The house was buzzing with the sudden appearance of an older man. Umi tried peeking into the courtyard when she heard voices arguing, but the guard stationed at the door always motioned for her to stay inside.

"You are not even listening, Father." She heard the voice that sounded like her Seto say. She could only imagine that he was talking to the newcomer.

"I do not need to listen to the words of a traitor." The voice was deeper than the youth and cracked with age.

"My duty, my loyalty is with the throne, Father. With the kingdom."

"But the one who sits on the throne has betrayed the kingdom, Seto. As did the one who came before him. My brother unleashed the darkness that is seeking to devour the world and his son is feeding it. Was it not a royal soldier who attacked that girl? The one who protected you from assassination?"

"Her name was Kisara, and you will speak of her no longer." Seto's voice was ice. Umi imagined the glare that the young priest was giving the older man.

"And was it not the pharaoh himself who sacrificed the God's Wife to the darkness? His actions shut us all off from the Gods. It is why the flood has failed the last several years, and why insects have taken any other crops, why livestock suffer from disease and why the herds of wild beasts are small and weak.

He is small and weak. He is no match for you in either physical or magical strength, my son. The throne was meant to be yours, was made for you and for Neferet to rule together. Her mother and I engineered it so, but he had to be born and strip you of your destiny."

"I do not want to be pharaoh." Seto's voice held a level of finality that Umi had heard before in her own Seto.

The conversation ended abruptly before her brother that was not her brother threw back the drape.

"Come on." he took her by the hand and led her out into the sunlight. Isis ran across the courtyard to him waving her hands frantically.

"My Pharaoh, you cannot. She is still impure."

"Plans have changed. You heard. He's moved and taken Neferet with him. We need her with us, even if there is a small chance that she can call the Gods. We need everything we can get."

"I understand that, but she has no training. If she did not take Neferet's power when they separated, then she will only be a liability."

"I can take care of myself, and I wish you would stop talking like I'm not right here." Umi pulled her hand from the pharaoh's. "What is going on?" She put her foot down as she stopped. "I deserve to know."

Atem stopped and rubbed a hand over his face. He looked more tired than Umi had ever seen him.

"Aknadin came with news that Akefia has fled with Neferet."

The old man she had glimpsed arguing with not her Seto stepped forward.

"I believe they have gone to Kul Elna."

The words meant nothing to Umi, but Isis stepped back in shock.

"The place where the items were created? Why would he need to go there?"

"He was born there." Atem told the group. "Come. We have to go."

Her Seto stopped them once more as they tried to pass through the courtyard.

"She's not going unless I am." He stood with arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Umi felt a flicker of something from her brother who had surfaced momentarily. Was it pride or gratitude? Umi could not tell. She could only tell that something had changed between her brother and her lover.

"Kaiba." Atem warned when the priest held his hand out to the pharaoh. The gesture seemed to say that the priest would handle things. Umi could feel an odd tension as the pair of matching blue eyes met and they wandered to the edge of the courtyard in conference. Her Seto glanced to her and then back to his double. She could tell that he was uneasy from how he stood and the tilt of his head. His eyes darted between the group and the priest trying to convince him to stay. He shook his head but in the end acquiesced. Umi could tell that he was not happy about it at all as he walked over to her. He took her hands and brought her knuckles to his lips. Umi could feel the frustration rolling off of him like waves and she thought she could see unshed tears shining in his eyes. He leaned down to her and kissed her softly.

"Stay safe." he whispered against her lips before kissing her again. She wanted to kiss him more, to wrap her arms around his neck and have him pull her against him. But he pulled away and hurried to the house. Not-her-Seto placed his hand on her back and led her forward as the group continued on their way.

"I promised him that I would protect you. He did not believe that I could."

"He doesn't believe anyone can do anything better than he can."

The priest chuckled. Atem glanced back at them.

"Sounds familiar, does it not, Seto?" the pharaoh pointed out, jokingly, but he felt a cold shot through his heart as he saw the pair together. The envy was still there, despite his desire to kill it, but so too was guilt for everything that had happened since.

