"I'm sorry…"
Marik did not respond to Azra's words as he watched his sister sleep off the effects of the healing spells. While the Thief Queen had reacted quickly and Azra had worked with her to stablise Ishizu, he could not bring himself to trust it until she had woken of her own accord.
"I'm not sure sorry really cuts it." Rishid's reply was harsh, but Marik was unsurprised. The Necklace Bearer had stepped in when their mother had died and taken both Ishizu and Rishid under her wing. The anger and betrayal the older Ishtar children had felt when they learned she was helping the other Tomb Keepers hunt them down, still stung harshly. "You've…"
"I know I've done you all harm." Azra cut him off, turning her eyes towards the floor, away from his harsh gaze, "And I know I owe you all more than I can ever, truly, repay but…"
When she trailed off, the Thief Queen pushed herself away from the wall she had been leaning against with an unamused huff. "It's not unusual for anyone on the Pharaoh's side. Even the Pharaoh herself isn't above betraying those she cares about."
Azra's head shot up and her gaze turned confused as she considered Ba-Khu-Ra. They had a deal in place. She would leave the Ishtars alone unless Challenged or approached by them first, which she had apparently done well enough that the Shadows did not consider her to be in default, and provide the Thief Queen answers to the questions that had plagued her for millennia.
In exchange, Ba-Khu-Ra would side with the Pharaoh during Battle City.
Azra closed her eyes tightly for just a moment and winced as she realised the error of her wording.
"During."
Battle City was not starting for another few days. The Thief Queen did not have to support the Pharaoh until then.
In hindsight, she should have known better. The scrolls she had once protected willingly had spoken of how to interact with the Demon Thief, should one be unfortunate enough to run into Ba-Khu-Ra.
The Demon Thief was a rules lawyer, someone who would obey the words of a deal, but not the spirit. Unless, of course, obeying the spirit was advantageous to her. Not only that but she would find all the loopholes in the wording of a deal so she could take advantage of them.
To match her up to tales Azra had read since they had started treading the surface, dealing with the Demon Thief was a lot like making a deal with a fae of old, or a crossroads demon. You could guarantee that the letter of the deal would be upheld. What she had agreed to do would be done, but no more unless it benefitted her.
And if you broke your deal, or tried to bring harm to her or those she cared about… well… there was more than one reason that the surface branch of the Tomb Keepers had been exterminated.
Azra bit the inside of her lower lip, wondering if she should call the Demon Thief on her actions. Technically Ba-Khu-Ra was not breaking her oath, the Shadows would have reacted badly if she had. At the same time, however, if she allowed Ba-Khu-Ra to keep tainting the Ishtars' perceptions of the Queen of Games, they would act against the Pharaoh violently.
And Azra wanted as little bloodshed as possible in the now inevitable conflict to come.
"Ba-Khu-Ra, you know she didn't betray you." The Necklace Bearer reminded the Thief Queen with a harsh snap, "I've already told you that and I suspect she has too."
"And how well is she supposed to trust you when you stabbed us in the back?" Azra froze at the voice that joined the conversation, then wheeled to look at the speaker.
Ishizu was pushing herself sitting and glowering at her.
"I…" Before the Bearer of the Necklace could speak further, Ishizu had swept off the blanket and seized the Millennium Rod from the bedside table. Azra took a step back as Ishizu got up and stared her down.
"Get. Out." The hiss in the tone of the oldest Ishtar sibling made Azra flinch. "Actually no, explain why I should let you live, rather than send you to join your husband."
"Because I was never actually on Karim's side?"
At Azra's question, Ishizu tilted her head, her curiosity earning the Tomb Keeper more time to talk. "Yes, I'll admit, I WAS helping him hunt you after you left the catacombs. And yes, it was me who sent Omori to Paris. But it was because I was trying to protect you."
