Special Chapter

Welcome to the special features disc again! Nothing offered in this chapter is essential to the story Coming Home—it's all just for fun—so you can skip this chapter and proceed to Coming Home Part Three without guilt if you'd like, or you can join me in the fun. Completely up to you. Here's the breakdown of what you'll find in this unpolished "chapter" (which is essentially one big author's note):

Deleted Scene
Q&A
Summary of Things So Far
Soundtrack

And without further ado, on we go!

Deleted Scene

Sometimes when I'm having difficulty pinning down how a character would act or speak in a situation, I write the scene from their POV. When Yami bargained with the spirit of the ring for information about Yuugi, I was having difficulty getting into the spirit's head, so I did this exercise. It was helpful even if it didn't make it into the final story.

"As promised," the pharaoh said. "An item for information. Everything you know."

Nakhti stared at the Millennium Necklace, sitting there on the table like abandoned treasure. He even dared to reach for it, but the shadows of the past reared, reminding him of times he'd trusted and been burned, so he yanked his hand back.

"This is a trick," he spat.

"No, this is my partner's life. I'd give you the puzzle were it possible."

Nakhti didn't believe that for an instant.

"Trade your life for his. How noble." He jerked his chin at the necklace. "Your tombkeepers would be mortified. All that sacrifice, a lifetime of diligence, and then you surrender it all to your worst enemy without a thought?"

The pharaoh raised an infuriating eyebrow. "Are you my worst enemy? So many people try to claim the title, I lose track. Life might be simpler if it were up to me to decide."

Nakhti curled his lip. "The king wants control. How unsurprising."

In the back of his mind, he remembered a shining palace, remembered the man before him sitting on a lofty throne, shouting a sentence to the entire court: Execute the tomb robber! Now he was pretending to be the docile peacemaker.

They both knew better.

"Look," said the pharaoh, "I don't care what you think about me. I just want my partner back."

"It isn't my practice," Nakhti shot back, "to make deals with cold-blooded killers."

That had an effect; in an instant, the docile peacemaker sat straight as a king.

Nakhti practically purred. "Ah, so you do care after all."

Q&A

6teenana1: How did you come up with the name Nakhti?

The short answer is that I did not, haha. My best friend and I have been embroiled in the Yugioh fandom since we were teenagers, and ten million years ago, when we first got into it, she read a fanfic where someone had used Nakhti as the name for Yami Bakura. At the time, the only other name we had seen was Akefia, which we both disliked, so my thirteen-year-old brain went, "Yes, this is it. This is canon now," and Nakhti has been his name in my mind ever since. I wish I could give a shoutout to that first fic and author, but I have literally no clue who it was. Either way, credit to them because it's an awesome name, and I love it.

FadedPhantom: What made you decide to go with half dub names/voices and half original Japanese names? I admit I'm most familiar with the dub but know enough to make educated guesses for everyone using non-dub names, lol. Was it to keep this story firmly in its own universe, neither sub nor dub, to keep readers from expecting the plot to play out exactly like in the show? Or is there another reason?

That's part of it, for sure. This story has influences from the sub, the dub, and the manga, plus all of my own nonsense thrown in there, so I wanted the cast to reflect that. But the biggest reason is that I wanted the diversity to inform character backstories. In the sub/manga, almost all of the characters have Japanese names; in the dub, almost all of the characters have English names while the Japanese language is banished entirely. I wanted to blend the two worlds. I loved the idea of Joey having a divided heritage and how that's represented in his divided family, which is literally split across two continents. I liked the idea that he and Tristan bonded over both of them being half Japanese because it gave them a reason to be so tightly knit before they met Yuugi. Since Battle City is a "tournament of the best," I wanted it to show internationality. We have the Ishtars coming in from Egypt, and I thought it would be cool to have participants from other countries—so Mai became French with the Valentine (dub) name, and I used Duke (dub) instead of Otogi (sub) to have an American character.

There's a practical reason as well. Having characters with accents makes their dialogue more unique, and that's a good thing to have in a cast of . . . like, fifty people. Seriously. So even when it's only four people with standout accents—Joey from Brooklyn, Ryou from England, Mai from France, Valon from Australia—it helps add variety to the dialogue. Joey in particular was important for that because he's such a big character, and giving him that strongly unique voice makes his scenes starkly different from everyone else's and gives flavor to the whole story.

