So, I'm back briefly. Two more exams to go! Whoo! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last few!

Mana stared blankly at the pharaoh, not sure she had heard correctly.

"I'm sorry, My King, I'm afraid I don't understand…" she said quietly. This couldn't be right. She wasn't important enough for this task. Apprentice magician of common birth, yes. Usually treated as a servant when the prince was away. And Akhnankhamun had never asked for something like this from her before. She had never been further than the Nile River.

"Mana, I can understand your confusion. But I cannot spare anyone else from the palace at this time and I am informed that you have improved greatly in your studies. I believe Master Imhotep* wished to move you up to master level soon." Mana blinked, a small hope rising in her chest. He trusted her with this? No one trusted her with anything. She was the clumsy, half-incompetent commoner magician who spent more time causing havoc with her magic than completing it properly. "I need you and Mahad to meet my sons in Cairo."

Sons? But Mana knew that one did not question the pharaoh and she was sure that Mahad or Atem would explain everything. So she smiled and nodded enthusiastically, excited that she would soon be out of the city. Anything to get away from the dirty looks the other girls were throwing her way and Mana still didn't know why. It wasn't her fault that all lessons were cancelled for the moment until after the prince's birthday party. Leaving the throne room, she very nearly ran into Akhnadin, who looked about as pleasant as always. Mana gulped.

"Ah, the little peasant magician. I was wondering where you had disappeared off to." Akhnadin's smile looked as rotten as his teeth, yellow and decaying. The man might once have been as handsome as Akhnankhamun was in his youth but age, sandstorms and dark magic had stripped away much of what had made him good to look at. The Millennium Eye winked from behind thick white hair.

"I-I was called before Pharaoh," she whispered, eyes flitting to the floor instantly. She didn't want to go to the Shadow Cells, aptly named as they were where the majority of Akhnadin's underground Shadow Games were played out. Akhnadin sneered at this, seeming to find it funny.

"Well, isn't that interesting. I was just on my way to talk to my brother myself. It seems in his absence, he has allowed the Millennium Ring to disappear from the Temple," Akhnadin said. Mana felt her blood go cold. No one touched the Millennium Ring. Even without being put on it held a dark presence and she was sure that no one was stupid to put it on. Even without the legends around it, you could just tell that the thing was evil.

"That's terrible! Why are the priests not already out looking for it?"

"Well, it also seems to me that half of the Millennium bearers were not in the city at the time." What? Mana thought, staring at Akhnadin's gleeful face. "For all they know, it could have been sold in the bazaars of Cairo." Mana gulped. That sounded very specific for Akhnadin and if he was scheming something… the last time he had done something like this (if anything could be on a level with stealing the Millennium Ring) the city had very nearly burnt down. She gritted her teeth to look up at Akhnadin in a rush of defiance. There was no doubt that the old man was up to something, but Akhnankhamun would stop him in the end. He always did.

"Pharaoh will not make excuses for you. Your responsibility to the Temple states that you should be out there looking for the Millennium Ring!" Akhnadin scowled and grabbed her by the throat. Mana gasped, clutching at his hands, trying to rid herself of him. His hands felt like scaly claws, and although she knew it was impossible, he also seemed to be growing a dark aura, surrounded by a black cloak of shadows rather than his usual white robe (as if the colour white could rid him of his sins. It was awful what he had done to Akhefia.)

"You will remember your place peasant. The only reason you were ever placed within the Magician's Guild was because my brother is a soft hearted fool and his son a spoiled brat. Had it been I and not my brother who had inherited the throne, as it should have been, you would not even be in this palace. You would have been scrubbing the floors beneath my feet as your impoverished mother does!" He let her go and mana dropped to the floor, gasping for air. "My son will sit on the throne and all those who have wronged me will be vanquished!" Mana glanced up only to wish that she hadn't. Akhnadin was squatting in front of her face, one hand coming out to cup her cheek. "You will tell no one of this conversation, slave, if you know what's good for you." With that, he was gone. Mana sat there only a moment longer before jumping to her feet and moving as far away from the man as she could.