"Protect us?" The blue in Ishizu's eyes was washed away by the amber hue of Hanaq's, as Ishizu's Wrath took a step toward Azra, causing her to take another step back. "You were trying to protect us? Do you have any idea how much our lives have been ruined because of you? Because YOU sent the Tomb Keepers after us again and again?"
"Yes." The Necklace Bearer hung her head as she admitted it. "I've been watching you and your brothers ever since I got the Necklace. I know almost everything you've been through but I swear, it was for a good reason."
"And what was that?" The level of sarcasm in Hanaq's demand as the Millennium Rod glowed brightly, warned Azra that she was moments from either a Shadow Game or being killed outright.
"If I had refused to aid them, or, as I was tempted to do multiple times, dealt with my husband to get him off your case, I would have been… removed, and replaced with someone who had no reason to give a damn about you and no reason to lie about your location."
Hanaq paused to consider the woman carefully, able to see the logic in her reasoning, "You had the Necklace, why didn't you just take control of the catacombs?"
"You think they'd let me get that far after what you did?" Azra shook her head. "The moment I got my hands on the Necklace, I knew what would happen. If I even suggested that things needed to stop or change. My head would not have stayed on my shoulders and the next Bearer would have seen no harm in assisting them in…"
When the woman paused and swallowed hard, Rishid let out a soft sigh. "You still care about us."
"I've never stopped. I had to do what I did, had to play the game I have, in order to stay in a position where I could protect you all and save the Pharaoh."
Hanaq's eyes narrowed at the last part, tempted to smack the woman that had been like a mother to her for even thinking about Mutou Yugi. "That bitch betrayed us."
"What…?"
"If she hadn't lured me away, then your husband wouldn't have gotten the chance to hurt my brothers and I wouldn't have ended up stabbed." Hanaq hissed, noting the hurt on Marik's face and the anger in every line of Rishid's body language. "They knew I was leaving my brothers unattended and she…"
"I told them." Azra cut her off, desperate to try and stop the Wrath before her brothers could Fall too, "Not Yugi. I'm the one who…AH!"
The cry Azra let out as she was slammed against the wall and pinned there, just like her husband had been, made Marik flinch but he did not dare act otherwise as Hanaq drew the dagger of the Millennium Rod from its sheath.
"You. Again." The demon tainted version of Ishizu snarled as she held the blade to Azra's throat, causing the older woman to tremble in fear. "I should end you right now and take the Necklace for myself."
The Thief Queen's eyes narrowed as she realised that Azra was not even trying to fight back and that should she allow Hanaq to fulfil her urge to wipe the woman out, she would lose the information she had been promised.
"She has information I require." The Thief stepped forward, putting a hand on Hanaq's arm and pushing down, forcing the blade away from Azra as she let her magical energies swirl around them, reminding Hanaq of everything she was capable of. "I can't let you kill her. Not yet."
Fury coursed through Hanaq at being denied her kill, but she was not stupid. As it stood, the Demon Thief was more powerful than she was. She stood no chance if she Challenged her here and now.
Then it hit her. There was a way she could punish everyone. Azra, for making her life and the lives of her brothers a living hell by helping them be hunted like wild animals. And Ba-Khu-Ra for interfering in her justice and failing in her oath to keep the Tomb Keepers away from the Ishtars.
Little Yugi.
It was perfect.
Ba-Khu-Ra still needed Yugi alive so she could seize the Pharaoh's name.
Azra cared enough for the Pharaoh's brat to betray the children she had half-raised, so she could protect her.
And it was not just them it would affect.
The Pharaoh refused to get on with her duties. Threatening her 'twin' would force the Pharaoh to participate in the Shadow Games Ishizu had planned. Through them, the Pharaoh would grow stronger and finally be ready to do what was needed.
Targeting little Yugi would do everything she wanted, all at once.
"Fine." Ishizu's Wrath huffed as she stepped back and sheathed the dagger. The Shadows holding Azra faded as the blade clicked back into place and the Necklace Bearer hit the floor. "Keep her. She's your mess to deal with but be warned, if I see her again, she's dead. Oh, and let the Pharaoh know I'm coming to deal with her."