The journey to Kul Elna was dusty, dull, and slow. Umi had never ridden a camel, and so found herself sharing a beast with Isis. She had hoped to speak with her brother, or at least Atem or Not-her-Seto during the trip. She had grown tired of Isis' company during her isolation and the others intimidated her. She watched them the best she could from her mount, but she could not make out what they were saying.

Seto felt the weight of his promise to his doppleganger and the weight of the Pharaoh's stare.

"My Lord?"

"Seto, we need to talk."

"We have a long way to go."

"I guess we do."

They continued to ride in an uncomfortable silence as they glanced occassionally at each other.

"If this goes wrong, Seto, I want you to succeed me."

"What?"

"I am naming you as my successor. Siamon already knows of my decision."

"Atem."

"Listen, I know we have not always seen eye to eye, but you love this kingdom more than anyone else I know. If anyone can save it, it is you."

Seto wanted to argue with him, but could not find the words.

Promise me. If things go bad, you will take her and you will run."

"Atem, despite our... history," he said graciously. "I have no desire to rule. I'm here because I am sworn to you, as Pharaoh and as my one-time friend."

The Pharaoh sighed and laughed lightly.

"It pleases me to hear that, but I need to have a contingency plan. So will you promise me this? I may not be able to correct what I did, or fix what happened with Neferet, but the least I can do is assure that the same mistakes will not recur in another place and time. Promise me, Seto, as my friend. Please."

Seto seemed to consider his words for a long time. He squeezed his eyes shut as the memory of Neferet being dragged into darkness sprang to his mind. Eventually he nodded his agreement.

"I will do as you ask. If, and only if, it is necessary."

"Thank you."

"He asked me the same thing, you know."

"Who?"

"The me from the other world."

"Kaiba."

"She is his Neferet."

"I know."

"And how does the other you feel about it?"

Seto watched as the pharaoh closed his eyes in contemplation. He prayed that Atem's remorse was sincere and that he would not work against their reincarnations as he had worked against Neferet's love for him in life.

"He is at peace with it. He just wants his sister to be happy after she has had such trauma."

Seto released a held breath. A small smile crept on his lips.

"I just hope that Kaiba does not do anything to mess it up." Atem said with a chuckle.

The swaying of the camel lulled Umi to sleep. In her dreams she felt Neferet growing closer, reaching out to her. The spirit was still dark, corrupted, but Umi could still feel a glimmer of light within the darkness. She reached for the light as the darkness reached for her.

"Umi," a voice spoke from the shadows.

"Neferet." Umi reached through the inky blackness to the rice grain sized speck of light glowing within.

"I am sorry, Umi. I am sorry I forced you out like I did. It was the only way."

"To protect me?"

"Yes. And to keep you from his grasp. The darkness that has consumed your friend Bakura has a name. He is the God of Darkness and servant of Apophis, the destroyer of worlds."

"I remember hearing you call him something... Zorc, I think?"

"Yes. And he wants nothing more than to consume this and all other worlds."

"And the child?"

"His means to enter your world anew. But you are no longer carrying it, are you?"

"No. Isis made sure of that."

"Good. I had hoped as much when we were severed."

"Are you... physical? I mean, do you have a body?"

"In a way. But it is complicated."

The light that was Neferet seemed to grow larger, warmer as Umi remained with it but it was quickly snuffed out as the darkness threatened to consume them both. A different voice, more sinister echoed through the shadows that now enshrouded Umi.

"I can feel you coming back to me. I knew you could not stay away. Eventually, all light falls to the darkness within."

Umi's eyes snapped open as she gasped. The starlight twinkled in a velvet sky as the caravan continued through the dunes.

Deep within the darkness that had filled her spirit, the tiny grain of hope that Neferet's soul had been sequestered to laughed. Umi had stopped his plan. She had done all she could for her future self when subjected to the power of the rod. She had hoped that Umi would use her newfound freedom to stop his plan in its tracks, but until now she was not certain of the result. Neferet wished that she could gloat in Zorc's face that his plan to bathe the worlds in blood had been squashed by a young girl, or two.

