A Monopoly Of Blue Eyes

by FeistyFox

He had refused to believe in his past, refused to be sucked into the fairytale that had been hurled at him again and again. But it appeared that his past had found him whether he wanted it or not. She was here… sitting right here in his class, this ghost from the ancient past, looking exactly as he remembered, exactly how she did in his dreams and the visions he had been shown.

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Sabotage

He stood still where he was, his eyes locked on the cloaked man holding Sarah. He lifted her higher and she began to claw at him with her nails as her airway was fully cut off. Her struggling increased exponentially, and when he saw her eyes begin to glow blue, her irises vanishing under her magic, he knew his fears that she had no control had been well founded. Now in mortal peril, and no doubt having decided that she had been a victim for the last time the night her uncle died, the savage part of her had surfaced. Having no idea how to calm her down when she was being choked to death, and figuring anyone doing that deserved it, he was about to charge forward to stop the inevitable destruction when the brawling to his left stopped abruptly.

"Yugi?" A familiar, but fully unexpected voice asked. There was a thump then the same man, one that had all but destroyed his battle city tournament, shouted. "They're friends!"

Sarah snarled breathlessly and the giant, who he knew could only be one man, turned his head toward Marik's voice, always ready to obey. Seeing his chance to prevent catastrophe he snarled with all the force he had in ancient Egyptian, fully meaning to get his point across. "Odion! Return her to me immediately!"

Odion, who easily towered over six and a half feet, loosened his hold on her as he pushed her roughly back to him. Sarah was put off balance and stumbled, tripping over her feet. Lunging forward he caught her before she could fall to the sand and pulled her back, getting away from the threat as quickly as he could. "You're safe." He assured her as he got them back to where his brother was and let her sit on her knees in the sand as she tried to get her air back, holding her against his legs. Mokuba dropped down next to her, clearly worried for her. "Breathe, Sarah. Breathe and relax."

Odion reached up and pulled his hood off, revealing a square face with smokey green eyes. His gaze was steely, and he knew the man had not a single humorous molecule in his body. Driven by fanatic loyalty he spent his life serving Marik and his older sister, trying to repay the debt of being taken in by their mother. Mokuba was just as angry as he was by the assault and snapped at the other man, clearly unintimidated as he turned his head, both of his hands on Sarah's arms as she tried to breathe properly again. "What you did in battle city wasn't enough?" His brother demanded of Odion. "You attack sleeping women now?"'

"There's no need to fight." Yugi interjected, urging for peace, and Sarah darted a glance between his rival and the giant of a man that caught her as she coughed violently. He kept a firm hold on her shoulder as he stood protectively behind her, hoping the physical contact of being pressed against him was enough to send the dragon back to sleep, although he had no real way of knowing. All he knew was that touching her had seemed to help in the elevator. It wasn't much to gamble all their lives on. "Old friends are the best kind."

"How wise." He sneered, but despite everything he could see this was a huge windfall for all of them. Marik owed Yugi his very soul, and for putting on a tournament the entire Ishtar family was in his debt. As long as they were here they could at least be useful to him. "Perhaps your old friends can get us out of this damn sand box."

Merik was a slim man with light colored hair and pale purple eyes. The youngest of the Ishtar trio he had still managed to wrestle control as head of the family into his own hands. This was partially due to him being the first blood male in his line, where Odion had been adopted, and partially due to his rather overbearing personality. Either way, he was sure if pressed, and he was, he could bully his way past even this stubborn Egyptian. Merik cast a glance his way, but his eyes were almost immediately drawn downward to where he had Sarah safely in his grasp. His eyebrow drew up in interest and he was sure the man recognized her as easily as he and Yugi had. "I believe we can do that, Priest." He replied back in Egyptian, his attention locked on Sarah. "I see your dragon found you at last. I was wondering if she reincarnated with you."

He glared at the other man as Sarah looked up at him, confused. Apparently she couldn't understand them, and he wondered how often that had ever happened to her. Seeing she had mostly caught her breath he helped her to her feet when she shifted to get herself up. Odion spoke directly to Merik, reverting to the much more modern Japanese. "We need to get home and clear this place before the sun sets fully. We may well be tracked otherwise."

"Agreed." Marik replied. "Come. You can rest and clean up. We aren't far. You set off an alarm when you walked in, it's how we knew you were here."

Bakura spoke up. "I don't suppose any other alarms have gone off?"

He was surprised anyone in Yugi's group asked anything intelligent, although Bakura always seemed to have the most level head. "Yes, actually." Marik replied. "Those men...were less fortunate than you."