There's one last silly reason, and that's personal preference. I grew up watching the dub, so Joey's accent was ingrained in me, and I found I just couldn't separate his character from that, even after watching the sub and reading the manga. I loved Brooklyn Joey too much. Also, I just prefer Anzu as a name over Téa because Téa has that accent on the E, and it's very annoying to have to insert it every single time I write a character name. Since I'm writing in English, I also chose not to use honorifics, and that played a part in choosing names and thinking of how the characters would address one another.

The Duelist's Heiress: Was there a favorite part to write and why?

Marik and Anzu's friendship. Their relationship was unplanned and just snuck up on me as a result of Anzu's determination and Marik's curiosity. It was a delightful surprise, and once I had the idea, I couldn't let it go. It was so fun to explore it and see how it developed over time. Marik has always needed a friend, and Anzu will forever be the champion of friendship, so it just felt right.

It also gave me the perfect opportunity to delve into Marik's backstory, which I think is the most tragic of the Yugioh cast. It was a real challenge for me as a writer (and as a person) to analyze Marik's past and decide how he could possibly murder his father but still be a sympathetic character. I felt like canon glossed over it a bit, and I really wanted to tackle it in a way that made sense to me without shying away. Hopefully, I succeeded. I came to really love Marik as I wrote everything.

6teenana1: How long did it take you to weave together this plot?

Hahahahaha . . . too long? I have documents for Coming Home dating all the way back to 2007, and that's only what still exists on my computer. I know I had handwritten stuff before that. Years ago, I wrote Part One over the course of a few years. In that time, my writing got significantly better, so I decided to start again from the beginning. I rewrote Part One and wrote all of Part Two. Then a few more years passed, and I started getting my English degree in college and learned a bunch more and, you guessed it, decided to tackle it from the start AGAIN. That's the version that exists now. So now I have a complete Part One and Two, and for the first time ever, I'm actually writing Part Three. Even though this has been thousands (thousands!) of pages in the making, most of those "deleted" now, I don't regret it. I've learned so much about writing and about creating a story by tackling this one from multiple angles and throwing out so many ideas in favor of new ones. I really, really love the story as it exists now, and I'm happy I landed here. Maybe I'll manage to finish it before we hit the 20th anniversary of when I started. ^^;;;

But to answer your question more specifically, I think I started this version of the story in 2018. So that would be five years of weaving this plot to get where we are (plus over ten years of, we'll call it, foundational experimentation).

KelekiahShadya: Which duo/trio is your favorite dynamic to write and why?

I will never have enough Kaiba bros. I love them so much. Every scene is a delight. I love what they bring out in each other, and I love how different they are. It's also very interesting to me that they have more of an age gap than the other sibling relationships we get to see (minus Marik/Odion) and that, because Mokuba is the youngest in our cast and they're orphans, Seto takes on some aspects of "father" in addition to "big brother." It just makes for a super interesting, compelling dynamic to write.

6teenana1: Would it be possible to get a summary of everything we know so far? Ya girl feels like that one scene from always sunny with pepe sylvia and all the red string on a board.

Lol! I love that mental image. Yes. In fact, I'll type something up and include it in this chapter so people can reference it whenever. I'll list things by character, alphabetically, plus something for timeline. See below.

Summary of Things So Far

Alister – One of Horus's chosen pawns. Blaming KaibaCorp for the death of his brother, he sought revenge on Seto Kaiba. Horus took Alister's soul as a consequence of breaking the game rules.

Anzu Mazaki – Yuugi's friend. Terrible at dueling but along for the ride. She has a longstanding crush on Yuugi but has never acted on it. During Battle City, Marik controlled her mind using the Millennium Rod and forced her to cut her own hand. Despite that, Anzu chose to befriend the cranky Egyptian and continued to fight for him after he lost control of the rod.