"I understand." Ba-Khu-Ra did and it saddened her to see it. Ishizu was nearly gone, buried beneath the hate and fury. All the effort Yugi had put in to try and talk her around had gone to waste.
Which meant Battle City was about to be hell unless the Thief did something about it.
Ba-Khu-Ra reached for her magic, ready to start a Shadow Game of her own to take out the threat before the tournament could start, just as she would have done for the Pharaoh back in Egypt…
Then mentally staggered as the world tilted like a rug had been pulled out from under her and agony pulsed through every nerve.
'Ah ah ah.' Zorc's voice echoed in her head as the pain died down. 'Fighting her does nothing for my needs and you surrendered what little freedom you had left to protect your 'Sen' from me. You're mine now, just like you were supposed to be when we made that deal all those years ago. We're going to leave Ishizu be and we're going to keep your oath to the Necklace Bearer.'
'Why would… you want to?' Ba-Khu-Ra demanded; her mental voice shaky as she tried to pull herself back together.
'I don't, but you and your vessel are too valuable a tool to throw away and making you default on your contract would be a waste. Besides, playing nicely with the Pharaoh creates a level of trust that I can exploit later.'
The mental exchange took only a second or two. The Thief Queen wheeled around the moment the demon released her and dragged Azra up by the collar. The woman staggered, then looked at Ishizu, sadness clear.
Ba-Khu-Ra no longer cared, she just wanted to leave before Ishizu or Azra realised just how powerless she actually was. As such she shoved the woman towards the door with one last quip.
"Just make sure you leave the Pharaoh in big enough pieces that I can still get what I need from her."
As the door closed behind her and Azra, the Thief Queen mentally winced at Ishizu's last words…
"I'm not making any promises..."
As they left the boat and made it back to dry land, Azra turned to speak with the Thief Queen, hoping to convince her to do something, anything to help her fix this, only to find a pool of Shadows vanishing from the wooden platform of the dock and the other Item Holder nowhere to be seen.
Left with nowhere to go and unsure of what to do to make things right, or indeed if she ever could, the Necklace Bearer activated her magic and turned her gaze toward the future, letting it help guide her towards the 'best' outcome...
Yugi paced the basement, having retreated to the gaming area when everyone else in the store had gone to bed, or headed for their respective homes or hotels.
Amane's flight after Shadi's appearance had been worrying enough. The look Ishizu had given her before she had fled had spoken of something having gone very, very wrong, and Shadi's apology afterwards was just the icing on a very nasty-tasting cake.
And no one was answering their phones. She had tried Marik's, Ishizu's and Amane's and none of them were picking up.
She was tempted to try and track them, but she did not know where to start. While she had been to a location that the Ishtars had visited before, she had no way of knowing whether their home or current location were nearby. Nor did she know the way there, since the last time she had visited, she had travelled there on the back of Marik's motorcycle.
A motorcycle that was currently chained up around the back of the game shop, so it would not get stolen. Katsuya had picked the lock on the chain so they could get it somewhere secure, rather than leave it chained up in the business district and let it go missing.
Just to make things worse, while she knew where Amane's house was, it had been locked up when they tried to check in on her. With no lights drifting through the window and no response to their knocking on the door and windows, it was a pretty safe bet that neither Amane or Ba-Khu-Ra were home. Something that made Yugi really nervous after what had happened with the Otogis.
'Imoto, you need to sleep.' Meisa tried from her perch on the arm of the couch, where she watched her twin stalk up and down the curtained off room.
Yugi just shook her head. She knew that even if she laid down, she would not sleep well. Even with how uncomfortable she was around the Ishtars, she did not want anything to happen to Marik or his older siblings. They were not bad people, just in a bad situation that they had not created.
Just like her.
