Author's Note: *cries a thousand buckets of blood* You have absolutely no idea what it took to write this chapter. I've been through so much since the last. I'll spare you the details—let's just get this thing done.

(Since most of you don't remember, I'll catch you up: Yugi, Atem, and Seto are still looking for Jounouchi, Ryou is on his way to tell the Pharaoh some news, Bakura's in trouble with his girlfr—I mean Marik, etc. etc.)

Now that's you've been reminded, let us begin:

Chapter 34

Ryou took three days to trek the one-day trip back to the capital. He kept his pace and progress leisurely on purpose, which was actually much more difficult than it seemed. But he really needed extra time to think things over, to decide if he should tell the Pharaoh of Thief King Bakura's return or not.

His first reaction was to report to him everything, and even after all his thinking, he was still convinced that this was the safest way to go about it. But something was stopping him… A feeling of dread was holding him back.

But dread of what?

Disappointing the Pharaoh seemed to be most likely the cause of his anxiousness. The problem of the Thief King and his influence had finally died down after a long reign of it plaguing the land, and if he was truthful with himself, Ryou did not want to be the bearer of bad news when it came to telling the Pharaoh that the same problem had arose once again.

Ryou tried to convince himself that there was nothing personal in the matter, that it was strictly professional. But he kept imagining the look of disappointment Pharaoh Akunumkanon would wear upon learning the information, and it was almost too painful to think about.

In actuality, Egypt's greatest spy was afraid.

It was not his failure that would cause the Pharaoh's grief, but it might as well have been. The fact was that Bakura was recovering and regrouping as Ryou contemplated this, and that damned Thief King would likely not let the attempted assassination of him go unchecked.

Yes… It was unavoidable to inform the Pharaoh.

But was it really?

The more Ryou thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Bakura would make any hasty moves. Despite the fact that he was still injured, the Thief King was infamous for taking his time when taking revenge. He would often seethe upon the latest "wrong" committed for a while before he took any action against the perpetrators.

Then, was it really essential to inform the Pharaoh right away?

The way Ryou saw it, it was entirely unnecessary to worry the Pharaoh early on. It would only cause stress in the end, and what for? If they were not going to hear from Bakura until he announced himself "back from the dead," then what was the point of warning everyone early on?

There was no point. At least, that was the conclusion that Ryou finally came to.

Even after receiving this revelation, Ryou decided a meeting with a certain few at the palace was important enough to go through with the trip, even if it did not regard a single detail about the Thief King.

"Mahad," Ryou greeted as he walked through the palace gates. The man was not exactly the person he felt the need to talk to at the moment, but he could check up on something while he had the item bearer hostage.

"Ryou, hello." Mahad gave him a quizzical look. "You returned alone?"

Ryou blinked. He had almost forgotten that he had left Prince Atem, Lady Yugi, and Priest Seto back in Yugi's village to fulfill her promise. "Evidently, something came to my attention, so I had to return early on my own."

Mahad folded his arms, a bit of tension sneaking onto his face at learning that there was possibly urgent news. "Does that mean you would like me to schedule a meeting with the Pharaoh for you?"

"No, it is not the Pharaoh I came to speak to," Ryou admitted. "It was Isis. But firstly, I would like to ask you something, Mahad."

"Does it require us to move to a more remote location?"

Ryou sighed. "That would be preferable, yes."

Mahad nodded. "I understand. I will meet you later then."

"Thank you." Ryou then inquired, "Then, do you happen to know where Isis is at currently?"

"Why do you ask me? It is not as if I keep a watch on her or anyth—"

"Mahad."

"Fine, fine. She's in the courtyard."

Ryou shook his head, trying his best to conceal his smile. "Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mahad."

"Of course," Mahad replied swiftly and immediately made his way off the scene. Ryou laughed softly as he disappeared and off himself towards the courtyard.

It did not take very long at all to locate Isis. She was sitting on the bench in the center of the area, one leg crossed over the other and looking deep in thought.