Sarah rasped quietly in English, picking up that everyone seemed to know each other. "Is this safe?"

He murmured back. "Safer than staying out here."

Mokuba also spoke in English. "They aren't bad. Not that they're good."

"Great." She muttered even as she followed the other teens who seemed thrilled to pieces to be following questionably safe sand people. He made sure to keep her well away from Odion as they walked, unsure if she would lose her temper if he got too close to her. He wasn't going to risk all their lives on a fast forgiveness on her part, largely because he was so angry he was ready to spit fire over the whole incident, and also because she kept shooting distrustful glances toward the large man around his body. Still, she kept her cool, even if she was keeping very close to him all at once.

An hour later and they came up a dune. Gazing down he saw that below them, nestled inside what appeared to be only an endless desert were the remains of some sort of ancient town. It was nearly gone, blown away by time and the elements, and only walls and piles of weathered stones lying in heaps showed that anything had ever been here. Beside him Sarah stopped at the rise, scanning what was in front of them as the rest of the group headed down. "Where are we?" She asked, speaking for the first time since they left the oasis.

"Egypt."

She was utterly confused. "Why?"

"Hurry up." Marik ordered, seeing they were straggling. "We don't have much time if we want to hide the fact that we found you before anyone else did."

Mokuba, who was a few yards ahead of them looked back, pausing as he stood between them and the larger group. Shaking his head he kept moving forward, disliking being told what to do, but not wanting to get caught out here. "Let's go."

Sarah followed after him, but only after a significant pause that let him get at least a few feet ahead of her. As they walked into the ruins she continued to shadow him, her eyes darting around as she became increasingly uncomfortable. He supposed he couldn't blame her. He knew the Ishtars and wanted nothing to do with them even aware they wouldn't hurt their group. Sarah knew nothing about these strange people except she had been attacked. He wasn't sure what he could say to comfort her further, and he doubted the atmosphere here was helping. This place reeked of strangeness and the silence that had settled around them was eerie, the dry hair whistling between the stones.

Marik moved away from Yugi and went to a nondescript pile of blocks. Reaching down he got hold of a rope and pulled. A hidden door creaked up, the sand running off of it in waves, revealing a dark staircase down into what he assumed were the bowels of this ruin. Having at least gotten a gist of what their upbringing was like during their previous encounters he rather wondered how any of them turned out even half sane. He wasn't sure anyone would be stable growing up in a place like this, and these people didn't have the mental fortitude he thought they should have to begin with. Two of the cloaked men, he assumed they were flunkies of some sort, moved down first as the others spread out to check their surroundings and wipe the sand free of their footprints.

"Good lord." Mia sighed. "Are we really going down there?"

"Would you rather stay up here?" Marik asked her sarcastically.

"Come on, babe." Joey weedled. "I bet they have a place for you to wash your hair down there."

"You're lucky you're cute." Mia informed him as she followed Yugi and Tea down, both of which seemed totally at their ease. He stopped at the back of the line to go down the narrow staircase, as there was only room for one at a time, and crossed his arms, impatient to figure out how to get out of here. At the very least they could point them in the direction of the nearest town. One call and they would be out of here.

"Uh, nii-san?"

"Yes, Mokuba?" He asked distractedly.

"It doesn't look like Sarah has any intention of following us."

Frowning, he looked over his shoulder to see her well back from the stairway, having clearly retreated another ten yards from where she had already been. She had pressed her back against a crumbling pillar of stones, her arms crossed over her chest and a look of stubborn resolve had settled on her face as she stood there, all but digging herself in. He realized all at once what the issue was. "Wait here." He instructed as he headed over to her.

She didn't bother to let him say whatever he was going to as he got over to her. "I'm not going in there."

He sighed, exasperated despite his irritatingly blatant affection for her. "You can't stay up here."

"Yes, I can." She assured him willfully.

She'd be dead in hours when the sun came up. "It's not safe up-"

"That man tried to kill me less than an hour ago." She reminded him unnecessarily, and the spreading bruise on her neck was proof enough of that. "I am not going any farther with any of them and I'm certainly not going down that horrible little staircase into who knows what."

"Nothing about that staircase is going to hurt you." He told her. Her fear of small spaces, while real to her, was illogical.

"I'm not doing it." She told him vehemently. "I don't trust these people."

Despite her irrational fear of closed in spaces he really couldn't blame her for not trusting them. They had given her no reason to do so and every reason to keep as far from them as possible. But despite her terror she had to go in. He could either drag her down, which would no doubt end poorly in a multitude of ways, or convince her to go down herself. He met her eyes levelly. "Do you trust me?" He asked her with steady calm.