Apophis – According to a story Marik tells Anzu, "Without Set, there would have been no one to save Ra from the great serpent Apophis. Apophis would have prevented the rising of the sun, the world would have fallen into perpetual darkness, and all would have ceased to be." In conversation with the pharaoh, Shadi calls Apophis the mortal enemy of Ra and the Great Serpent of Chaos. According to him, "Order began when Ra claimed light from the dark. And it will end if the dark can reclaim Ra."

Duke Devlin – Battle City finalist from California, owner of the Black Crown game shop chain and inventor of Dungeon Dice Monsters. After meeting Serenity, Duke developed a crush on her, and the two began dating during the finals.

Eliot Wheeler – Joey and Serenity's dad. An alcoholic with a gambling addiction. Physically and verbally abusive to Joey.

Fuguta – Snazzy goatee. Official referee of the Battle City finals and an employee of KaibaCorp.

Haga – One of Horus's chosen pawns. He attacked Grandpa at the game shop in an attempt to get revenge on Yuugi. He sacrificed Ryuzaki's soul to Horus.

Haku (Horus) – Horus's mortal form. Yori's ex-boyfriend. He's obsessed with games and carries a banded cobra, Mehen, with him at all times. He wears a teal pendant marked by a unicursal hexagram and keeps an altar in his living space with incense always burning. After Yori got in his way, he stabbed her, signaling their breakup. During Battle City, he showed up unexpectedly in Domino and began recruiting pawns and collecting souls for an unknown purpose. The monsters loose in Domino are his doing. While Yuugi was severed, he witnessed Haku at Kaiba's mansion, who told him he was a god and said, "When you're back in Domino, come see me. This time you can ask the right questions."

Horus (Haku) – The Eye of Horus marks the Millennium Items. The night of the tombkeeper's initiation, Ishizu prayed, "Horus, Great Falcon of the Sky and Lord of Healing, I ask protection for my brother." At a museum exhibit, Yori read, "the story of Horus, the child of Isis and Osiris who grew up in isolation while hiding from his usurping uncle, Set. When Horus came of age, he challenged Set in order to reclaim his father's stolen throne, and Ra declared the two gods would need to prove who was the more worthy ruler. During the eighty years of trials, Horus lost an eye but, in the end, emerged victorious. His remaining eye became a symbol of protection, and he himself was seen as a benevolent defender who flew on falcon wings to bring swift comfort and healing to suffering children."

Ishizu Ishtar – Battle City finalist from Egypt. A devout tombkeeper. She carried the Millennium Necklace for years, but after Joey defeated her in the BC semifinals, she let go of her trust in the item and gave it to the pharaoh.

Joey Wheeler – King of Games and Battle City Champion. He has a part-time job lined up at an old man's corner store. During the BC finals, he met and developed a crush on a maid named Krisalyn. By his count, he's saved Kaiba's life twice and still not been thanked.

Krisalyn von Schroeder – A corporate spy posing as a KaibaCorp employee. She is taking time away from her figure skating career in order to help her brother get revenge on Kaiba. Kris is hard of hearing.

Mai Valentine – Battle City finalist from France. She first met Yuugi and friends during Duelist Kingdom.

Marik Ishtar – Battle City finalist from Egypt. A non-devout, very bitter tombkeeper. Leader of the Ghouls and wielder of the Millennium Rod until it began wielding him. At age 12, he underwent the tombkeeper's initiation, involving a ritualistic scarification covering his entire back. Of the tattoo, Marik says, "It's for the pharaoh, sacred information passed down through the generations until his return, when the head of clan is honor-bound to present it to him, along with the two Millennium Items under our protection."

Mokuba Kaiba – Born as Mokuba Akiyama, son of Kota and Saori Akiyama. Orphaned at age five before being adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba. Mokuba is the only person who has escaped the possession of the Millennium Rod by himself.