But she could feel the darkness of his presence pressing in on her, demanding that she give him what he wanted, twisting her mind, her thoughts, her will, until it was molded to fit his own. He knew now that they were coming and he forced her to call upon her servants to greet them.

The ruins of the village grew on the horizon as the sun disk slipped into the sky. Seto had forced the caravan to stop and pay proper homage to Ra as the light of dawn rose above the horizon.

"Not that it will do us much good." the priest grumbled as he remounted his beast.

"Anything is better than nothing, Seto." Mahad said as they turned to the west, leaving the kingdom road for the ruined village. Mountains seemed to rise out from the ground of the ruins, casting long shadows on the group as they approached. A murmur rippled through the group. Only Aknadin seemed calm. At a glance, Umi thought she saw him smiling slightly. Umi felt her heart racing, but she shivered as if she had walked outside naked in the middle of winter. Only she was in the middle of the desert. She was certain that the shiver had not been caused by the cold. Rather the uneasy discussion surrounding her about the sudden appearance of the shadows into which they had ridden seemed to be the cause of the chill.

"I do not remember mountains here this close to the river." said one of the group whose name Umi did not know.

"Those are not mountains." Atem pressed forward. Umi could see the tension in his back despite both the distance and the darkness. His jaw was set in determination and he sat straighter in his seat. "I wish I had a horse." He shifted in his seat as he urged the camel further into the shadow that had consumed the land before them.

"The sun's light should be touching the buildings by now." Isis said from behind her. "They should be painted in the reds and gold's of Ra's return, but there is nothing but darkness."

Umi felt the fear quivering her voice. And then she felt them. Umi gasped as the air around her grew electric. She could feel them and their power calling to her from the darkness. The summons terrified her with its strength, overpowering her until she teetered on the edge of consciousness. She felt the panic in Isis' voice from behind her, and the ceasing of the inevitable forward push as the caravan stopped. Strong hands lifted her and carried her to the ground.

"I can hear them." She said breathlessly. She squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of sounds. "They are calling to me. They want me to come to them."

"I knew it was a bad idea to bring her." A disembodied voice of an old man broke through the cacophony of noise.

She felt strong hands on her shoulders and her eyes sprung open.

"Umi." Yugi's voice was tender as he called to her. Their connection was battered by the onslaught of voices, and he sounded like he was far away, or that his voice was being tossed in a storm. His eyebrows were crickled in concern as she searched his face frantically but seemed to not see what she was looking for.

"Yugi?" She whispered, grasping at him. As the twins minds joined together, Yugi jumped.

"It's too much." he said as he pulled away from her and retreated. Atem looked at the young woman in shock, curiuos as to how much abuse she could take.

Arms wrapped around her, pulling her close and tucking her head against a broad chest.

"Shh." A rich deep voice made soothing sounds in her ear. "You can do this, you can close your mind to them. I know it is difficult, but if she could do it, so can you."

"Seto." The warmth surrounding her was familiar but just a touch off. Still the beating of his heart calmed her in a way that her brother's touch had started but could not complete. His warm voice guided her, instructing her on how to weed out the sounds that beset her on all sides. He walked her through the wasteland of her mind touched by darkness and shadows to the place where the Gods dwelled within her and then beyond to the quiet of her own soul. Her breathing steadied and her heartbeat slowed until it was beating in time with his. And suddenly his presence no longer felt slightly out of tune with hers. She opened her eyes to meet his and knew that he had done the very same thing for Neferet once upon a time.

"They were calling me, trying to draw me to them."

"Who were?" Isis asked, though everyone had their opinions on the matter.

"The servants of the Gods. But they were... I don't know, something was wrong with them."

"Wrong, how?" he asked. Umi just shook her head. Atem looked at her from over Seto's shoulder before he stood and announced to the group.

"We're going to stop here for a while."

"But, My Pharaoh," Aknadin started. "I'm sure he is waiting, preparing."

"Of that I am certain."

"Then we must strike now! Before he can gather his defenses!" The old priest waved his arms frantically and paced through the gathered guardians.

"His defenses are already set, Uncle. Umi could sense the Gods' presences already. Should we attack now, or in a couple of hours, it will make no difference." Atem turned his back to the group and walked a few steps toward the ruins. He sighed as he looked at the destruction that had been wrought in the name of his father. He felt the weight of his father's sins pressing down on him like a millstone upon grain.

"Partner."

"I'm sorry, Atem." Yugi said. "What Umi could feel, I don't know how she could withstand it."

"It is fine. I am also sorry that she is going through this ordeal. And I am sorry that you could not give her the comfort she needed."

"We might be twins, but I'm starting to believe that the bond we share is not nearly as powerful as her bond with Kaiba. Even his other self was able to still her heart in a way that I couldn't."

"Yes. I did not want to believe it when I found them together. I knew that Neferet was as loyal to me as she could possibly be, but I also knew that they shared something special. Something I could never be a part of."

"Is that why you were so angry with her, with Neferet?"

Atem nodded. Yugi understood, even though he could only feel Atem's guilt.

"Do you forgive her?"

"What?"

"It hurt, seeing their bond, right? So do you forgive her for needing him?"

Atem could not answer. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at the ruins.

"But, I guess, more importantly, do you forgive yourself?"

The young pharaoh wiped a tear from his cheek. He had wanted to let the guilt go, to forgive and forget, but the pain of it all felt so new, like he had not had the time to process what had happened between them. He still felt gaps in his memories, blocks that he could not move. He had recovered so much with Neferet's help, but he still felt like all of this was wrong somehow. Perhaps not wrong but at least different, as if it did not happen quite this way. Somehow Bakura, Akefia, whatever, was manipulating his memories of the events. And the manipulation left him mired in his guilt over banishing Neferet.

"You have to let it go, Other Me."

Atem could feel Yugi's kindness pour out of his soul. He marvelled at how easily his reincarnation forgave those who crossed him. Yugi never seemed to hold a grudge, despite everything that Kaiba did to him and his friends, despite Pegasus' manipulations, even despite Marik's attempts to kill him. He always gave a second or sometimes a third or fourth chance. Atem had never had the luxury to do so.

"I loved her." He admitted to both versions of himself. "I loved her, and I hurt her."

"Yes."

"If I could do that to her, I never deserved her."

"Perhaps not, but that doesn't change how you felt."

"But she hurt me too. She hurt me." He sighed as he fell do his knees. "But she did not deserve what I did to her. That was not an act of love. And despite everything, I did love her. But I was stupid, young-too young to know any better."

Atem could feel Yugi's warmth, his non-judgemental presence. It wrapped around him like a blanket.

"But I should have. I should have known better." Atem turned back to see Seto holding Umi tightly. Her face was buried against him and he whispered to her. He rocked her slightly as he comforted her. "Do not make my mistake, Partner. Do not stand between them." Yugi's soul seemed to laugh.

"Don't worry, Other Me. I wouldn't dream of it."

Kaiba paced through the building, passing through every room like a bird of prey that was searching for its next meal but who never found anything worthwhile. He criss crossed the courtyard but never seemed to land anywhere for long. The house staff kept their distance from the raging storm of his presence, but Joey, Tea and Tristan just watched in curiosity as he circled through the house.

"Is he OK?" Tristan asked as the tall youth stormed out of ear shot.

"I dunno." Tea watched him turn the corner. Her voice was filled with concern. While none of them would ever think that Kaiba would deem them a friend, they had spent a fair amount of time with the young CEO in the last few years. They felt that they knew him fairly well, but his current behavior was like nothing they had ever seen before.

"Eh, who cares," Joey shrugged. "It's not like Kaiba ever showed much concern for us."

"That's a little harsh, especially coming from you, Joey." Tristan cocked an eyebrow at his friend.

"If it was your sister that had run off on a fool's errand like this, I bet you would be singing a different tune." Tea crossed her arms as she glared at the blond boy.

"Yeah, well, Serenity isn't here, and Umi's not Kaiba's sister."

"No she isn't. She's more to him than that."

The pair of males looked at Tea like she was crazy. Movement off to their left caught the trio's attention as Kaiba stormed into view once more. They watched in silence as he walked passed them, giving him plenty of room. Tea scrutinized his face as he moved through her field of vision. His eyes were unfocused, or rather not focused on the world around him. He seemed to have dark circles beneath them, like he had not been able to sleep. His cheeks were sunken and he looked more gaunt than normal. He was mumbling to himself and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists.

"He looks terrible." She said as he once again passed from view.

"What did you mean, 'she's more to him'?" Tristan pulled both her and Joey into a side room where they could talk in peace without worrying about being trampled by Kaiba's pacing.

"I, I don't know for certain, but I, well, I think he's in love with her."

"What?" Joey leaned forward and searched Tea's face. "You can't honestly think that he's capable of anything like that."

"I can and I do." Tea felt more certain about her opinion on the matter now that she had voiced it. "Think about it. The way he jumped to help her, how he devotes every resource he has when she needs it? And what about how he was acting on their date? The fact that he actually made the effort to go on a date with her? It's really the only thing that makes sense."

They watched him through the narrow doorway as Kaiba passed once more. The boys watched him carefully through the circuit.

"You know, I think Tea's right." Tristan sat down just inside the doorway, his back leanign against the wall.

"Not you too." Joey plopped on the narrow wooden bed. "Man, these things are so uncomfortable." He rubbed his rear before sitting down more carefully. "Let's say that he is. What are we supposed to do about it?"

"I don't know. But it feels weird to be doing nothing."

"We've been doing nothing since we got here." Tristan complained. Joey gestured his agreement.

"And the whole thing kind of sucks!" Tea's voice rose with her frustration. "If we can't help Yugi, at least we can try to help him."

"What are you blathering about?" The voice that came from the doorway was filled with derision and spite. The three friends looked up at Kaiba's exhausted but contempt filled face.

"Nothing." Tristan answered quickly. Tea and Joey smiled up at Kaiba, hoping that he would leave them to the gossip.

"I doubt that." Kaiba leaned heavily against the opening before sliding down to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Tea asked, her compassion getting the better of her.

"Do I fucking look alright? I'm sitting here, talking to you three. If that's not the definition of all fucked up, I don't quite know what is." He leaned his head against the narrow wall and ran his hand through his hair.

"Fair point." Tristan crossed his legs and turned to look at their not-quite-friend.

"I hate waiting. I hate not being there."

"Why aren't you? Why didn't you go with them?" Joey asked.

"He asked me not to."

"Yugi?" Tea asked.

"No."

"Oh." She said. Joey and Tristan just looked at each other.

"He said he would protect her, but how can I believe that when he couldn't even protect his own lover?"

"That guy who looks like you?" Joey asked.

Kaiba nodded. He sighed as he stared at the pattern of ripples on the mud bricks that made the opening that linked the room to the courtyard. He could feel the gaze of Yugi's friends on him and the weight of the questions that sat unasked on their lips.

"What?" He asked eventually. The corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile as the trio shifted uncomfortably.

"I, uh, I don't mean to pry, but, um, you said that he couldn't protect his lover? Who are you talking about?" Joey asked curiuosly.

"Neferet. Uh, this is insane." Kaiba said in frustration. "This is all some mass hallucination caused by something in the air of the warehouse that Bakura dragged us to. This can't be real. These people can't be real. None of this happened. This so-called magic is just some trick. Yugi isn't the reincarnation of some ancient pharaoh, Umi didn't split into two and she doesn't have some strange power and that man is not a different version of me." The words spilled from his mouth after having been held back for far too long.

"Tell us how you really feel, Kaiba." Tristan muttered under his breath. Kaiba's icy eyes shot daggers at the other young man.

