The shadows covered the rooftops, early was the best time to keep an eye on things. No one would notice, no one would care, as a hooded figure stalked high above, keeping an eye out of the surroundings, dodging rain soaked tiles, and leaping over gaps between the houses.
He was swift, and quick footed. Light footsteps made no noise as they skipped across. Landing elegantly each time. An obvious professional, no one would dare be able to track this person. Especially considering he knew what he was doing.

Bakura gave a soft smirk as a large gap approached, not even pausing as he jumped across, landing with ease on the other side. He had jumped larger gaps than that in his time, and with his shadow-magic at full strength, he was unstoppable.
He gave a pause when he reached the edge of this rooftop, surveying the street below. People were walking, the early morning bustle heading to work and school, oblivious to the shadow above, watching their every move. It was obvious, who was vulnerable, who he could take from. The inner voice, telling him to go for the man with the wallet, the woman with the necklace, it would be so easy, and he could go unnoticed. But no, that was not why he was here today. He had his sights set on a grander prize, something irresistible. The rest of the Millennium Items.

He leapt onto the rooftop of the museum, making sure his footing was steady before continuing, two figures caught his attention down below. So...they sensed it as well? A disturbance in the Items, of course they did. No one had as much connection as the Pharaoh to the Puzzle, they went hand in hand. With a smirk he moved further up the roof, finding a small door that he could slip through. With the Pharaoh here he would have to be far more careful, but it wouldn't hurt to see what they were up to.
As he slid down the ladder, he heard the voices echo through the long halls. It caused him to snarl, it had been a long time since he had heard the voice of his enemy, that gloating as he was defeated. There was a reason he despised him so much. Why were they here so early though? The Pharaoh probably couldn't wait to see the items again, such evil things, to hold so much joy to the 'God amongst men'

A quiet huff left his lips, but he kept his hood on, following them from the balcony, hiding in the shadows. Luckily only the bottom lights were on this time, so he could easily slip about unnoticed. Him and Malik scouted this whole building a few days ago, he knew the blind spots well by now. So easy, mortals were far too stupid.

"My Pharaoh, Spirit, please forgive me for calling for you so early. But the items, they are...acting strange. I just had to, they...are glowing. I am not sure what the matter is. I know the pair of you would have far more understanding than me" Ishizu lead them through the long corridors, Yami and Atemu stuck close to her. If the items were acting up, they could be volatile.
"No, thank you for alerting us to this Ishizu, whatever the problem is, we should be able to get it under control as quickly as possible." Ishizu nodded, pushing open a door, leading them to another room. The glass cabinets displayed the life of Atemu, hieroglyphics, the items, old weapons and head wear that still looked beautiful to this day.
The items stood in the middle, minus the Ring and the Rod.
"Where are they?" Yami frowned, Ishizu knew the full question, and she sighed.

"Marik has been missing for a few weeks now, me and Odion...fear the worst. We have tried to keep it secret, I don't want to hassle you any more my Pharaoh, and Spirit. Please, forgive me. We, we do not wish to trouble you with our petty problems"
Atemu's frown deepened.

"No Isis...Ishizu, sorry. Your problems are never too petty, we are your friends. We are here to help you, and always will be. I want to make sure you, Marik and Odion are all safe. We all do. Let us check on these items first, and you can tell us more about what happened to Marik"
Ishizu nodded, and moved to unlock the puzzle from its case, offering it to the Pharaoh, who took it carefully.
"I cannot sense anything wrong with it, no magic, no...anything. It is just how I last saw it, what do you mean, when you say the items have been acting strangely?"

He place the puzzle back down carefully, and turned to Ishizu. As they were talking, Yami stepped closer to the Puzzle, frowning. There was definitely something...something pulling him closer, but he couldn't tell what. An urge to take it...to put it over his neck.
As he lifted it up, Atemu turned to him, frowning warily.
"Yami..." The other man raised a hand to quiet him, caressing the Puzzle with the other. He was...it was beautiful. He could feel himself getting drawn further and further in.
"My Pharaoh, he's fading away!" Ishizu said quickly, and Atemu moved to grab the Puzzle away from Yami, knocking him to the floor. Suddenly his legs returned to normal, looking sturdy, and less transparent.

"No Atemu, it's fine. I want it back, give me it back" He muttered, reaching out to grab it. Atemu shook his head warily, placing it back down in the case, and moving to him.
"No, I don't think we're going to do that. Come on, let's move to another room" Yami tugged against him, still drawn to the Puzzle, still in a trance.

But when the Puzzle was out of sight, he returned to normal, snapping out of it instantly.
"So, are we going to see the Items? I mean it might just be nothing right?" He turned to Atemu, who raised an eyebrow.

"We just went to see the Puzzle Yami, do you not remember? The Rod and The Ring are missing, and you were drawn to the Puzzle, you were fading away Yami, like it was...using your life force. I do not know what is up, but I do not want you anywhere near it at the moment, for your own safety obviously."
Yami frowned, rubbing the back of his head.
"But...wait...we went in? I can't remember a thing. All I remember is...well us walking here, you're sure we went in?"
Both Ishizu and Atemu glanced at each other, before nodding. Something was definitely up.
"Yami, I'm going to need you to wait out here, please. We don't want to risk losing you. For your own safety, Ishizu, will you keep him company?"
"Of course My Pharaoh" She bowed her head softly, and Atemu nodded, before going back into the room.