The Pharaoh sighed and opened her mouth to say something else, only to be cut off by the ringing of Yugi's mobile phone. Within milliseconds Yugi had it to her ear, "Hello?"
"Y…Yugi? I… I need to talk to you. Urgently."
"Azra?" Yugi breathed, confused and worried about how the woman had gotten hold of her mobile phone number. "What…?"
"Can you meet me at the museum? Please? I… I need to tell you something. It's important…"
"I…" Yugi glanced at her sister who grimaced, able to hear everything she heard. "Now? And you can't tell me over the phone?"
"Please. It's… I might have made a mistake."
"We…" She shot her twin a questioning look, worried and wanting to find out what Azra wanted. When the Pharaoh nodded, Yugi let out a soft sigh, "We can be there in twenty minutes."
"I'll wait." With that the call cut off and Yugi darted out of the building.
'It could be a trap.' Meisa pointed out as they paused at a crossing. Not that there were many cars at this point of the evening, but it would have been just her luck to get run over by the one driver who was out and not paying attention.
'I know.' Yugi replied as she pushed the button and waited. 'But I don't think it is. Azra sounded really upset. Besides, just because we don't see eye to eye, doesn't mean I hate her. I'm not going to say no to helping her.'
Yugi could sense the concern that pulsed along the bond, along with the readiness to fight and let out an audible sigh.
'If it makes you feel better, I'll message the others to let them know there's an issue.'
'It would help, yes.'
As the walk signal turned green Yugi fired off a group text to her friends, letting them know what she was doing, but hesitated to message her grandfather when she realised what the time was and that she was breaking curfew. For a good reason, but she was still breaking his rules.
'I'm sure he'll forgive us as long as we get back safely.' Her twin tried to reassure her, still half convinced that this was a trap but also proud of her sister for running to someone's aid.
Azra was waiting for them on the steps of the museum and she gestured for Yugi to follow her within. The museum was still open, mostly because there was a special event on. The tablets the Tomb Keepers had brought with them to Japan had finally been dated and confirmed to be real, historical artefacts.
Domino Museum had been open till midnight most nights as Egyptologists from around the world flooded into the city to learn about the mysterious new artefacts.
The older Item Holder led the younger into a quiet room, where old paintings hung, away from the hustle of those who were here to see the new Egyptian exhibit. The same exhibit that Yugi had been actively avoiding if she could help it, because the tablets made her uncomfortable. Once safely ensconced somewhere where they would not be heard, Azra grimaced and turned to Yugi.
"I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?" Yugi asked. Then her eyes widened as she remembered what had happened earlier in the day, "What did you do?"
"I…" Azra sighed, her shoulders sinking, "I picked the path that I thought would save Ishizu from herself, and instead, I fear she's Fallen."
"Fallen?" Confusion laced Yugi's tone.
"Every Millennium Item has a shard of Zorc's soul trapped within it. Mine and yours included." Yugi grimaced at Azra's words. Marik had told her the same once. "It's not unusual for a Bearer to turn to the demon if things get too hard or they allow their darker emotions to overwhelm them. The Tomb Keepers were always on alert, in case those who led us started to Fall."
"And you think Ishizu's Fallen." Meisa stated, taking over for her twin and staring the older Bearer down.
"My husband took advantage of your offer to Ishizu." Azra looked away, unable to bear the ruby red gaze of the Pharaoh. Especially when the expression that accompanied it was one of disappointment and irritation. "And tried to steal her siblings out from under her."
'Oh no…' Yugi breathed over the mental bond. Meisa could not disagree with her, in fact she wanted to say something stronger, but she held back.
"Are they okay?"
"Now? Yes." The 'now' did not reassure either of the halves of the Pharaoh, "But both Marik and Rishid were hurt and Ishizu nearly… nearly died."
Anger flooded through Meisa, while shock hit Yugi hard.
"What would your tribe even get out of that?!" The Pharaoh demanded, "Bar making them even more unwilling to help you?"