She was silent, staring at him with complete frustration. She knew what he was doing, trying to trick her into going, and she pressed farther back into the stones as her eyes darted to the staircase. When her attention returned to him he saw the dread in her eyes, and the shame in that very feeling. He shoulders hunched up as she turned her face away from him. "Don't make me to do this, Seto." She begged.

He held his hand out to her, palm up, hating that she had just done that. He didn't want her begging him, it made something inside him cringe. "I won't ever make you do anything you don't want to do." He promised sincerely. "I'm asking you to come with me. These people will help us get home." He flexed his fingers encouragingly. "It's up to you, but we can get help here."

Letting out a low whine she took his hand and he wrapped his fingers around it firmly. Turning, he lead her to the staircase where Mokuba and Marik were both still waiting for them. "If you're done admiring the view." The Egyptian remarked dryly.

He sent the man a warning glare before nodding to his brother to proceed them. The last thing he wanted was for someone to mock Sarah for her fear. Once Mokuba was going he followed him, keeping his arm loose as he lead her down after him. He felt hard resistance and paused, looking back up at her as he was two stairs down. Sarah had baulked at the top step and behind her Marik was watching her with a cross between impatience and curiosity, unsure of what the issue was. He ignored him, not caring one whit what he thought. "It's alright." He told her in English, trying to be genuinely reassuring. "I won't let anything happen. Trust me."

Sarah pressed her lips together and whimpered involuntarily, but went down after him with tremendous force of will. Mokuba was watching them a well, understanding there was some sort of problem, but not trying to rush anything. Mokuba had always been the more patient of the two of them. He kept a firm hold on her as they went down and could feel her trembling from fright. He counted fifteen steps and then they came out onto a flat, if uneven, room. He heard the door slam close behind them and the moonlight was replaced with flickering torches. Sarah's whole body went rigid and he squeezed her hand reassuringly, tugging her so she was even with him and could see the rest of the larger room. He was sure the only reason she hadn't bolted back up the stairs was because of the grip he had on her.

Seeing that there was more space down here she let out a little breath, but was still clearly not comfortable pressed in here with another dozen people. However, the panic was retreating slightly as she edged forward and away from the absolute confinement of the entry into this underground hideout. Behind them Marik had caught up easily. He called up to the front of the party. "Yugi, go forward and take the second left, there's plenty of room there for all of us."

"Sure thing!" Yugi called cheerfully. Tea was looking around with delighted interest, as if this were some sort of tourist shop, and everyone else seemed fully, naively comfortable, with the possible exception of Duke who was also suspicious.

"Are there spiders down here?" Serenity asked nervously.

"No way." Tristan lied horribly. Clearly, if there were spiders this was where they would be.

He shook his head as they went, looking into doorways as they passed and making a mental map of everything he saw. Sarah kept following him, still shaking, and Mokuba kept shooting concerned glances at her. He made a motion with his free hand to keep moving, not wanting him to ask at this very moment why she was close to a nervous breakdown. Three minutes later and Yugi lead them into a thankfully enormous room. He was sure it had once been a large cavern that the Egyptians had used to their advantage. It was easily as big as the largest dueling arena and fairly well maintained considering it's age, at least what he could see of it with only torches lighting the place. The walls had been smoothed out, and were covered from floor to ceiling in hieroglyphics. Every fifteen feet or so a giant pillar stretched up into the darkness, carved artfully into flowing shapes that were only marred by the test of time.

He felt Sarah's grip on him loosen in a rush and relaxed slightly himself. She moved farther out into the space and he let her fingers slip out of his as she let him go to get a hold of herself, or just give herself more free space all the way around her. As she trotted to the the left he clenched his hand slightly, already missing the warmth of hers and wondering how he could feel so bereft over such a little thing. As she moved toward the center of the great room Mokuba eased up beside him and whispered. "What was that about?"

"She's claustrophobic." He murmured back.

Mokuba frowned. "How did you know that?"

"We got stuck on an elevator at the office."

Mokuba peered over at her. "She seems okay now."

"There's more space now." He pointed out.

"Welcome to our home." A low and sensual voice greeted from behind them. Everyone turned their attention to it and he was hardly surprised to see Ishizu step out of the shadows. Tall and exquisitely proportioned she was undeniably a gorgeous woman. Her dark hair and smokey eyes were a tempting lure, and her natural grace and confidence could no doubt draw in nearly any man. What was more, he was sure she knew it and used that to her advantage. He didn't blame her for it as he used his own talents to get what he wanted, but he wasn't fooled by it either. Ishizu was a clever and motivated woman that needed to be kept an eye on unless one wanted to find themselves on the wrong end of a deal. He had learned that from personal experience, even if he had managed to elude her will at the last moment.

Making a motion with her hand had several of the same men from the desert coming out with trays of food and water. "We're honored to have all of you here." She sent Yugi a genuinely pleased smile. "And I'm happy to see you all again."

"Ishizu!" Yugi trotted over to her eagerly and he saw Tea puffing up jealously. How boring.

"Yugi, I confess I've missed you terribly this last year." She took his hand in both of hers. "We must speak together, you and I, but first, please-" She turned her attention to the group at large. "-all of you must refresh yourselves. There's plenty of food and water here for you. You're safe in our home. Please relax."

He ignored the hospitality. "I suppose it's too much to expect that you have a phone?"

"There are no phones here, but we will take you to town to use one after we've spoken, Kaiba." Ishizu told him coolly.

"Take me now." He demanded, wanting to get out of here.

"It's not safe to leave." Odion said as he came out with another tray of water. "Not until we're sure everyone that was following you has been taken care of."

"You said you got them." Mokuba threw back.

"We found a group yes." Odion replied. "But there are more."

Sarah came back over to them, having calmed down slightly, and Ishizu caught sight of her for the first time. She had been hidden behind the others as she paced her way back to a more relaxed state. Ishizu's dark eyes widened in real surprise and Sarah frowned slightly at her, picking up on the odd recognition. "How do you know there are more?" She asked, apparently deciding to speak to Odion at last if it meant finding that out.

"There are other tracks." He replied evasively and he wasn't the only one in the room that saw the lie. "If you'll all excuse me. I have tasks to attend to."

"Thank you, brother." Ishizu said, and he tilted his head in deference to her before leaving. "Please, help yourselves." She told them, indicating the food.

"Don't mind if I do." Tristan said, rubbing his hands together eagerly before lunging toward the trays. He made a face of disgust as he and Joey began to eat as if they'd never learned a manner, or to shut their mouths while they chewed. It may have been nearly two days since any of them ate, but there was no reason to act like animals.

Sarah ignored the food, going back to pacing about as he turned to interrogate Ishizu. Mokuba had plopped down in front of one of the trays with Tea and Bakura and was eating in a much more appropriate manner. However, he expected nothing less than that and his brother knew it. Now several feet from the others he got no less pushy. "Take me to a phone now." He ordered.

Her dark eyes shimmered with irritation. "Patience never was a virtue of yours, Kaiba."

"Believe it or not I have better places to be than a dank cave. I have a merger pending in less than two days now that could literally make or break my company. I need to get home."

"We have things to discuss before you leave." Ishizu told him.

"If this is any more of you ancient Egypt crap, so help me-"

"Kisara is with you." She stated, cutting him off.

"Just… let that one go." Yugi suggested.

"It's impossible." Ishizu told them both.

He clenched his teeth. "Her name is Sarah Drake. You will address her by that name."

"Her name is irrelevant to what and who she is." The woman told them. "She shouldn't be here."

"Why?" Yugi asked curiously. "She's not the only one to reincarnate. Both you and Kaiba have." He made a motion with his head across the room. "And Bakura as well."

"And here we go." He snapped, crossing his arms impatiently.

"Yes, but she shouldn't have."

He rolled his eyes as Yugi sent her a confused look. "But why?"

"Because she doesn't have the soul of a human, but a duel monster. They've been locked away. It's impossible that she escaped the prison the pharaoh created for them."

"As fascinating as this topic is I'm going to go ahead and turn the discussion back to the phone."

They both ignored him, it was infuriating. "She-" He cut Yugi off.

"Enough!" He snapped, and the rest of the group began to take notice of the conversation. "Enough of all of this! Take me to a phone!"

"Very well." Ishizu said, her voice tight. "But even if I take you to town no one will have a phone available for you to use until morning."

"Why?" He demanded.

"We aren't in Japan. We are very far out in the desert. People travel out of town, taking their satellite phones with them when they leave. Until the traders get to the market all you can do is sit and wait. You may do so here in the safety of my home or at the market, where people are no doubt waiting to capture you again."

He seethed, but saw no way around this for the moment. Whirling around he stalked over to a pillar and leaned against it, trying to control his temper, which at this moment was quite the feat. No one bothered him, although Mokuba was shooting him glances and Sarah kept noting where he was with her eyes as she made a circuit around the room, clearly still too agitated to sit or eat. He stewed in rage for some time, although eventually he got himself under control. Sarah too seemed to be back in command of her emotions and was sitting next to a tray by herself eating some flat bread and a dish that appeared to be a mix of lentils and other grain he couldn't identify. Across the room nearly everyone else was watching Joey and Duke play dungeon dice monsters. Bakura, the only one not cheering one of them on, had taken a torch off it's sconce and was moving around the room slowly, reading the walls.

Going to Sarah he sat down and picked up a piece of the bread. "What's happening, Seto? Who are these people and why do they live in some underground city? You obviously all know them."

"They're from an ancient family." He told her truthfully. "Direct descendants of the temple guardians of ancient Egypt. Their family has lived in this place since there were pharaohs here."

"Seriously with this ancient Egypt thing again?" She asked. "Why does this keep coming up? Why would anyone bring us all to Egypt?"

"It's ridiculous, but it may have saved our lives." He took a bite of the bread as he glanced around, able to read the closest hieroglyphics to him, but having no interest in doing so. When he swallowed he continued. "We all met during battle city."

"What's battle city?"

"A dueling tournament I threw almost four years ago now. It brought every high ranking duelist in the world to Domino. All three of them participated."

She turned that over for a moment. "The woman likes Yugi, a lot." She said at last. "And none of them seem to like you at all."

"I'm not really what you would call a people person." He told her blandly.

Her lips twitched madly at that. "I wouldn't have suspected that of you. You always seem so open and welcoming toward others."

He huffed, amused with her teasing. He liked that she never seemed to hold it against him that he didn't get on well with other people, getting easily frustrated with the large majority of them. He found that most people were either dumb or annoying, and honestly it was easier not to deal with them. Most other people simply couldn't handle that aspect of his personality. For Sarah it didn't seem to be a problem, but then again she was wary of strangers in general. "How badly did he hurt you?" He asked, indicating her neck.

"I'm fine." She said, but the bruise was getting darker as time went on. It had to hurt.

"If it starts to swell at all you need to tell me." He told her, afraid her airway would be cut off again, this time by her body reacting to the injury. She shrugged and went back to eating quietly. As she was finishing her meal Ishizu, who had vanished, walked back into the cavern.

"I've a place for everyone to clean up if you'd like. You'll need to take turns however. There's only enough room for two at a time."

"Let the girls go first." Duke said as he rolled a handful of dice. "Mia's about to kill herself over her dirty hair."

"You say that like it's a joke." The woman told him as she stood up, stretching her arms up. "I volunteer to go first with Serenity. You and Tristan will have to flirt with her later. Show us the way, hon."

Ishizu took her into a hall to the right of where they came in and he saw Sarah shaking her head. He was sure she was not at all thrilled to be paired with Tea by default. Sarah really got along with most people, but Tea was so overbearingly interested in her that it clearly set her on edge. Leaning back against the wall he tapped his fingers impatiently over his leg, willing it to be morning so they could leave. Suddenly, his watch was tossed gently into his lap. Taking it he glanced up at Sarah, who had laid back down in the sand at the base of the pillar they were beside and was staring up at the carvings. "I decided they don't in fact match these shoes and I can't go around with clashing accessories." She told him. "Don't you dare try to leave to find a phone without me. I'm going with you."

He hummed in agreement, thinking it would be better to have both Mokuba and Sarah with him at all times. Even if it was dangerous to go into town he thought it would be even more dangerous to split up. Slipping the watch back on his wrist he clipped it in place and finished the rest of the food on the tray. It was bland but palatable, and he was full when all was said and done. By the time he had finished Mia and Serenity were back, appearing much cleaner, and Sarah had forced herself up with Tea to follow Ishizu to wherever the clean water was. Duke and Joey had also completed their game, with the dark haired man coming out ahead of the mutt by a slim margin. Other people began to lay down or lounge about as well, no doubt still tired after all the hiking and their interrupted sleep schedule that day.

He wasn't tired however, feeling hyperalert, and spotted Marik watching him from yet another hallway off the large room they were in. He was largely hidden by the shadows, but he had felt eyes on him. When Marik had his attention he made a motion for him to come to him and he narrowed his eyes, refusing to move. Marik sent him aggravated stare and motioned more sharply. Wondering what the hell he wanted he got up, noting that Mokuba was now in the midst of a dungeon dice monsters game with Joey. Figuring he would be safe here, and so would Sarah once she returned, he moved silently into the doorway. "We need to speak with you." Marik murmured. "They'll all be fine here. I have guards and traps at every entrance."

"Then speak." He ordered.

"Come this way. It's more of a show and tell experience."