Kaiba could not reconcile what he saw at every turn with what he felt was the truth.

"It's got to be a trick of some sort. It just has to be." He squeezed his eyes shut as his brain tried to work through the inconsistencies. "Some virtual reality system or an exceedingly advance hologram. I could do it, I have the technology and the skills."

"But does Bakura?" Tea asked the question that had plagued Kaiba's train of thought since the others had left them behind. The thought that he could not explain what was happening grated on Kaiba's nerves.

"It's unlikely." he admitted after a brief consideration. He hated to admit it, and the thought shook him to his core. He pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs and curling into a ball. "But what else could explain it?"

"Maybe they are all right and we are all really back in Ancient Egypt?" Tristan suggested. "I mean, Occam's razor and all?"

Kaiba snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Who's razor?" Joey asked.

"The idea that the simplest solution is most likely the correct one." Tea reminded. "Come on, we learned about this in science last year."

"He failed science, remember?"

"Hey!"

"Truth hurts, Joey." Tristan jabbed his elbow into his friend's ribs playfully.

"This is not a time to argue about school grades." Kaiba interrupted as Joey was about to retort. "We are who knows where, with half of the people who came here with us off on some damned fool's errand. We need to find a way to help them, or if we can't, figure out how to get home."

The trio stared at Kaiba for a moment.

"You sure you're alright?" Tea tried to lay a hand on his shoulder, but he swatted it away.

"No, I'm not! I'm having a huge crisis of faith and my only reason for being here ran off into the desert with her brother and a guy that looks like me, apparently to face some great evil that is trying to destroy the world. Apparently they are destined to stop it, but I can't do anything except sit here and listen to you three argue about useless shit! Ugh!" He slammed the back on his head into the mud bricks that made up the door frame.

"So let's not wait around." Joey suggested. "We're all tired of being left in the dark, we all want to do something to help." Kaiba looked at the young man that he considered to be a gnat with new eyes. "You may not believe in the power of friendship, Kaiba, but we want to be there for Yugi if and when he needs us. So, let's go help." Joey stood up and offered Kaiba his hand. Kaiba looked from the hand to the smiling faces of Yugi's friends.

"You know I don't believe in all that bullshit, right?"

"Come on, Kaiba. Would it kill you to have a little faith?" Joey thrust the hand closer to him. Kaiba sighed as he took the offered hand and let himself be pulled up by the trio of friends.

"Don't think this means anything." He warned them as they made their way out of the house.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Joey said from behind him, a grin plastered on his face. "Never in a million years."

"You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?" Tristan asked.

"They went south."

"They told you?" Tea asked.

"No, but Umi's to the south."

"And you know this, how?" Joey asked with a healthy dose of skepticism. Kaiba shrugged.

"I just do. Now are we going to walk there or will you find some horses or something?"

A few minutes later, the group were mounted and streaking across the desert with Kaiba in the lead, homing in on Umi across the wasteland.

They entered the ruined town on foot, inching closer to the pit that occupied the center of village, where the items had been crafted, where the town had died to make them. Umi noted that the group walked silently, carefully through the mausoleum of a town. Well, everyone with one noted exception. The old man, the one that Seto had called Father and Atem had called Uncle, she could not remember his name, he led the way through the tangle of broken buildings, calling out directions and generally making a nuisance of himself.

"Shh. Aknadin." Mahad whispered. "This is a place of ghosts. Show more respect."

The golden objects wielded by her companions glowed coldly in the shadows. Umi shivered despite the warmth. The air was hot and oppressive, and Umi thought she could hear angry whispers on the wind that blew across the alleyways. The old man made some derisive noises in Mahad's direction that Umi felt were disrespectful. But then, she had little experience of the man showing anyone respect of any kind.

At last they found themselves on the edge of a great black scar across the town, a pit from which Umi felt darkness rising, spreading and seeping out across the land. She had felt a growing sense of unease as they grew closer to this village, but now, staring into the nightmare that had overtaken it, Umi wanted to run. She stumbled back from the front of the group, but Seto's hands on her arms held her still. They warmed and soothed her, though the priest stood rigidly behind her.