"Huh. Seems no one does their job except me," Ryou teased as he took a seat beside the priestess. "I cannot imagine how you got along without me all these previous years."

Isis transitioned slowly from her state of thought to Ryou's statement, and she giggled faintly when the joke finally registered. "I am not sure how either," she told him.

"Mind telling me what you were thinking of?" Ryou asked, flashing her a disarming smile.

Isis uncrossed her legs and crossed them again. "It was nothing of importance," she insisted. "I am afraid it will bore you."

"I doubt that," Ryou denied, studying her expression for clues. "But I will respect your privacy."

The priestess nodded appreciatively. "You just got back then? Did you talk to Mahad about—?"

"We will be discussing that later," Ryou interrupted, cutting Isis off right before she would give away what the topic of their conversation would be about. "You understand, of course, the delicacy of the subject."

Isis realized Ryou was indirectly apologizing for interjecting into her sentence, and she mumbled, "Yes, I understand." Her tone evened as she deduced, "I assume though that you are talking to me for a particular reason other than polite conversation."

"Indeed." The spy noted that Isis tensed, so he quickly reported, "It is good news, actually. There is no need to fear it."

"I… am not afraid," Isis tried to assure him, but it was not the least bit convincing.

Still, Ryou pretended that it was and declared, "If that is the case, I will go ahead and tell you that I got in contact with your little brother."

Isis froze, pupils dilating. "You… talked to Marik? Directly or indirectly?"

"Directly. Face to face," Ryou promised.

"Then, he is safe?" the older sister asked frantically. "And healthy?"

As brief as an interaction as they had shared, Ryou was able to infer that Marik had been in perfectly good health. And, considering his closeness to the Thief King, it was probable that he was living as safely as someone could possibly be.

"Yes to both," Ryou answered after a pause.

"I see…" Isis took a sigh of relief. "Then… where is he? What is he doing?"

Those had been the questions that Ryou had been dreading.

"He wishes not to disclose that information to you at this time," Ryou recited professionally. He then took Isis's hands in his and patted them reassuringly. "Please, try to understand that he is only doing what he thinks is right," he pleaded.

Isis could not. It was too unfair to be kept in the dark. Although she was grateful for the news that Marik was alive and well, she could not bring herself to be comforted completely with that information alone. She needed answers, and she wondered if she would perhaps be able to get them if she worded her questions differently.

After a long lull in which she contemplated this, Isis removed her hands from Ryou's and ordered in an authoritative tone, "Tell me this then: Is Marik alone?"

Ryou pulled back, just slightly, like a reprimanded child. Some old habits die hard, he supposed. So, with a reluctant sigh, Ryou replied, "Quite the opposite."

"And… who is he with?"

"I cannot tell you that."

Isis narrowed her eyes into an intimidating glare. The rumors had always been that Marik had joined the Thief King's faction, but the priestess had neither accepted nor denied that gossip. She strategically remained indifferent throughout the years, and she felt that it was what had to be done here as well.

In the end, she made no mention of Thief King Bakura.

Instead, Isis asked, "Do you think he is happy with the people he is with?"

Ryou took his time responding to that question. At last, he went with: "I imagine so. Though I did not ask him, he appeared rather satisfied with where he was, what he was doing, and whom he was with whilst he did these things in those places."

The ambiguity of Ryou's answer made Isis furious, but she attempted not to show it. She took a deep breath and continued interrogating, "Then, what did you ask Marik when you confronted him?"

Ryou, for the life of him, could not remember. He assumed it had something to do with the tenderness of the situation at that time, because for some reason, he could not recall a single detail.

"Marik asked most of the questions," Ryou notified. "The one that is most highlighted in my mind is when he asked about you and Rishid."

Isis felt like she should have been relieved by this, but alternatively, her heart only grew heavier. "Oh, I see."

