Author's Note: And here is chapter 4! Actually making some progress here!

Shadows of Anarchy

Ryou finished off the last of his half of the hamburger (that had miraculously survived everything that had happened), having given the other half to Molly, and took another sip of the Diet Coke that they had wordlessly decided to share.

Well, he mused to himself, at least his headache was beginning to abate. And the couches were surprisingly comfortable, which was a good thing considering that he had been about ready to black out before he and the blonde woman had entered the lounge in order to take a rest in slightly cooler temperatures. The low elevation of the room, more specifically the area that sported the couches, meant that the lounge was probably at least twenty to twenty-five degrees cooler than the entrance hall had been.

The hieroglyphics were slightly worrying, however, he decided as he glanced at the engraved pictures from the corner of his eye.

Although he had been the host of the spirit of the Millennium Ring, he had only a cursory knowledge of the written language of Ancient Egypt, and most of that had come from looking over his father's notes when the man had been home.

He finally shrugged it off and decided that he had more important things to worry about, namely getting him and Molly out of wherever-it-was they were and back to Chicago. Preferably before the Duel Monsters Exhibition Tournament started and it was discovered that he was missing (he had paid for his room in advance until the tournament was over).

Because the tournament was sponsored by Kaiba Corp. and since Seto Kaiba himself was going to be there, if he didn't show up it was sure to raise at least one red flag, as he was ranked fourth in the world and his name was clearly listed on the tournament roster…not to mention that Kaiba would likely hunt him down just to kill him if he didn't show up.

The reason the tournament was being held in Chicago was simple: Kaiba wanted to expand his business in America and the surest way to do that was to get people excited about Duel Monsters, and the best way to do that was with a tournament featuring Kaiba's holographic technology and some of the premier duelists in the world. Though as far as Ryou knew, Joey and Yugi wouldn't be showing up until the day right before the competition was supposed to begin.

Ryou sighed under his breath, dusting his hands off and putting his trash into the empty take-out bag, seeing no reason to litter even if he was in some strange place where he might die of heat stroke, starvation, or any number of things. He saw Molly give him an odd look and he could only shrug.

The blonde woman returned the shrug and followed his lead by putting the trash back into the McDonald's bag.

Ryou sighed quietly as he stood up and stretched, feeling his arms and back pop and reveling in the release of tension from his muscles. He blinked when his vision blurred for a moment, and then looked back at Molly as he asked her quietly, "What should we do next? Should we wait until it gets dark and then look for a library, or should we do that now?"

Molly looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered honestly, "I think we should wait. It won't do us any good if we get heat stroke after all…And besides, you shouldn't push yourself too hard since you're injured." She didn't say anything about her own tiredness, but Ryou had learned well on how to recognize the signs of having almost no energy left. He supposed that flinging fireballs around and running from trolls was tiring work, and he wordlessly nodded as he moved to lie down on another couch, stretching out on the soft piece of furniture with a grateful sigh.

Judging from the near inaudible groan of relief from the couch across from him, Molly had come up with the same idea.

When Molly woke up what she guessed was at least an hour or two later, she felt a lot better than she had when she'd gone to sleep.

She blinked the sleep from her blue eyes and barely managed to stifle a loud yawn behind her hand as she became aware of the position that she was lying in. Her upper body was hanging off the side of the couch, her hair brushing the floor and her hands flung over her head to lie on the cool stone. While her upper half was upside down, her legs were twisted to the left and pulled up like she was sitting on a chair or something. All in all, a very weird way to wake up, and she had to wonder how much she had tossed and turned in order to wind up like that…

The apprentice wizard grunted softly as she rolled over to try and straighten up, only to wind up falling completely off the couch.

Molly lay on the floor for a moment, blinking in stunned disbelief as she slowly looked back at the piece of furniture as though it had personally been responsible for that embarrassing moment. The couch just sat there, thankfully. Molly didn't know what she'd do if the furniture suddenly started talking…Probably make use of the fact that she still had her blasting rod, she decided, and then groaned quietly as she pushed herself up to her knees, taking a moment to get her wits about her before shoving herself onto her feet.

She looked around, making sure that everything was the same as it had been when she'd gone to sleep, and she relaxed slightly when she saw that nothing was different. Though, she thought with a shiver, was it just her or was the room actually colder than it had when she and Bakura had come in?

