back if you want to. Your presence isn't needed here." Was Rika's soft response, not at all fazed in the least by Mai's argument. She knew and trusted what her heart was telling her. "I know it's okay, you don't need to worry."

"I'm going." Was Mai's stubborn response as the two made their way through the park, slowly but surely the sound of a flute reaching Mai's ears. Following that sweet sound they finally reached the bottom of a hill and looking up could see three figures there, patiently looking down at them without a sound. "Joshua?" Mai said slowly, recognizing the man right away. He wasn't one you could miss or forget, Mai thought with a smirk as she turned to tell Rika it was okay, only to find her cousin staring at Joshua like she'd seen a ghost. "Rika?"

"Joshua." Rika said softly, her lips almost doing no more then forming the word. "Joshua!" Breaking into a run Rika effortlessly raced up the hill, gravity seeming to disappear as she hurled forward, throwing herself at him just as he set the flute he'd been playing down. Muttering his name over and over against Rika buried his face against the soft cotton of his shirt, her arms barely able to wrap her arms almost around his waist. "You're here, you're really here. I'm not going insane, I'm not! You do exist, you do!"

"It's good to see you, my princess." Joshua choked out, a beefy hand coming up to stroke Rika's head. "So very good to see you."

"Ri." Latoya breathed, hurrying over as well to hug Rika, forming a Rika sandwich.

"So she did come back. Well isn't that just so wonderful." Was Freya's dry summing up of the whole thing as she entertained herself watching Mai struggle to get up the hill her cousin had sped up. Definitely more entertaining then all this mushy stuff.

By the time a huffing and puffing Mai made it to the top of the hill she found Rika hugging a girl she didn't recognize while Joshua watched them with soft eyes. Of to the side, slightly away from the trio was the woman she was betting had been the pair of eyes she'd felt on her during the climb. This one, dressed rather sparsely didn't look like she wanted to be a part of things either.

"Mai!" Rika said as she turned, her cousin not looking so good.

"Thanks for waiting. Hi, Joshua. Looking good. Now who are these two?" Mai wanted to know between pants as she motioned to the two women who were looking at her with interest. She'd definitely done her exercising for the day, she thought darkly. She might even get Joshua to carry her down the hill.

"My name is Latoya and her name is Freya." Latoya explained, a welcoming smile on her face. "You're name is Mai? It's very pretty."

"Thanks. Now...ah, Joey did say something about Pegasus ending up with a girl the way Serenity ended up with Joshua. Would that girl be you?" Mai asked, looking back and forth between the two. Joey hadn't known much, only what Latoya, or at least she was pretty sure it was Latoya, had told him the brief time he'd met her.

"Yes, that was me. Freya was brought here by a young man named Bakura." Latoya explained, motioning for Freya to come closer which the younger woman did reluctantly.

"Hey! You're wearing the Millennium Ring!" Mai came close to shouting as she stared at the gleaming piece hanging around the gorgeous but stuck up looking girl's neck. "What are you doing with that?"

"It took a lot out of Bakura's soul to release me from my prison. In the state it's in now it wasn't a good idea to let him wear this and risk the thief from taking over again. Besides, it's pretty." Was Freya's slightly bored response. "Now can we get to the reason we're here so that I can get back? I did tell my master I wouldn't be long and I do so want to drop in on my former pharaoh." Freya purred, a rather disturbing gleam in her eyes.

"I told you he has Tea so keep your claws to yourself, Freya." Joshua warned, giving the woman a dark look. Beautiful and seductive she might be but only a fool thought her harmless. He wouldn't touch her with a five foot pole in other words.

"That man in the game shop. Then he was Yami? My brother Yami?" Rika asked softly, looking around at them for confirmation. "I met him once but then I blacked out, I couldn't remember a thing until Seto woke me up. This guy named Shadi though, he was there and ended up in a coma somehow."

"He attempted to invade your soul, Ri." Latoya explained gently. "And yes, Yami is your older brother. But you have to stay away from him for now."

"Why? Why can't I see him? Maybe he can explain things to me? Tell me what happened to me." Rika demanded, her eyes flashing with annoyance and anger that they were telling her she couldn't see her own brother. She had so many questions for him, ones that only he could answer!

"Because if we fail...it's better that he not know that you were born again." Joshua said as he placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "He lost you once and the guilt..it almost destroyed him completely. It would be better for him, who has suffered so much, if he didn't know about you until your time on this earth is assured."

"Do you mean I might be dying soon?" Rika said slowly, her eyes going slightly wider as she battled back feelings of dread tinged with fear. She'd been feeling as though something dark and sinister had been slowly creeping up but she'd put that down to the dreams. Was the evilness that had haunted her past, had it followed her to the present?