"I'm not a slave," she muttered under her breath, heading for her dorm to pack her things. "I'm not. And neither are my family." The words hurt all the same. It was the same thing that her fellow apprentices said when they were feeling particularly rude. "You're not a magician. You're a slave got lucky. You'll never become a master. You're so pathetic." Mana hated those words and wished that Atem would get home sooner. He would instantly make her feel better and find Akhnadin later to punish him. It made Mana feel cared for and happy and… loved. She blinked at that thought, blushing slightly to herself.

It can never happen. You know that. The law states that he must marry someone of noble blood, not who he loves. If he loves me as more than a sister. She scowled. This was not how she was supposed to feel right now! She was leaving the city to go to Cairo, a city she had only ever heard of! There, she could tell Atem of what Akhnadin had told her (and that was even more concerning because Akhnadin only ever let information like that slip if he was confident it wouldn't be found until it was too late). Everything would be fine and back to normal in a few days. Everything would be fine!

Egypt was busy. That was Yugi's first thought, getting out of the airport feeling as if time itself had been stretched out of all proportionality, and seeing the seething bustle ahead of him. There were people everywhere! In the airport, in the streets, in the road! It was all one great big bustle and he couldn't wait to see everything. But of course, they were not staying in Cairo very long. Only for a day or two until their guides arrived. Neither Atemu, nor Bakura, looked very happy about that.

And the heat! Summer in Japan was hot. It was only spring here and it felt like the kind of day that Yugi always hated: the ones where you couldn't move without sweat falling down your back and breathing in heat, with the only cooling element being ice in your drink! It was weird and he knew that he probably looked stupid, but Yugi found he didn't care. Atemu was sitting on his suitcase, looking bored (and slightly hung-over if he thought about it but Atemu had slept through the rest of the flight after three bottles of champagne and one of wine. Bakura, however, had had at least two more and seemed fine so it might just be the dregs of sleep). Bakura was leaning against the wall and Seto looked ready to drop in exhaustion. Yugi couldn't blame him but wondered what they were all waiting for.

"So… what now?" Yugi asked, dragging his attention away from this bizarre new world he had walked into and back to the people he knew. Seto sighed and dragged a hand across his face, wiping away the sweat that was forming there.

"Kaiba Corp's branch out here is sending a car. Mahad shouldn't arrive with the rest of the entourage for another day or two since Akhnankhamun only sent them out yesterday."

"So they won't be here until the day after tomorrow," Bakura stated, one eyebrow raised. Seto shrugged, flopping in the least graceful movement Yugi had ever seen the young CEO make onto his own suitcase. Which couldn't be comfortable since it was a hard case.

"Probably." Bakura considered him a moment.

"You look like shit," he commented, earning himself a disapproving glare from a family coming out of the airport, two young children in front of them. Bakura sent them his own dirty look and they jumped into the nearest taxi as soon as possible.

"Thank you Bakura. I needed to know that," Seto said sarcastically and Atemu just rolled his eyes.

"Can you guys not argue for five minutes? All I want to think about right now is sleep," he yawned. Yugi decided to join him, leaning his head against his brother's shoulder. He was pretty tired. Seto yawned about three seconds after Atemu and Bakura rolled his eyes but shut up. A few moments later a black limousine rolled up and a man who strongly resembled Daisuke stepped out of the car.

"Mr Kaiba sir," he said, taking the suitcase that Seto had suddenly got up from. The man made no comment on the state they were in and Yugi guessed that that was because he didn't dare offend Kaiba and lose his job. Kaiba had a reputation for that.

The drive was short and the car dropped them outside a hotel in the middle of the city. A five-star hotel whose doormen scowled at them as they approached the front door looking decidedly scruffy and tired from a long trip. Kaiba glared at them as they went through the doors which me them jump back into place looking ashamed that they had done anything at all. Atemu barely noticed them and Bakura just left. Yugi wondered where he was going but decided that in the long run he didn't want to know. In Japan he had to follow the rules. Here, he seemed to make his own rules.