Nakhti – The spirit of the Millennium Ring, who is trying to collect all seven Millennium Items for an unknown purpose. Born anciently in the Egyptian village of Kul Elna, he was the sole survivor of its massacre, only a child at the time. He carries a vendetta against the pharaoh. He also carries a Ka, Diabound, powerful enough to rival a god monster. Before Battle City began, he played a Monster World campaign with Ryou where he described a city of people sacrificed in a dark ritual in order to make magical weapons. During the final shadow game with Marik, it was revealed that Nakhti's story described the history of his own village and the sacrifice of everyone in it to create the Millennium Items. Nakhti was chosen as the champion of Ra, and he admitted to once being severed by the god, although no one knows why. When Yuugi is severed and Nakhti describes the experience, he says, "It's a godly parlor trick, an extended out-of-body experience courtesy of the head god himself, who isn't content to do anything without flash. Never trust a god; they play games, but they won't tell you the rules."

Odion Ishtar – Battle City finalist and would-be tombkeeper. Odion was abandoned as a child and taken in by the head of his clan, Ahmed Ishtar. For years, he longed to be a true tombkeeper and even asked to take Marik's place for the initiation. Ahmed nearly killed him for his insolence.

Osiris – Father of Horus and husband of Isis. In Marik's instruction to Anzu, he taught her "how Osiris, the firstborn son of earth and sky, flooded the Nile to give fertility to the land of Egypt, how he was murdered by a jealous brother and resurrected by a faithful wife." When Anzu jokes about a world where she and Marik could be friends, she lands on "a world where Geb and Nut had four kids instead of five. Set would be the one missing because he's a jerk, and that way, he would never have murdered Osiris, and Isis would never have had to resurrect him, so he wouldn't have left the mortal realm to rule the dead. Not to mention they would have been able to raise Horus properly. Everything would be completely different." Pegasus Crawford sought Osiris's power to return his deceased wife to mortality, which ultimately failed. In describing the symbolism of the gods, Grandpa explained, "Red is the color of the god Osiris's beast form, who was said to be a protector to the pharaoh." After Yami is knocked unconscious in the Battle City finals by Osiris, the Great Storm God (god card), he is given a vision by the real Osiris, which reveals to him a memory of his father. Ishizu calls Osiris "a merciful god, acquainted with familial grief."

Ra – Shadi describes the significance of the pyramid as related to Ra: "The pyramid points to the sun. It is a symbol of the light of Ra and draws souls nearer to him." An inverted pyramid (such as the Millennium Puzzle) is the opposite, a symbol of darkness. When explaining Ra, Grandpa said, "Simply put, he is the supreme god of Egyptian mythology, known most commonly as the god of the sun. Ra was called father to the pharaohs, and a portion of his power was believed to reincarnate within each pharaoh, giving them the divine right to rule. It's why the pharaohs were considered gods themselves." In a conversation about her past life and reincarnation, Shadi tells Yori, "Reincarnation and extended life are gifts of Ra, bestowed only upon his chosen servants. It is by such a gift that I lived all my years on this earth. It is by such a gift that I walk upon it still. The power you now live by is indeed of Ra, but stolen, not given." In retaliation for that theft, Ra killed Yori in the same car crash with Yuugi's parents, but Shadi sacrificed his mortality to bring her back. When Yori lost a shadow game to the god card Ra, Yuugi interfered and was severed. Ra subsequently tested the boy in ways that led him to realize the Millennium Puzzle's true powers. Over the course of their conversations, Ra says gods are lacking in both compassion and selflessness, having seen too many forests to care for the trees. He also says, "I created your species; the sun itself moves at my command. . . . I separated light from the darkness when no one else would dare, when other gods trembled in fear of what swam in the dark. I created the council of the Ennead, I established the path of justice, and it is by my light that your whole world turns." While in Ra's throne room, Yuugi sees that Ra is chained to his throne. The reason is unknown. Ra invites Yuugi to fight on his side for the current war and says, "Whatever you might think, it was not an invitation. Should my opponent win this conflict, all creation would descend into chaos, my world as well as yours. I will do anything necessary to avoid such an outcome."

Roland Isono – Seto's personal bodyguard and right-hand man. There's nothing he wouldn't do to take care of Seto and Mokuba.

Ryou Bakura – Battle City finalist and wielder of the Millennium Ring. Ryou lost his mother and sister to a car accident years ago, a loss the shadows have preyed upon. In the final shadow game with Marik, Ryou killed Yami in order to protect Nakhti.