Directly across the gash, Bakura sat, though other names rose in Umi's mind as she looked at him-Akefia, the Thief... and Zorc, the God of Darkness. He seemed to be seated on a pile of bones that had been fashioned into a throne. Neferet stood, glassy-eyed, next to him. Her hand laid casually on his shoulder. Umi met her double's eyes and felt her heart break. Neferet had always seemed so powerful, so unbreakable, that seeing her now, a servant to the darkness, made Umi's blood run cold. Her breath came in fits and starts as she remembered her own dead-eyes from her reflection. Umi sagged and would have collapsed to the ground had it not been for Seto holding her up. She twitched and turned as she remembered the feel of strange hands on her skin and the feeling as a bit more of her died and the light faded slowly from her eyes until they were as lost and helpless as Neferet's were now.

"NO!" she cried out as she broke free from Seto's grasp and fell, sprawled on the sand beneath her. The darkness was closer now, grabbing at her, drawing her in. The shadowy hands felt solid as they gripped her and pulled her toward the breach.

"You are stronger than this." The words chorused in her mind in a litany of voices, some familiar, some that were strange but felt as if she had known them before. Two pairs of hands pulled back on her, dragging her from the darkness that threatened to consume her. She saw relief in her brother's eyes as she took a steadying breath.

"Yugi." she touched his cheek. It was her brother, not Atem, who brought her back from the brink. She looked next to him to see Not-Her-Seto staring at her with brows knit together in concern.

"If this is too much..." Yugi started, but Umi silenced him with a shake of her head. She looked back at Neferet. The ancient queen had used her happy memories to keep Umi from going insane while she was suffering at the hands of her captor. The memories eventually helped to free her, to heal her. Umi stood determined.

"I see you have brought me the vessel that will carry me through worlds beyond." Bakura's voice echoed across the pit. "It is a shame none of the rest of you will live to see it." He gestured to Neferet. The queen stepped in front of him, her body shimmering in the golden glow of the ring that still lay against her belly. She raised her arms and looked to the sky. Lightning crackled and the ground shook as the God's servants converged upon the group. All around her, Umi saw the flash of light as her companions-Seto and Atem included, brought forth their faithful servants. She knew that none of them alone were a match for any one of the Gods barrelling for them, let alone all three, but she saw in each of their faces the grim determination to make an effort to do what they could, to make their lives and the lives of those they had sworn to protect count for something. All of them stared down the Gods. All except one. She could not find the old man anywhere, but the flashes of light as the Gods arrived were blinding and she was not able to search for him for long.

"You should so, Seto. Take her, like you promised and go."

"I can't leave you here like this."

"You swore to me."

"I am not going anywhere." Umi cut their argument short as she stepped forward, directly in the path of the Gods. She looked up at the towering beasts and they shattered into fragments of light and dust. Bakura sat forward on his seat of bones and Neferet seemed to waver on her feet. The darkness swirled around her once more. Lightning flashed as the Gods once again took shape at Neferet's command, but Umi stepped forward, toward the pit's edge. Her eye's locked with Neferet's as she took a step off of the edge. The Gods that Neferet had called filled in the great black gash with a river of light that held solid beneath Umi's feet. As she passed into the light and through the power of the Gods, Umi could feel strength growing within her.

"Thank you." she told the great beings that had come to her aid.

"Do not thank us for that which you have done yourself." The strange mix of voices from before echoed within her. "You are, and always have been, a child of the Gods."

On the other side of the pit, Neferet stood transfixed by Umi's light. When Umi stood before her, she could see tears in Neferet's eyes. Umi touched the ring that hung around Neferet's neck and the object shattered.

"You are stronger than this." Umi whispered as she pressed her forehead against Neferet's. "Remember what your mother told you. It is you who hold creation in your hand. Not them. Your fate is for you to decide."