The room he was given was as big as the one in the Kaiba mansion and about the same level of decorative. Yugi didn't really care. He had a balcony all to himself and he could see all the way across the city, over the Nile River and to the pyramids beyond. One of the world's most famous sights, and here it was, right outside his window! He savoured that for a moment. Where he was going was a lot less glamorous than this. A world as alien to him as Japan had been to Atemu. Nerves coiled in Yugi's stomach and he suddenly felt a lot more awake. Time differences didn't matter when the realization that you were in a country that considered you royalty. It seemed wrong somehow. Like he had cheated the people out of that knowledge.

Well, technically, that was Dad his mind muttered to him. Which was true. His father hadn't told New Thebes that he existed, which actually kind of stung now that he really thought about it. No wonder Atemu couldn't wait to get away. He glanced out towards the pyramids again and sighed. This wasn't getting him anywhere. Turning from the sight in front of him, Yugi flopped onto the bed and was asleep in minutes.

Egypt was burning. Atem could smell it from where he was standing at the balcony. Buildings, animals, people all on fire. It was enough to make one gag if it hadn't been hanging in the air for the past three days. The consequences of war were foul but nothing was around to set anything else on fire. Not anymore anyway.

"I shouldn't be here," he muttered, glancing around. It was all fading from memory. The name of the temple over there, the correct schedule of the guards below him, his brother's face… he had a brother?

"No!" he shouted, clutching his head. "I can't forget that! I mustn't!" And there was something important about that. Something to do with Shadow Monsters…

Something coiled around his foot and Atem wondered if it wasn't the world which was fading, but him. The shadowy appendage of the octopus-like thing gripped tighter to his ankle, squeezing hard enough to leave a bruise. Something else grabbed him from behind, this time several arms and suddenly Atem was fighting them off.

"Let us out," they hissed, pulling and squeezing and cutting… "Let us free!"

"Never!" he cried, flinging his arms out and away. He was weak but that didn't mean he couldn't fight. He had control of the shadows, he was the shadows. The king of the shadows until he could be free once again. "You will never again be freed into this world! Not as long as I live!"

"Then you will die!" they screamed, fighting against him all the harder. More joined the fight, attempting to drag him down and end him right there. But power was surging through Atem's veins and he knew what he had to do, what he could do. Freeing one arm, he flung it away from him, taking the creature clinging to it with him.

"Enough!" And with those words a single blast of shadow magic pushed them away, throwing them into the abyss of darkness that was their home. "You are sealed here forever!" Another blast of shadow magic and a simple sealing spell had them restrained in the tablets that he had used so often. Or had he…? He wasn't sure anymore. Blood dripped from his wounds as he took in his surroundings and one last realization came to him. He was no longer standing on the balcony. He was lost. He was alone. And he couldn't remember his own name.

"Help," his said quietly, to no one. There was no one to hear him. "Help."

Atemu opened his eyes quietly to darkness. He took a gulp of breath and reached out to turn on the bedside lamp. For one troubling moment he couldn't find it and panic threatened to overtake him. Then his fingers hit the lamp and after a moment's fumbling, he had the light on. The room lit up, left in the same state that Atemu had left it in. Which wasn't much different to how he had come in. He glanced about, taking in the suitcase, clothes thrown to the floor and bag thrown into a corner. Egypt. Home. Not the dark and ominous place he had been trapped in within his dream.

"Yugi," he breathed quietly, wondering if he could get away with checking to make sure that his brother was still there in the room next door without waking him. There wasn't some secret door between them here, only a brick wall. And that worried Atemu a little bit. It meant that if the assassins missed his room but got Yugi's they probably wouldn't think twice about killing his brother instead of him. And Akhnadin's spies were everywhere.

The dreams were getting worse, Atemu was sure of that. They had started after that first one, where he had been dying and this one was the worst of all. He could feel where those things had been biting into his arms, his legs even though he wasn't bleeding. It had been a dream and yet he woke with all the sensations he had left behind in an unconscious state. He was fairly sure that the dreams were residues of the Shadow Realm and that was worrying. The Shadow Realm was a place that you were only supposed to skim, a place to draw power form to summon a Ka, not a place to stay. After all, the Dark One dwelled deep in the darkest recesses of the place and although Atemu had never seen it- at least he was fairly sure that he hadn't seen the creature- even the thought of it brought the image of that dark shadowy creature from his first nightmare. Atemu shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself.

Deciding that it would be no good attempting to get any sleep right about now, he pushed the covers back, shivering slightly in the cold night air, and shoved the doors to the balcony open. He and his brother shared a large balcony and if he really wanted to, Atemu could leap over the iron fence onto Yugi's side and pick the lock to enter the room. It wasn't impossible, although Yugi probably wouldn't thank him and neither would the hotel's security system, so he resisted the urge to check that Yugi was alright. He would be able to sense any spies or assassins in this state with very little problem. He took in a deep breath of desert air, enjoying the slightly dusty taste to the place. Not as refreshing as from his room but still much more like home than Japan had felt. He hadn't realised how much he had missed Egypt.

"You know, I thought you were passed sentimental value." Atemu rolled his eyes. Of course Akhefia would still be up and about. The thief court had to know their leader was back and that no one would escape the Thief King's grasp. By now, all of Cairo probably knew it too.

"What did you steal this time?" Atemu asked, not bothering to turn. From the sound of his voice, Bakura wasn't actually sitting in his room, but on the overhang above the door, designed to bring shade during the middle of the day. Bakura made a fake injured gasp.

"You mean to say that you believe that I cannot go a day without robbing someone in Egypt?" That brought a smile to Atemu's lips. Sometimes, Akhefia was just good for bringing you back down to earth, if in an unconventional and rough manner.

"What, and resist all the pickings from rick tourists in hotels like this?" Atemu said, turning to face Akhefia with a raised eyebrow. As expected, Akhefia was sitting on the awning and had his own grin stretched across his face. After staring at the scar for years, Atemu had gotten out of the habit of wincing every time he saw it. It wasn't either of their faults how it had happened, and Akhefia acted as if it didn't bother him at all anymore. In fact, he had once stated that he liked how it made him look dangerous and cool, which only made Atemu roll his eyes.

"Fine, you caught me. I didn't steal from Yugi or rich boy so I haven't done anything drastic," Akhefia said, smirking as if they had just played a game he had rigged so that he would win. Atemu felt a smile tugging at the corners of his own mouth.

"You know if you do try to steal from my brother I'll feed you to Hotep in pieces," Atemu said seriously as Akhefia jumped down from the awning.

"I'd like to see you try," Akhefia shot back. Atemu didn't miss the uneasiness buried deep behind the joking façade and smirked. Akhefia growled but rolled his eyes. They were both glad of whatever company they could get at this moment.

Ryou noticed the package by the front door but pretended not to. It was addressed to his father and looked to have been shipped from somewhere dusty. Presumably it was something to do with the museum and he would get in trouble for opening it. School had been as horrific as usual and Ryou wondered what Yugi was up to. He had briefly wandered down to the arcade and, finding the place devoid of the short-and-yet-surprisingly-older-than-him teen, he had wandered further into the city, heading for the Game shop that Yugi had mentioned his grandfather owning. The shop was closed and Joey had been standing outside looking half-mad and half confused.

"What's going on?" Ryou had asked the blonde teenager who jumped at the sound of his voice. Joey had just shrugged, turning away from the store.

"Yugi's gone. Apparently he and his brother are going back to Egypt together." Ryou didn't miss the way that Joey spat out the word 'brother' as if the other boy had committed an offence by simply existing. He wondered what he had done to get that level of hatred from the pretty easy-going Joey. At least, as far as he had seen and Ryou had yet to meet the mysterious Atemu. Apparently now he never would.

The package, however, seemed to be calling to him as Ryou fiddled with his figurines. They were almost his only friends, bar Yugi and the rest of his little group. Tristan was alright but seemed determined to go out with Joey's sister, and in turn Joey spent most of his time fending Tristan off like a good older brother. Ryou often wondered what it was like having siblings and if he had had any before becoming an orphan. Had he had a family like Joey's, split apart? Or like Yugi's (of what he had seen), close knit and working together? And then there was that boy from the museum, the one who shared his name.