The apprentice took a deep breath of the cooler air, trying to clear her mind like Harry had told her, and she stretched out her magic to try and see if there was anything magical around, namely any curses in the room that might be waiting for the two women to try and leave before activating…

She was actually knocked off her feet by the sheer amount of magic in the room. It was the mystical equivalent of getting hit by a Mack truck and then having said truck back up a few times to make sure that it finished the job, or at least that was the only thing she could think of to compare it too through the newfound throbbing in her head.

Thankfully she landed on the couch she had so recently vacated, but her pounding head didn't leave her much room to appreciate that. She laid back down on the soft surface that felt like concrete to her now, breathing deeply as she tried to close off her magical senses one by one, blocking out everything else until she wasn't quite so overwhelmed by the energy of the room. The throbbing migraine died down slightly, but was far from gone as she laid there and tried to catch her breath.

That still left the problem of what that much magic was for, especially since it didn't feel like any magic she had ever felt before. Not for the first time since she had woken up, she wished fervently that Harry was there. She was sure that the wizard PI would know what to do.

Molly was pulled out of her wistful thinking by a shuffling sound from the other occupied couch, and she turned her head, wincing as she did so, enough to see Bakura starting to wake up.

Ryou blinked slowly, his green eyes opening and closing several times before he registered the fact that, yes, he was awake and no, the events of the previous night (day?) hadn't been a dream. Well, there was one hope dashed, he thought wearily, heaving a small sigh under his breath.

The good news was, he thought as he sat up, at least his headache was gone, though the dried blood on his face was itching like crazy.

Preoccupied as he was with the itching on his face, it took the former holder of the Millennium Ring a moment to notice that Molly was awake, though judging from the grimace on her face the nap hadn't really done her any good. He took a moment to stretch his arms above his head, wincing a bit as the limbs in question popped audibly, and then he shifted so that he was sitting on the couch instead of laying on it. He looked over at Molly, a hint of concern in his eyes as he asked her quietly, "Are you alright? Did something happen while I was asleep?"

It took a moment for the blonde woman to answer, but when she did she even managed to muster up a sort of half-smile, "I'm fine, I just got a slight headache after I woke up, nothing to worry about…" The flinch that crossed her face as her sentence trailed off said something very different, however.

Ryou frowned thoughtfully, mulling over a small kernel of an idea before he suggested, "Why don't you stay here, and I'll go out and check to see if there's anything around that could tell us where we are?" And before Molly could say anything in opposition to his idea, he slipped out the door of the lounge, smiling mischievously as he walked down the hallway (which was now illuminated by torches decorating the walls), the sound of several growled curses reaching his ears.

He spared a moment to wonder who had lit the torches, a shiver running down his spine at the thought of someone having come upon him and Molly while they were unconscious, but since nothing had happened to them, he could only guess that no one had looked into the lounge.

The former holder of the Ring limited himself to exploring the rooms immediately surrounding where he had left Molly, reluctant to venture out of shouting distance lest something happen.

As it turned out, most of the doorways led to closets and storerooms, which he thought looked interesting but didn't have time to spend exploring. He did, however, find a bathroom with actual running water! He could have wept with joy at that discovery, and there was a bounce in his step as he returned to his exploration.

Ryou walked through a few more hallways, somehow winding up back in the entrance hall, the giant torch shining like a beacon through the surprisingly deep darkness, casting flickering shadows across the floor, columns, and even the ceiling as the flame danced and crackled. He paused for a moment to look at the rather beautiful sight of the burning brazier; now that his headache was gone he was really able to appreciate the open room.

He also noted the hieroglyphics on the columns and the obelisks…and why was this place so familiar to him?

The nagging sense that he knew where he was continued chipping away at his mind and he was starting to get frustrated with his inability to figure out where he knew the place from. Thankfully a flash of movement near one of the columns distracted him before he could reach the part where he started pulling at his hair in aggravation.

Ryou turned his head to see what the source of the movement was, only to have his breath catch in his throat. One thought ran through this mind at the sight that greeted him when he looked towards the stone column and the creature wrapped around it.

Diabound…

Author's Note: Aaaaaaand cliffhanger! Aren't I evil? XP I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed (Pink Wolf Princess, you rock!), and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will probably answer a few questions and create that many more! Please R&R and tell me what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome!