Chapter 12

"I call upon the dark magic of the Millennium Puzzle and that of the Gods to answer me! Seal the evil soul of the Thief King inside his most prized possession until such a time as he may be completely defeated!" the figure in front of him roared.

A dark cackle rose from further away. "You fool! You cannot make such a demand of the Gods without paying a hefty price first!"

"And I intend to," the first voice said. "In the name of my people and my loved ones, I offer my own soul, to be sealed within my own most prized possession until such a time that the hero capable of defeating you releases me!"

"No! You can't!" the second voice replied sounding afraid.

"And to ensure that neither of us can escape, I use my own name as the key to our cages and wipe it from the minds of everyone that knows me, including my own. In fact I completely erase my mind of all my memories," the first voice continued.

"STOP!"

"So let it be written, so let it be done," the first voice finished.

An impossibly bright light appeared between the two figures.

An ancient voice, a god like voice, replied to the first's demand, "Your proposal has been accepted by the gods Pharaoh. To finish the spell, smash your Puzzle into pieces and both you and the Thief King will be locked away. When it is solved again, you will both be fully released."

"Fine!" The second voice screamed as the first raised an object above his head. "I call upon my own shadow magic and dark gods to cast my own curse! I curse the one you love most to never be granted entry to the afterlife, instead to walk this Earth again and again searching for you but never able to find you while you're imprisoned! I curse that with each life they lead, they will die a horrific and young death by my own hand!"

"NO!" the first voice protested.

"So let it be written, so let it be done," the second voice mocked. Then a dark… something, shot from the second figure to the first and shattered the object in his hand. Both figures were swallowed in light and disappeared.

When the light faded, they were both gone and the last of his strength left him. "I am sorry my Pharaoh. I have failed you. Both of you. I promise that one day I will serve you again and do right by you both," Set said just before unconsciousness claimed him.

Seto Kaiba jerked upright in his bed. What the hell was THAT?! He scrubbed his hands over his face. I've been spending too much time with Yugi and his friends. He threw off the covers and went downstairs to his study to do work. This is why I don't sleep.

Strange dreams weren't uncommon for Seto Kaiba. Normally, he just brushed them off, but for some reason this one stuck with him. Maybe because it was so much clearer. Or maybe because of how serious he sounded when he made his promise. It doesn't matter, it's just a dream, Seto told himself. Even as he went through his daily routine, getting ready for the morning, wishing Mokuba goodbye, going to work, it kept coming back to haunt him though.

Finally though, it was the end of the day and he headed home. Being that it was Saturday, he got to go home early and get ready for family dinner. Every other Saturday since Alex had moved out they made sure to have dinner together, just the three of them. No office, or work, or school, or phones, just them. And he knew if anyone could distract him and take his mind off of things it'd be Alex and Mokuba.

Arriving home he found Mokuba in the kitchen already working on dinner. "Hey Big Bro, I decided to make tacos, hope you're ok with that."

"Sounds good Mokuba," Seto said with a small smile. "Let me go put my stuff down and I'll give you a hand."

Before long the food was all made and the table was set. "Now all that's left to do is wait for Alex!" Mokuba chirped.

"Well it's just about six o'clock so she should be here any second," Seto said ruffling his younger brother's hair. "Why don't we go play some games while we wait?"

Mokuba cheered and dragged his older brother into the other room to play on the Xbox while they waited. After several rounds though Seto started to wonder where Alex was. As if reading his mind Mokuba asked, "Hey Seto, what time is it? Shouldn't Alex be here by now?"

Seto checked his watch. "It's 7:15. Yes she should be. Maybe she's stuck in traffic, I'll give her a call."

Seto grabbed his phone and dialled Alex's number, after ringing for what seemed like forever Alex picked up, "Hey! You've reached Alexis Jones!"

"Alex-" Seto started.

"Just kidding, this is actually my voicemail. Leave a message!" the phone continued.

Seto sighed. It was so Alex. "Alex where are you? Family dinner was supposed to start nearly an hour and a half ago. Mokuba's getting hungry and we both know how dangerous a hungry Mokuba is," Seto joked and hung up.

Mokuba looked at Seto, "She didn't answer?" Seto shook his head. "This isn't like her at all. Being late for family dinner, not telling us, not answering her phone. You don't think she's in trouble do you?"

Seto ignored the knot of dread that had been steadily growing in him all day. "No I'm sure she's fine. Maybe her phone just died," he said with a smile.

By 8 o'clock he'd left five voicemails.

At 9:30 he made Mokuba to eat without him and Alex, despite Mokuba's protests.

By 10 he was in the car on the way to Alex's apartment.

"Alex!" He yelled banging on the door. "I swear to God you better be in there!" There was no answer though. Growling, Seto pulled out his spare key for her apartment and opened the door.

It was utterly trashed. Furniture was everywhere, a lamp was smashed on the ground, a peanut butter sandwich was stuck to the wall by his head. But most horrifying was the drops of blood everywhere on the floor standing out stark red against the warm brown of the hardwood.

Seto's head whirled with panic. Amidst all his thoughts two stood out. You promised… said a voice that sounded suspiciously like Alex. I failed her again…

He shook the thoughts away. He'd never failed Alex before and he wasn't about to now.

Whipping out his phone he called Roland. "Roland I want all the security footage from Alex's building and any footage from surrounding buildings of the streets nearby. Call all of Alex's friends and find out the last time they saw her or if they knew if anything suspicious was going on. I'm calling the police."

"Is something wrong with Mistress Jones Master Kaiba?" Roland asked.

"She's been kidnapped."