Bakura, the others had called him which was weird. The bullies at school called him that constantly. Oh, look it's that freak Bakura. Poor little lost orphan Bakura, even your own family didn't want you. Look at you, lost all the way from Egypt. Your pathetic Bakura you know that! Ryou gritted his teeth, slamming the figurine back on the table. This couldn't go on. He knew he ought to tell someone about it but he couldn't bring himself to. It would prove that he really was a spineless coward like he was always told. But then again, he couldn't get that other boy's face out of his head. Why could he not stop thinking about him? That nagging feeling persisted and he got the feeling that Bakura had been hiding something himself.

"The local pig boys back home could tell you what that tablet is." Where was he from, if he had already known about that tablet? Ishizu had apologised profusely after he had left, stating that he had had a bad day and was usually much better behaved. But Ryou knew that that wasn't it. Something had disturbed the other boy deep down, something that had imbedded a deep hatred for his father for some reason. And the only place that his father had ever been to other than home was Egypt. Which didn't make sense because he had adopted Ryou form there and… and then never spoke of that trip again.

The sound of the door slamming shut brought Ryou out of his reverie.

"I'm home!" Roka Hashini called as he did every time he walked through the front door. Ryou left his room, that pulling sensation back. Roka was already rifling through the pile of post and looked up when he heard Ryou enter the room. "There you are! I have a surprise for you."

"Really?" Ryou asked, smiling. He was terrible really, for wanting more than this. His parents loved him. They were always buying him small presents, tokens of their love for him and how did he repay them? By wanting to run away and failing at school to get along with his fellow classmates. He just felt like he didn't belong here though sometimes and that just made the guilt worse. Roka Hashini nodded at the question, picking up the box.

"Just something I thought you might be interested in. It was a gift from the Cairo museum to us as a 'thank you' message for taking care of their artefacts and making sure they arrived home in one piece." Well, that was fair enough, museums around the world sent them presents all the time for stuff like that. But this seemed different as he followed his father into the sitting room. More important somehow. "I want you to have it though, for dealing so well with everything that's happened lately." Ryou grimaced at that, thinking about the boy, the bullies who had followed him home, meeting with Yugi and the others… It had been a bit of a rollercoaster lately.

Roka handed him the package and Ryou gently began to unwrap it. Inside was a wooden box, almost a crate if it hadn't been for the fact that it was too small. He carefully pried the lid away from the box and gasped at what lay inside. Nestled in a blanket of straw, obviously to help cushion any knocks from the trip, was a golden pendent. It was about the size of a tea plate, a simple golden ring encasing a flat triangular piece of gold with a golden eye worked into it. Five small charms dangled from the bottom and a rope was looped through the small loop at the top so it could be worn.

"They call it the Millennium Ring and it was a treasured artefact of the royal pharaohs of old. Apparently, the High Priest from New Thebes donated to the museum as a token of gratitude for them caring for those artefacts not in their care." Ryou barely heard his father as he lifted it from the box. The call was stronger now, and for a moment he thought he had heard something from the ring, some disembodied voice darker than anything he had ever heard before.

"Free me, survivor of Kul Elna."

So the plot's back again. And I hope you like my version of Akhnadin who is gong to feature more and more as we inch closer to the end of this.

Yeah not an actual update but I forgot to this bit in and it annoyed me.

*This is in no way a reference to the Mummy, as much as I love that film. I meant Imhotep as in the actual real one who designed and built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, which was the first ever Pyramid built in Egypt. After that one, they all kinda pale in comparison and I'm in awe of a guy who can dream up something as iconic as the pyramids in Egypt. :) That was it really, just wanted to clarify that.

Thanks to Aqua Girl 007 and angiembabe for reviewing, I appreciate it a lot! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story and I'm sorry there was no explanation of the flight. I thought that might be a bit boring overall, but hopefully things are going to start to become a little more action packed as we get closer to the end!

Until the next update! And I apologise for the lack of lines since Fanfiction keeps eating them.