Serenity Wheeler – Joey's younger sister. She recently had eye surgery to restore her vision and has made a full recovery. She plays tennis at an elite private school and has an interest in science (and handsome, ponytailed boys from California).

Seto Kaiba (Seth) – The reincarnated form of High Priest Seth from the pharaoh's court in Ancient Egypt. Seth held the Millennium Rod while serving as a priest. Seto was adamantly opposed to the Millennium Items and any form of magic until being forced to accept his own identity during the BC tournament. Although, even after his acceptance, he still refused to claim the rod from Marik. As a baby, he was adopted by the Akiyama family (five years before Mokuba was born). Then he and Mokuba were orphaned and adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba, who trained Seto to be his corporate heir. At fifteen, Seto seized control of KaibaCorp, and it has been questioned whether his adoptive father's subsequent death was truly a suicide or an event orchestrated by Seto.

Shada – A High Priest in the pharaoh's court, Shadi's father and a previous owner of the Millennium Bracelet. It was he who passed the bracelet to Yori/Yaara.

Shadi – An immortal spirit and one of the original tombkeepers. Shadi is the owner of the Millennium Scales, which he has held since ancient times. He gave up his mortality in order to save Yori's life, though he also stole her childhood memories in an effort to protect her. He feels a kinship with Yori because he knew her past life, Yaara, in his childhood. He once offered a deal to Haru Mutou and Junta Yoshida, in which the scales would balance their dearest wish (to have a child) with a suitable price. They accepted the deal, which resulted in Yuugi's birth and, years later, their deaths. He also offered a deal to Odion Ishtar, which made Marik forget the murder of his father for a time, though that balance was broken by the god card Osiris during Battle City. Shadi is very adherent to prophecies. He followed prophetic signs to place the Millennium Eye with Pegasus and the Millennium Ring with Ryou, items which had previously been guarded by his clan. He told Yuugi of a prophecy that claimed, "The throne that goes to war shall be emptied, and the child shall take it." To Yami, he said, "Within the ring is the hand that will finish the work. Within the rod is the mind that will never forget. And within the puzzle is the heart that started it all." Shadi also told Yami he must bring the seven Millennium Items and the three god cards to the Valley of the Kings in order to uncover the past and save the future. Shadi's one doubt concerning his duty was shown when he said, "There is one image. The impression of an idea I at times catch in my dreams. The idea that my father was killed not by an enemy, but by a fellow priest. Perhaps I cling to prophecy because I am confused by my own mind. Or perhaps the truth is our Egypt rotted from the head."

Sonomi Wheeler – Joey and Serenity's mother. She tries to keep them separated because she fears Joey is like his father and will hurt or corrupt Serenity. She was born in Japan but remains in America in order to be as far from her ex-husband as possible.

Sugoroku Mutou (Grandpa) – A former archaeologist, specializing in Ancient Egypt relics and culture, and owner of the Kame Game Shop. He discovered the Millennium Puzzle, and after failing to solve it, passed it on to Yuugi.

Tristan Taylor – Yuugi's friend. Diabetic and an expert on women, proven by his advice to Joey on how to treat Krisalyn's handkerchief. When Alister let monsters loose, Tristan teamed up with Joey to fight one barehanded; before befriending Yuugi, Tristan and Joey were in a gang together and engaged in frequent street fights.

Valon – One of Horus's chosen pawns (the final one recruited). Australian and owns a motorcycle.

Yami – The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. A pharaoh in his mortal life before his spirit was sealed into the puzzle. He has no memory of his past life besides a single moment given to him by Osiris of standing next to his father. Not even his name is known. Nakhti claimed to have robbed the tomb of Yami's father and desecrated the mummy. While they stood beneath Kul Elna in a shadow game, Nakhti also claimed, "The last time I set foot in this cavern, it was a trap. You sealed my spirit in the ring. Sentenced me to 3,000 years of solitude in the shadows." While the rod possessed Marik, it taunted Yami about the past and said, "Coward! Hiding for 3,000 years and hiding still. You don't want to know who you are, no. That's why you erased your own name. Erased it from existence. If you couldn't live with the price, Pharaoh, maybe you shouldn't have made the purchase!" Yami was led to believe he created the Millennium Items, sacrificing a hundred lives to do so, but after the final shadow game, Marik told him it was the doing of the previous pharaoh—Yami's father.

Yori Yoshida (Yaara) – The reincarnated form of the slave Yaara from Ancient Egypt. She was first told of her past life by Shadi, and after unlocking the power of the Millennium Bracelet through a deal with the shadows, Yori began remembering things from her past life for herself. She has an ugly history with Horus, who she knows by his mortal name, Haku, from when she dated him in her early teenage years. She has no memory of her childhood before the day she found herself on the front steps of an orphanage. Shadi was there to give her three gifts: her name and two Duel Monsters cards, Dante the Fire Dragon and Magician's Release. After learning to use the bracelet to draw out her Ka, Yori discovered that Dante is, in fact, her Ka.

Yuugi Mutou – The boy who solved the Millennium Puzzle. He is intent on helping Yami discover who he used to be. During the Battle City tournament, Yuugi was severed from his body by Ra, and as a spirit, he witnessed the events happening in Domino City. The ancient war has started again and monsters are loose on the streets, courtesy of Horus. Using the puzzle's power, Yuugi stopped an attack on Grandpa. He also discovered Horus's mortal identity as Haku and that the god has taken up residence in the Kaiba mansion.

Zigfried von Schroeder – Krisalyn's older brother. He invested everything he had into the development of DreamSight, an AR system, only for KaibaCorp to release their Solid Vision technology first and bankrupt Zigfried's company. He is convinced Seto Kaiba stole his technology and will do anything to prove it.

The timeline as we know it:

3,000 years ago, Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen ruled Egypt. His brother, Akhenaden, served as a High Priest. When the Millennium Items were created, Akhenaden led a battalion of soldiers to the thieves' village of Kul Elna and sacrificed its residents in a dark ritual. He was unaware there was one survivor, a child named Nakhti.

Years later, Akhenamkhanen's son took the throne. His name is lost to history, recorded only as the Nameless Pharaoh. Known High Priests of his court and wielders of the Millennium Items included Shada (bracelet), Karim (scales), Isis (necklace), Akhenaden (eye), and Seth (rod). The bearer of the ring remains unknown. At some point during his reign, a tomb robber calling himself the Thief King (Nakhti) came to the palace and began a war. The war was of gods rather than men. The Thief King was Ra's champion. It's uncertain how long the war lasted, what the events of it were, or even what the end goal was. The war never saw a conclusion because the Nameless Pharaoh and the Thief King had their spirits sealed into the Millennium Items (the pendant/puzzle and the ring, respectively). Also sealed away was the pharaoh's name and the memories concerning the war. It was prophesied that the war would continue in the future once the spirits within the items had been reawakened.

A slave named Yaara lived in Egypt at the same time. She served in the palace and loved the Nameless Pharaoh. After his death, she made an unknown bargain which involved the stolen power of Ra to be reincarnated, so that she could reunite with him in the future. Also reincarnated was Seth, his reincarnation circumstances even more unknown (although Ra does not seem to carry the same grudge against him that the god does against Yori).

In the modern day, the spirits of the items have been awoken, all seven items gathered to one place, and the ancient war begun again. It is headed by Horus, working through a mortal form with unknown purposes. Yami (the Nameless Pharaoh) has been urged to gather all of the Millennium Items and the god cards.

Soundtrack

Music is my obsession, and I always have a "soundtrack" for any project—songs that remind me of my story or characters. Sometimes the song has lyrics that fit a character's emotions, and sometimes it's just something about the tone of the song itself. Here's my playlist for CHp2:

Try by P!nk
Meteor Shower by Owl City
Better Place by Rachel Platten
That's the Way It Is by Celine Dion
The Reason by Hoobastank
Dive by Ed Sheeran
Underdog by Alicia Keys
Battle Symphony by Linkin Park
Angels by Within Temptation
Down with the Fallen by Starset
The Dark by Beth Crowley
Inner Demons by Julia Brennan
The Middle by Jimmy Eat World

Try is a song that hits home for me across the cast. Technically the lyrics are about a relationship, but there's this idea that wherever there's passion, there's the chance of being hurt, and we have to try anyway. I love that. There are a lot of passionate people in this story, whether they care about family or romance or getting revenge or winning games. Everyone has a dream, and "Where there is desire, there is gonna be a flame / Where there is a flame, someone's bound to get burned / But just because it burns doesn't mean you're gonna die / You've gotta get up and try, try, try."