Half sure the man was going to try something he was on alert as they moved deeper into the ruins. After several twists and turns they came into another large room, although this one was roughly the size of his office twice over. Ishizu and Odion were already here, along with Yugi, who must have slipped out when he wasn't paying attention. Across the room, at the far wall surrounded by burned candles and the remains of incense, which could only be called a shrine, was the millennium stone. As tall as a man and easily five tons, the carving stared with blank eyes across the room. Carved into the shape of a pharaoh the stone had seven slots meticulously hallowed out of it. They were meant to hold the millennium items, and had been the very place they had been forged, brought into existence with the blood, fear, and sacrifice of ninety-nine innocent lives. This object was more than an artifact, it was imbued with dark magic and haunted by those very souls it had taken to create such powerful magic. It's very existence was abhorrent.

His eyes flew over it as something very much like dread filled his belly. "What's that thing doing here? I thought it was destroyed. I saw the temple collapse over it myself."

"So did we." Marik told him. "And yet it reappeared here, six months ago."

"That doesn't make any sense." He stated. "Giant stones don't just appear out of nowhere."

Yugi was standing right before the stone, studying it intently, but he noted he was being very careful not to touch it. "It's been broken." He commented, as much to himself as the others. "And then pieced back together."

"Yes." Ishizu agreed. "We went back to the ruins of Kul Elna to try to discover what happened. It took us three months to dig down to where the room collapsed. Every trace of the stone was removed, as it had come to us here, but we did recover a few things."

Reaching over to an old wooden table she carefully pulled back a piece of white linen. Underneath it, gleaming in the dim light, were five of the seven millennium items. Yugi was silent as he looked at them, but reaching up he touched the millennium item he held, the puzzle, around his neck. He didn't need to be a genius to do this math. "Where's the last one?" He demanded as Yugi's expression went blank.

"We don't know." Marik told him. "It wasn't there and I assure you we went through every inch of that place."

Yugi's eyes flew over the items as he came back to himself. "The scale is gone." He looked back up at Ishizu. "But does it matter? Atem is at rest now. He sealed the door to the shadow realm."

"The millennium items can still be used." Marik said. "The pharaoh was a safeguard, a key if you will. But if someone got the scale to work they could easily open the shadow realm. They could… bypass the security system he put in place. That very thing is what they were made to do. Who is there to stop them now?"

His gaze went back to the items and his attention lingered on the millennium rod, the item his past self had been the original wielder of. After that Marik had taken it, thousands of years later, and the power it gave him nearly destroyed them all. He had a sneaking suspicion that much like the god cards only a very few people could safely use a millennium item, and Marik had not been one of them. As that thought entered his head he saw the ancient version of himself, draped in the robes of a high priest with the blue eyes white dragon roaring as it circled him protectively. In his hand the rod's great eye glowed and a wave of darkness retreated before them, white lightning crashing into it as his magic swirled around the attack, adding to the massive amount of power the dragon was capable of creating.

As if being driven by another force he stepped up to the table and stopped before it. Ishizu frowned as Marik shared a look with Odion. Reaching down his fingers wrapped around the item and a torrent of memories blasted through him. The ones he tried to lock away at all costs. He hissed in pain at the assault, but didn't let go of it, sensing this was a test of sorts. Bright blue energy danced around him for several moments before dissipating. In his hand the millennium rod vibrated before going still. Oddly, he felt as if he had just been accepted by it, or welcomed. Straightening his shoulders he gripped it hard, asking himself what he had just done even as he spoke. "Clearly you can't be trusted with anything."

"You're acting rashly, Kaiba." Ishizu warned. "The power of any of these items-"

"I won't be lectured by you." He informed her. "Unlike you I'm more than capable of keeping track of my assets." He turned toward the door with every intention of leaving. "If I were you, Yugi, I'd set that puzzle back in the stone and leave this all behind you while you have the chance. The pharaoh won't be here to save you this time."

"And you will?" He called.

"No." He stated as he left. "I won't."

He returned to the main cavern, tucking the object against the small of his back and pulling his shirt down over it. He wanted no questions about it and was utterly unclear as to why he had just done what he had. It wasn't like him at all. He could count on one hand the number of impulsive decisions he'd made in his lifetime, and none of them had even come close to this. He wasn't sure what was going on in his head at all, because he honestly wanted nothing more to do with any of this, and yet here he was stepping full force into all of it yet again, but this time of his own choosing. Shaking his head at his own foolishness he returned to the cavern.

Sarah was back at the spot they had chosen, her hair once again white rather than coated in gritty brown sand, and when she saw him she made a sharp, urgent motion for him to come to her. Walking straight to her he met her as she got to her feet. "Where were you?" She asked with worry in her voice.

"Talking with Marik." He replied.

"These people are lying to us." She told him as she shifted very close to him, much closer than normal convention would dictate. He went stiff, his body reacting to her closeness without his consent, but she didn't notice as she pressed something cool and plastic into his hand. "I don't know what's going on here but we aren't safe no matter what you think you know about these people." He glanced down quickly and saw she had pressed a phone into his hand. "You need to get us out of here. There's something..." She searched for a word, her expression dark. "Wrong about this place."

"Where did you find this?" He asked as he quickly slipped the device into his pocket before anyone could see it.

"That woman had it on her." Sarah informed him, moving back half an inch now that he had it. "I picked her pocket when she was talking to Tea."

"You have an interesting set of skills." He told her, impressed by the second life saving theft she had pulled off.

Sarah ignored his compliment. "It's only a matter of time before she realizes it's gone. There's no reception in here. We need to find a place where there is."

He glanced around, seeing that Bakura and Tristan were now gone. He came up with a plan quickly. "I'll take Mokuba with me to clean up. It won't be hard to slip out and make a call."

She nodded in agreement and glanced toward the area people were being lead to. "They should be back soon." She told him. "Should I make a scene to distract them?"

"No." He told her, interested to know what she might do to accomplish that. "Better they don't suspect we have this at all." Turning his head he spotted his brother still playing with the mutt. "Mokuba!"

His head came up. "Yeah?"

"Finish playing with the dog. We're going to clean up next."

"You jerk!" Joey began to rant. "I'd like to see you beat me at this game!"

"Please." He replied, easily falling back into this normality. "That game is even more simplistic than duel monsters. What kind of challenge do you think you are to me?"

"I almost beat you last time!"

"Not even close." He replied, refusing to let him boast falsely.

"No problem." Mokuba replied as he threw the set of dice. They rolled to a stop and his brother sniggered in delight. "I just won anyway."

"No way!" Joey looked down at the dice and let out a cry of idiotic disappointment, ruffling his hair up in frustration. "That was a lucky roll!"

"Yeah." Mokuba replied cheekily. "Just like all my other rolls and plays in the game."

"Ugg, you get more like your brother everyday. It's heartbreaking."

Mokuba chuckled and got up after setting the dice in a neat pile. Conveniently the other two re-appeared, clean but in dirty clothes like everyone else, and he moved toward the hallway with purpose. Mokuba trotted after him calmly and when one of the robed servants showed them the bathing room and left he shut the old wooden door and waited until his footsteps faded away. "What are you doing?" His brother asked curiously as he kept his ear to the door. Without a word he pulled the phone out of his pocket and shook it a little. Mokuba's expression turned cloudy. "They said there weren't any here."

"They lied." He stated. "Stay here and keep everyone away until I get back. I need to get up to the ruins to get reception."

"No problem. I stall like the best of them."

He nodded in approval, implicitly trusting his brother, and opened the door, looking around. Seeing no one he slipped out and walked back toward the staircase, moving lithely through rooms and hallways he had memorized on the way in. Within minutes he was back at the staircase and went up it quickly, carefully pushing the trap door up after disengaging a simply wire sound alarm he found. Getting out into the fresh air he opened the phone at once and turned it on. After several prolonged seconds of loading it turned on and he smirked in triumph. Acting swiftly he broke through the simplistic security on it and easily found the application to get their exact coordinates once the machine synched up with the nearest satellite. Memorizing it he quickly called the head of his security.

The phone rang only once before Roland picked up. "Yes?"

"It's me."

There was an audible sigh of relief. "Mr. Kaiba, where are you? I found the break in at the mansion. I've been looking for you and the younger Mr. Kaiba for days."

"Egypt." He replied. "I have our coordinates. Do you have something to write them down with?"

"Yes, go ahead." He relayed them and Roland spoke again. "I'll have a plane there in less than six hours."

"Excellent." He replied, pleased by the efficiency. "Make sure it's big enough for a dozen people." He really didn't know why he was so good to the dorks. He really should leave them all here.

"Of course, Mr. Kaiba." He agreed, not questioning why he would need a plane that big. "Forgive the question, but is Miss Drake with you? She also hasn't been to work and isn't answering her door."

His approval of Roland went up yet another notch. It was good to know that someone would help Sarah if he wasn't there. "Yes, she is."

"I'll meet you at the Domino airport when you arrive. Will you be at this number?"

"Until the plane gets here." He replied. "Have another phone on it for me."

"Of course. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No." He answered shortly. "Just get the plane here."

"I will." He assured him. "I'll call you back shortly with the details."

"Send a text." He told him. "The reception here is shoddy at best."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

Satisfied, he hung the phone up and went back inside, knowing that even with them lying about the phone the Ishtar's home was safer than being out here. Being sure to wipe his tracks away he got back to the washroom with no incident. Mokuba was waiting for him, his mass of black hair having lost some of it's fluff from being drenched. "Feeling better?" He asked.

"That depends." Mokuba told him as he lounged against the wall. "Did you get ahold of anyone?"

"A Kaiba Corp plane will be here in six hours." He glanced at his watch and corrected himself. "Five hours and fifty-six minutes."

Mokuba smirked. "Nice."

He grunted an agreement and looked around the primitive washroom. It wasn't much, but at least there were a few tubs filled with water and some sort of whitish grey soap. Thinking he had never wanted to waste time in a shower more he began to undress, being sure to hide his new possession as he did so. Mokuba waited patiently, but he wasn't in the water more than three minutes altogether, not wanting to set off any suspicions about the phone. Not that he was apologetic or afraid of these people, it simple made things less complicated.

Once he was done he slipped his filthy clothes back on, making a face at them, and they both returned to the main room to wait. Nothing of interest happened after that, save Sarah's relief when he told her he had made the call and his plane was on the way. Feeling calm now that he had taken care of their exit strategy he laid down to rest as exhaustion hit him. Mokuba and Sarah weren't far behind and the last thing he thought was that laying in the sand was only going to get them all dirty again.

When he woke up a few hours later, having been able to nap for at least awhile, Sarah was sitting against the wall three feet from him, staring blankly into the shadows with her legs pulled up to her chest. He ran his hand through his hair as he looked around, seeing little with only a few torches now lit, and when he saw she was awake nearby he frowned. "Sarah?"

"I don't like this place." She said quietly, her voice oddly devoid of emotion as her arms tightening around her legs. "How much longer do we need to stay?"

His frown deeped at her detached response. It wasn't like her to be so blank. Glancing down at his watch he made a quick estimate, realizing he had slept much longer than he had planned on. "The plane should be here in the next hour." She nodded briefly before putting her head down, hiding her face in her legs. "Are you sick?" He asked, wondering why she was acting so oddly.

"No." She lied, he could tell when she did that easily now. "I just don't like being trapped underground. I'm fine."

He got up and stepped over, squeezing her shoulder. "Not much longer." He promised. "I'll go get us some water. Will you watch Mokuba?" She nodded into her legs and he squeezed her shoulder again. "You can't watch him with your head down." He pointed out, needing her to start acting like her again. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked up at him. He brushed her hair back out of her eyes, studying her. He didn't like what he saw. Her eyes were haunted, with wisps of unease swirling about. At his back the millennium rod hummed and he knew, without one doubt, that one of the Ishtar's had spoken to her while he slept. Rage rolled through him, rage at their interference, rage that they were trying to involve her, rage at the manipulation. She was to have no part of this, none. No part of this strange and dangerous magic that kept trying to snatch her away from him. It had all taken too much from her already. "Don't listen to these people." He told her, anger in his voice. "We'll be home soon and we can forget about all of this."

Sarah nodded quietly in agreement and he petted her head a bit awkwardly before walking off toward where the stairs were, intent on finding much more than water. He found Marik and Ishizu together, speaking softly. He didn't beat around the bush. "Which one of you was it?" He snarled viciously. They both turned toward him, Marik jumping slightly as he startled him. Ishizu wasn't even remotely surprised, and he saw a gleam of gold on her neck. It appeared she had once again adorned herself with the millennium necklace. He knew in an instant it was her. "What did you say to her?" He demanded, enraged.

The woman was calm, and calculating. "Nothing she shouldn't know."

He made a hard slicing motion with his hand. "How dare you try to bring her into any of this!"

"She is already a part of this." Ishizu stated. "As she has always been. She must be prepared for her part."

"She has no part!" He snapped. "I won't let her get dragged into this."

"You can't fight her destiny." The woman told him cooley.

"Her destiny?" He demanded. "She'll make her own! I'll be sure of that!"

"You delusions of control are remarkable."

His eyes glittered. "Oh, I assure you it's no delusion. We'll all be leaving now. Let's call us even. I admit you've been helpful the last day, although not altogether truthful." He pulled the phone out of his pocket and showed it to them. Ishizu pressed her lips together as Marik raised an eyebrow. "I'll leave this upstairs once we're gone."

"Be careful, Kaiba." Marik warned. "You won't make it long in the desert without us."

"That's hardly a problem with my plane on the way." He turned around. "I'd say it was fun, but what a lie that would be." With that he left, intent on never coming back to this cursed land again.