"You do not seem terribly ecstatic about that," Ryou observed.

"No, I am not," Isis confessed. "It makes me suspicious why he has never visited or sent letters. If he was genuinely concerned about m—us, you think he would have." She cursed under her breath for almost sounding selfish.

Ryou ignored her fault and encouraged, "Well, I do not know if Marik had changed much in the years we have not seen each other, but if his personality is anything like it was back then, he is probably doing what he thinks is best presently." He smiled to himself more than to Isis. "You know Marik; he does not like to think more than a day ahead."

Isis wondered if that was still true, but she could not refute that Ryou seemed truthful as he said it. "All right," she permitted. "Then I suppose I should not hold you up any longer."

"You were not holding me up at all, Priestess Isis. Though, I should get to Mahad with that matter…" Ryou turned his head to the side and called, "Mahad, I finished my conversation with Isis! You can stop spying on us now!"

"Supervising," the man hissed, tripping out from behind his hiding place.

"Did you really think Lord Ryou would not notice?" Isis taunted.

"Well, I doubt you did," Mahad muttered.

Isis had no rebuttal for that.

Ryou shook his head. "Then let's go, Mahad."

The mentioned item bearer fell in line behind Ryou and followed him out of the courtyard, leaving Isis alone once again with her thoughts.

-transition-

"Kisara! Turn around and look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Marik sighed.

"Quit avoiding me!"

Another sigh.

"You have some explaining to do!"

Marik figured it was useless to try to get Bakura to stop chiding Kisara like she was his juvenile daughter. They needed answers out of her anyway—Marik doubted they would get them through these means though.

"Kisara—" Marik's voice came out much softer, creating a good cop-bad cop dynamic between him and Bakura. "—you need to tell us what is going on. Bakura said that he has been receiving terrible nightmares that will not let him sleep for some time now. There must be a reason for them, and considering you have been rather secretive lately, we suspect that you know something about it."

Kisara cast her gaze to the ground nervously, avoiding eye contact with both Marik and Bakura. "I… do not know what you are talking about. I have not been secretive."

"Those are blatant lies, Kisara," Bakura stated harshly. "And, while I admire you having the courage to lie to the Thief King's face, I do not appreciate being deceived."

Marik sighed for the millionth time. "Please, Kisara. I am sure Bakura is tired of not being able to sleep—pun intended. I mean, for Ra's sake, he wondered out into the middle of nowhere and was cornered by one of the Pharaoh's assassins due to his fatigue. Do you have no loyalty to Bakura? Do you wish for his death?"

These words cut Kisara deep, and she physically flinched at Marik's accusation.

If there was any real lie in this conversation, it was that she was not loyal to Bakura. She was more than loyal and completely grateful to him. After all, he had been the man to tame her wild powers that had hurt everyone around her. How could she be anything but devoted after that?

"You know… I walked outside because I wanted to, not because of a lack of sleep," Bakura corrected quietly.

Marik covered his ears. "I refuse to believe that! I refuse! There's no way you're that stupid!"

Bakura rolled his eyes.

"I am sorry," Kisara announced, which got the two men's attention. "I should have told you… I did not know it would affect you in such a way…"

"That what would?" Marik questioned.

Kisara gave Bakura a weary look, as if silently forcing him to promise that he would not get angry if she told the truth. After a somewhat hesitant nod from him, the sorcerer confessed, "When I used Marik's evil spirit to close your wound, I thought there might be some… side effects."

Marik's eyes widened. "You mean… That thing that was in me is trying to wear Bakura down so that he can possess Bakura like he used to do to me?"

"That would be my guess."

"Is that all?"

Kisara and Marik stared at Bakura like he had gone insane.

"Heh! I think you two often forget who I am." Bakura sat down at the table in the tomb cavern, spinning a golden chalice round and round with his pointer finger. "I can handle a little specter like that. And here I thought it would actually be something serious…" He smirked broadly.