"We don't know, not exactly. We know only that Isis told us that you would be reborn and that we would be released when it came time for are help to be needed, to prevent the past from repeating itself once more." Freya said with a careless shrug of her shoulder. "From the sounds of it you aren't the only one that was reincarnated either. Looks like the gods wanted as many of the old players as possible to play with."

"So there's Seto, Mai, Yami and I that have been reincarnated?" Rika asked hesitantly, her mind reeling with too many questions to ask in one lifetime. She'd never really given the idea of reincarnation much of a thought and now here she was being told that she was a reincarnation of someone who'd lived thousands of years ago.

"Mai?" Joshua repeated, obviously surprised as he turned to study Mai intently, trying to place her face. "I don't remember you. What was your name then?"

"I wasn't in the palace, I lived a fair distance away. But I am having memories of a past life, a life in Egypt." Mai said nervously, jamming her hands in her pockets. "Mostly my memories are of my daily life though. I don't remember ever meeting any of you either."

"But you must be connected somehow." Latoya said as she met Mai's eye, wondering where this new piece of the puzzle fit into place. "Somehow your path, your fate, both then and now, is connected to our own in some way."

"She broke her past, sort of." Rika chimed in, wondering if it could possibly be important. "In the past she had an abusive husband and was trapped but in this time she had an abusive boyfriend and got away from him."

"I don't know if that factors in but either way it's a good thing regardless." Latoya decided, adding that little tidbit to the mix. "Anyway, we should wrap this up before our new masters start to worry about the length of time we've been gone." Reaching into her pocket Latoya pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to Rika who took it. "This is our numbers, a way to reach us if you want to talk to any of us. I just wanted to give you that so that I didn't forget later. Now we have to tell you a story."

"A story?" Rika repeated, meeting Latoya's gaze. "Or a retelling of your memories?"

"Both."

"We cannot tell you how your life ended, we know that to do so can only seal our failure. We have been told this by the gods and so it must be so. What we can tell you is that your life was cut off before it was meant to be. You were not supposed to die that day, nor were many of the events that happened afterwards as they were destined to be. This angered the powers to be." Latoya said simply. "As a result of these unforeseen and violent actions against the threads of time the gods lashed out, punishing those who had acted against their fates. It was one thing to bring disruption and chaos to the lands of Egypt but these infidels crossed all boundaries when they didn't give the gods the respect and deference due them. To presume yourself more powerful then the gods themselves is to seal your death warrant. However there was great magic on the side of evil too and so the darkness could not be permanently erased from the world of mortal men. Not completely. That is where you and others come in. You and these others, men and women who's souls had departed the world of the living in the fight against this darkness, you were all given the chance to once again walk this earth in exchange for your help finishing what was started in the great lands of Egypt."

"So Seto and I...we were both reborn to face this great evil that not even gods could kill?" Rika demanded to know, giving Latoya a what the hell are you thinking look.

"They could kill the men but they couldn't kill the evil that lives in the hearts of man." Joshua explained, understanding her perfectly. It did sound like too much to ask or expect. Especially out of the blue like this. "It's easy enough to kill man but it's not so easy to destroy, much less repair the damage the evil they do. From what we've put together that someone, likely you, will be faced with some sort of evil force, one the gods want to prevent from happening. Again that's only a theory."

"Why Rika?" Mai wanted to know. "And you said those that were brought back were the souls of people who'd died fighting against this evilness. Does that include me?"

"That is the most likely explanation but where you fit into all of this I cannot tell you." Latoya said with a simple shrug. "And we think it will be Ri because hers was the first blood that was shed to protect this world. It makes the most sense that she would be the first. What will happen if she fails is also unclear. It was simply made clear to us that we were to do whatever we could to protect her and help her insure her time upon this earth."

"It would have been Rameses or Nefeteri." Rika said quietly, looking at their faces though none of those faces gave her any sign to hint at the accuracy of her guess. "From what you've said I gather there are more reincarnates then just myself, Seto, Yami and Mai. Just how many people died before it ended back then? Can you tell me how they died? How Seto and Yami died?"

"Your brother wasn't killed exactly. He gave up his soul in a manner of speaking with it being sealed inside his Millennium Puzzle. When the puzzle was put back together in this time period your brother's soul was released into the land of the living once more. Technically he never died." Freya informed her, really speaking for the first time since she'd arrived at the hill. "As for the death of the High Priest...no one quite knows what happened to him. There was an attack against your brother and it's presumed that he perished in the act of protecting him. The High Priest's body was never recovered though and no one witnessed any of this even but his sister as Aries had removed Yami from danger leaving the Priest and Isis behind. What happened in that room..she would never speak of."

"Isis?" Rika repeated, a strange look coming into her eyes. "Isn't that strange. I met an Isis not to long ago."