Yami sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs.
"So I really lost it? That is strange, it's never happened to me before. I'm not sure why. I...as soon as I went into the room?"
Ishizu nodded, sitting down next to him.
"The items have been acting rather odd, glowing, some people have reported seeing shadows, something is going on between them. It is the whole reason I brought the pair of you in. If you are having a negative reaction to them, maybe it is something to do with yourself?"
"Do you think the Spirit of the Ring, and the Rod, might also be affected?" He frowned, watching the door, for any signs of Atemu.
Ishizu could only sigh, shaking her head.
"I am not sure. But this is definitely not the end of this. Of that I am certain. We need to be prepared, something bad might happen, I do not know what to expect"

Atemu came out hours later, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I took a look, and thought of as much as I could to try and fix it. They don't seem to be reacting as badly any more, so my magic seems to have done something. Also the Puzzle is responding to me again, which is good. Not as...bad as what happened to Yami though, I am not sure, if it is because there is three of us, that it responds to the one that was in contact with it the longest. I still need to figure it out"
Yami nodded, and Ishizu pushed herself up elegantly.
"Ishizu, now tell us about Marik, we know you do not wish to discuss the topic, but we want to help, and the only way we can do that, is by getting as much information as possible"

Ishizu gave a soft sigh, and a nod.
"It happened about...beginning of November I would say? Marik was...acting odd, but he refused to say why. He was more guarded, and quiet. We thought it was just a phase, he has been like that before. So we thought it would pass. But...but he spent a lot more time in the house, or by me or Odion, refusing to go out alone. Then one day...he just...disappeared. Again, he has done this before, so we thought he just needed some time to himself. He hasn't been the same since that dark spirit, he likes to take time to think. But...after a week...well I guess we knew something was wrong. I have not seen him since, and then, a few weeks later, the Rod and the Ring go missing. So I can only assume it's those spirits, up to no good again"
Yami sighed, and gave a nod.
"Makes sense, it was what they were drawn to the most. Ryou...has disappeared as well. We thought it was Bakura, the Spirit of the Ring. But...it was Marik's dark-half. He took Ryou from right under our noses. So he has grown far more powerful than we expected. We have to get Ryou back, and Marik. I feel...so sorry for them"
Ishizu wrapped her arms around herself, and Yami placed an arm on her shoulder.

"We will get them back Ishizu, I promise. We wont let them get the best of us"

She smiled softly, and nodded.
"I know, I trust you all so much. I believe we can bring them to safety, but we need to work together." Atemu nodded his head in agreement.

Bakura gave a roll of his eyes, pushing himself up from the wall, and slipping back into the shadows. So...they knew they had the others, and they knew they had the Rod and the Ring, well this was interesting news, so they knew they were around...but they didn't know where they were. Perfect.
He climbed back up the ladder, and over the rooftops. He had to meet Akefia at the docks, to make sure everything was running smoothly. He had been in that Museum for far too long, and risked being caught. The Pharaoh was stupid, but not that stupid.

-x-

Akefia and Bakura arrived home a few hours later, to Malik pinning Marik angrily against the wall.
"I don't care Marik. You do as I say, no ifs, no buts. I want you to translate this for me, and I want you to do it quickly!" He slammed the book into Marik's chest, who fell to the ground, giving a loud cough.

"Please Malik, I don't even know if I can decipher this language. It's not hieroglyphics, I don't even know what this language is!"

"Well get studying, I want it translated, and I want it done now!" With that he dropped Marik to the ground, who grabbed the book and scampered through to another room. Bakura chuckled dumping a bag of food on the table.
"Getting on with your Hikari Malik?" Malik shot him a glare, and shrugged.
"Is it really that obvious? Your Hikari on the other hand, delightfully obedient. Gives excellent massages as well, I should ask for them more often~"
"You didn't" Bakura tensed up, glaring at Malik, who had that disgusting grin on his face again.
"Well, he responds far better to threats than I imagine he would, he is just so delightful Bakura, you should let me play with him more."
"Where is he Malik?" Bakura snarled, Akefia took the chance to slip past, grabbing an apple from the bag. With Bakura and Malik tormenting each other, he slipped into the laundry room, where he saw Ryou curled up in the corner.
"Are you alright little one?" He muttered, sitting down next to him, offering the apple. Ryou took it with a small thanks.
"He didn't hurt me, if that's what you were thinking. But he...he made me kiss him, and...touch him. I don't like him at all" Akefia nodded, running a hand through the others hair.

"Don't tell Bakura, I...I don't want Bakura to know anything. He's bad enough as it is, I don't want to make it worse. They will just fight, and I'll have to clean up afterwards. No, just...keep it between us, okay? Please Akefia"
The other froze, before nodding softly. "Of course, as you wish. Bakura is looking for you. I suggest you go out and see him, tell him you're okay. He seems angry"

"Yes okay Akefia, thank you for the apple" He smiled, putting it on the book beside his makeshift bed, before slipping out of the laundry room.