Meteor Shower is another one that hits across the cast. Part Two saw a lot of relationships being built or advanced, and not only do I love the wistful tone of this song for that, but I love the lyrics, "Please don't let me go / I desperately need you." Whether that's Marik clinging to Anzu while he's lost in the dark or Yami missing Yuugi while he's been severed, I love it all the same.

Better Place is the CH Cheer anthem, DukeXSerenity. I love that this is such a lighthearted, hopeful-sounding song. I think that captures the feeling of Duke and Serenity's relationship perfectly. They're on the outer edges of everything that's happening in the plot, but through crazy events, they found each other, and "I see the whole world in your eyes / It's like I've known you all my life / We just feel so right."

That's the Way It Is is Anzu's theme. She cheers her friends on, and she firmly believes that if no one "gives up on their faith," they'll win in the end. I listened to this song a lot in the beginning of Part Two specifically because of how the lyrics "I can read your mind, and I know your story / I see what you're going through" relate to Anzu's compassion for Marik.

The Reason is Marik's theme. Across this part of the story, he learns the truth about his past and regrets his actions. In the end, it's the mercy he's offered by other characters (Anzu, Yuugi, Yami) that allows him to survive and begin his resolution to change. "I've found a reason for me / To change who I used to be / A reason to start over new / And the reason is you."

Dive is Yori's approach to love. Specifically the line about diving in "harder than ten-thousand rocks on the lake" gets me every time. When Yori falls, she falls hard. And I feel that, girl, because that's me too. Dating was a terrifying time of life for me, haha.

Underdog is Krisalyn's song. This is everything about the heart of who she is. She has worked hard to overcome all the voices that told her she couldn't succeed, and now she cheers on every underdog she meets. Although Joey is special—she's never given away her good luck pig before.

Battle Symphony is Joey's song. Oh man, this song hits me so hard with MOOD. Every single line of the lyrics gets me in the Joey feels. Forgive me for quoting too much, but come on, THIS: "They say that I don't belong / Say that I should retreat / That I'm marching to the rhythm / Of a lonesome defeat . . . I hear my battle symphony / All the world in front of me / If my armor breaks / I'll fuse it back together." Joey, man. Battle City Champion!

Angels is technically about a romance, but the mood and tone speak to me about the Millennium Items. The characters are starting to realize more and more the darkness within the items and their awful effects on their users. It's part betrayal and part toxic relationship, because they all still need the power the items give even as they realize what cost it comes at.

Down with the Fallen captures Yori's battle to face her fears. "Searching through the darkness below for a light in seas of shadows / Far from you, but I could never abdicate / I'll fight forever."

The Dark represents Yori's battle when she realizes she's afraid of her relationship with Yami. "In my heart, you're a risk I'm willing to take / But my head is telling me there's too much at stake." It also makes me ridiculously giddy that Yori told Yami she loves the dark, and the chorus of this song says, "There are times that I miss the light / But I'm not afraid of the dark."

Inner Demons is Ryou's song for all the reasons. The tone, the lyrics. I love this one so much. Poor Ryou is such a sweet soul with one of the worst hands life could deal, and he really makes the most of it. He also keeps the secrets close to his chest and puts on a smile. "'Cause inner demons don't play well with angels / They cheat, and lie, and steal, and break, and bruise." Ugh, my heart.

The Middle is all about feeling over lyrics, and it's almost a cop-out. This is the middle of the story, and this song says it's important to have perspective while in the middle of a ride and that everything will be fine in the end. That was motivating to me as the author, especially as I kept hitting interruptions while writing Part Two. We all need our spirits boosted sometimes.

And there's the end of it. Thanks for joining me for the fun. See you guys in CHp3, which you can find live right . . . now.

God bless.