"It is serious, Master Bakura," Kisara stressed.

"Yes, Bakura. You don't know what it was like…" Marik trailed off, not being able to communicate just how severe this problem was.

Bakura tossed the treasure to the side, the item making a clashing, metallic sound as it mixed with the rest of the trophies in the space. "I got a pretty good understanding from you, Marik. And you should relax; I can handle this." He leaned back in his chair unconcernedly.

Marik did not feel nearly as confident as Bakura was. It seemed impossible that Bakura could fend off Marik's evil spirit with pure willpower. Although, stranger things had happened…

"How are you going to sleep then?" Kisara brought up.

Bakura shrugged. "I am not sure. But I'm assuming the damn spirit must be getting tired itself, spending all night torturing me and all. Maybe soon I will get to talk to it directly during one of these nightmares and beat into him that Thief King Bakura is not a person to be screwed around with." He made a fist and punched the air over the table, chuckling to himself as he envisioned it.

Marik had to smile at that. He could easily picture that as well. And who said that it was not far from the truth? Considering Bakura's luck, he would get an opportunity yet.

And then everyone would be able to catch up on their sleep.

-transition-

Seto could not take one more day of this village. He would lose his mind before then, and rather gladly, all things considered. The Motou manor continued to terrify him to no end, and the village brought to mind painful memories. Yes, he had just about had it with this little expedition.

He needed to get some air.

The Festival of the White Dragon was still taking place, after all this time. It lasted an entire week as it turned out, and the festivities only added to Seto's headache as he strolled through town square.

The priest was heading in the direction of the village's temple. He knew some people there who would lend him a dark room in which to think or perhaps sleep away the throbbing pain in his head.

Caught up in this wonderful daydream of a nap, Seto barely noticed when he tripped and ran straight into a stranger.

"My sincerest apologies," Seto muttered quickly, trying to get past the unnotable event in order to reach the quiet nirvana that he craved.

"It does not sound very sincere," the person grumbled from the ground, shaking his blonde bangs out of his line of vision to glare at Seto.

When their gazes met, cold blue lightning flashed between them.

"It's you!"

"The stray dog!"

Jounouchi hopped up, a growl escaping him. "I am no stray dog, you bastard!"

"It is all that I recall of you," Seto murmured with a smirk. But that haughty expression abandoned him in an instant as a chilled thought rushed through him. "It could not possibly be that… you are Lady Yugi's friend?"

Jounouchi's annoyed and fierce appearance left him at the name. "Yugi? Yugi is with you?"

"You dare address the future queen of Egypt without a title?" Seto hissed down at the blonde man.

Jounouchi did not seem to hear him at first, his head bombarded with this new information. "Yugi is… with you? That means she got to the palace in one piece. Good then. I was nervous when I didn't hear anything back from her… Wait, did you say future queen of Egypt?"

"Would you stop your rambling, mutt?" Seto rubbed his temple, his headache still plaguing him. "Lady Yugi herself can explain everything to you. She is at the Motou manor as we speak."

"She is?" Jounouchi grasped Seto's arm and yanked him down the road. "Then show me the way, priest boy."

Seto scowled and snapped his arm away from the other. "Find your own damn way, stray dog. I am not your escort."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Look, I know we were not always on the best of terms—"

"Your fault, by the way."

"The point is," the blonde barked, "I am Yugi's friend, all right? And considering she traveled with you here, I will assume you are her friend as well. So let's try to put aside our differences and get along temporarily. Got it?"

"Using your head for once, mutt? Impressive."

"This is going to be more challenging than I thought," Jounouchi griped, dragging Seto along back to the Motou mansion.

Author's Note: You know, I type a lot faster than I used to. I'm kind of proud.

Hope this'll hold you over for a bit. I'll try to get things out more quickly if I can. Thanks for sticking with me.

And, yes, I did change my pen name. Go to my author page for details.

Have a good rest of the weekend. Please review.