Bakura smirked when he saw Ryou, looking over him. "I do not want you to give this...demon anything else, okay? You do not belong to him, you belong to me" Ryou flinched, and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry Bakura...I didn't mean to make you angry" Akefia appeared from behind him.
"I should not have left him alone with the demon, I am sorry Bakura. I was follow your orders. Perhaps it would be better not to leave Ryou alone?"
"But then we would never get anything done...You!" He turned to Malik, snarling under his breath. This was awkward, this made things far more difficult. He didn't like the idea of Malik touching his Ryou.
"Better idea, we shall lock Ryou in our room when we are away, that way he cannot get in, and Ryou will be safe" The younger whitette groaned silently. Great, just great. Was he meant to stay in Bakura's room all day now? That was unfair. First imprisoned in a house, then thanks to Malik he was going to be imprisoned in a room. But of course, like always he said nothing, just moved to grab the bag of food from the table to put away.

"No no, no need to do that. I will leave him alone. I promise, don't be too harsh on sweetheart over there, he was only doing what I told him to do. He also helped Marik. He is very kind, and helped fix my wounds, as he did Akefia's. I was taking advantage, I wont touch him, I give my word"
"Really? Your word?" Bakura said sarcastically, looking over to him lazily, there was no way on Earth he could trust this monster.

"Well of course, I do not want Ryou to spend his days in your room, that would be cruel, even for me. Besides, who would have dinner ready by the time we return home? I will leave him, it's alright. You can have him all to yourself"

Ryou relaxed visibly, and continued putting the food away, Bakura looked from him to Malik, before nodding.

"Fine, I'll trust you...this time. Anyway, what are you having Marik translate?" Malik's eyes lit up, and he pulled a paper from the table.
"Took me a long time to find this, but the Millennium Spellbook, the one that was used to forge the items, was not the only Spellbook in existence. This other book, that I have found, was known only as The Book of the Dead. It is said to have spells for everything, so I thought I would take a look, see if it works, or if it is a lot of rubbish. After all, it may have the spell we are looking for to control the Pharaoh."

"Oh, that is what I had to tell you about. The Pharaoh knows of me and you, and Malik and Ryou have been captured by us, they also know we have the Rod and the Ring"

Malik groaned, falling into his chair with a sigh.

"Great, they are not as stupid as they look, well we have to speed up production then. I am not sure how quick we can get this area all set up. I am still putting all the shadow-magic talismans around it so they will not detect us. It is still going to take months before it is ready, and we still need to get the objects to bind the Pharaohs soul"

"Hmm, turns out it is not the Pharaohs soul we need. Akefia doesn't have any reaction to the Millennium Ring, apart from a slight boost in shadow-magic, for me however it works as normal. I witnessed the same with the Pharaoh and his counterpart. We need to kidnap the Spirit. Not the Pharaoh. The Spirit has a strange reaction to the Puzzle, like it was draining his life force. We can use that, I am sure of it"

Ryou listened carefully. Why did they want Yami though? What were they planning? He finished putting the food away, and moved to make Bakura a coffee, something the man had been addicted to ever since he became a mortal.
"Fine, we can easily alter the plan. It is quite easy to tell the Pharaoh and the Spirit apart, but what about the light and the Spirit?"
"We can always take both, the Pharaoh is protective over his Hikari, it will be interesting to see how he manages without him in the modern world" Malik smirked at that idea, relaxing further in his chair.
"I like it, good thinking, another way to torment the Pharaoh, just what we need. I want him to suffer. He should be the one sent to the shadow realm, to know what it is like"

Ryou brought the cup of coffee over to Bakura, who took it carefully. "If you are done, you can go back to your room. We need to talk about things, Akefia, go with him, and keep an eye on him" Akefia nodded, and Ryou was led back into the laundry room.

"They're planning something bad, aren't they? That they obviously don't want us to hear. Ugh, I wish I could just..." Akefia said nothing, sitting on the windowsill in the corner, staring out the window. Ryou watched him for a minute or two, before sitting down on the bed.
"I'm glad they are not shutting you in Bakura's room permanently, I thought that would be a bit ridiculous myself. But once Bakura has something in his mind, it is unlikely he is going to change that opinion" Ryou nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I hate him you know, I really...just want to be left alone. My life was going perfectly, then he returns. I mean...why does he want me here? I am no use to him, or his plans. He gains nothing from tormenting me. I just...sorry...I understand you're in the same boat"
Akefia nodded, before glancing to Ryou.
"He wants power, and control. He doesn't have many people he has power over right now. So he chooses the ones he knows he can definitely control, me and you. It is unfair, but it is how things are going to be, we know we can't escape, so I suggest we just...get along with him as best we can, and do as we're told. The less likely we are at getting punished"
"I know Akefia, thank you. I just...I wish I wasn't stuck here, I want to be home, with my friends."
"And I do not want to be here at all, but fate is cruel, and Bakura is even worse"