"Karim thought he could use Rishid to control Marik." Azra admitted, "And that having Marik in his grasp would make Ishizu surrender. He was wrong. Now she's angry. At us and at you."
Meisa shook her head and leaned against the nearby pillar, frustrated at having had everything they had worked so hard toward stolen out from under them by stupid, selfish idiocy.
"Is Karim…?"
"No. Ishizu… or rather Hanaq, her demon-guided other self, dealt with him when it became obvious to her that he wasn't going to let her live." Azra trembled as she filled the Pharaoh in, trying to push down the grief that was hitting her so much harder than she could possibly have anticipated.
She had thought that she would not miss the man after the threats he had delivered her, but apparently she had been wrong. Living together with and loving the man for so many years was clearly not just washed away by the last few years of sharp blows and harsh language and she bit her lip and rubbed her right arm where she knew she had a bruise, using the physical pain to distract herself from the emotional agony.
"I'm sorry."
The Pharaoh's apology only made the boiling emotions worse. For all that Azra knew that Karim had chosen his own fate, the fact that they had been in that position at all was because of her…
The Necklace Bearer clamped down hard on that thought, recognising it was the first step to Falling herself.
"My husband's pride made it inevitable." Azra shook her head and took a deep breath before raising her eyes to catch the Pharaoh's gaze. "I saw many versions of these events, my own life and death, Ishizu's survival or demise, even a timeline where Marik gave Ba-Khu-Ra everything she needed to overthrow you… but not once, did I see a chance that my husband would live past his attempt to steal Ishizu's family from her."
"And so, he walked into his own fate…" Meisa sighed, unamused but feeling sorry about Azra's loss and not wanting to compound the grief the other woman would be feeling. "But why? You warned him, right?"
"I did, but according to my husband, the information on Marik's back is too important. The only other copy we had was destroyed by Ishizu when she first seized the Millennium Rod." Azra grimaced, "In a way, he's not wrong. That information can't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. If someone like Ba-Khu-Ra gets their hands on it…"
When Azra shuddered, Meisa grimaced. "Is my name really that dangerous?"
"In your hands? No." The Necklace Bearer sighed, "But your True Name, the one you surrendered twice? You used that to seal the demon and the Shadows it controlled away. Over the millennia, many other creatures of a similar nature were thrown through doors to the darkness. The same sort of ones you open when you cast Penalties. Not to mention the souls that were tributed to the Shadows, like your brother, and have become twisted within them. Your real name could be used to let them ALL out."
Meisa paled at the implication her brother was sealed within the darkness and Yugi let out a horrified gasp as realisation struck.
Back on Duelist Kingdom, when she had been attacked by one of Crawford's Player Killers, she had ended up in a Shadow Game.
When the man had cheated, a being with a set of glowing purple eyes had dragged the Player Killer who attacked her into the Shadows.
Yugi had thought those eyes belonged to her Anesan, but now, she knew they had belonged to Atem.
The brother who had saved Meisa's life during Anubis's attack at the cost of his own life, and whose soul had been sacrificed to the darkness to pay for the summoning of the God Monsters…
Then they both mentally froze as what Ba-Khu-Ra had said earlier came rushing back to them.
"You think I remember all their names now? That there's any chance of rescuing the souls YOUR family trapped in the darkness in exchange for power this long after they were sealed? It would take a miracle now. You would have to bargain with the Gods for every last soul. If you even survived using your magic to separate them from the Shadows."
It finally sank in.
That was why Ba-Khu-Ra was so insistent on getting their name.
That was why the Thief Queen had done whatever she had to, to survive.
Ba-Khu-Ra's people, the people of Kul Elna, had been sealed in the Shadows by Meisa's ancient family.
And Ba-Khu-Ra needed their name to free them and get them into the afterlife…
Meisa just hoped that it was still possible…
"I might have doomed my people for nothing."
She wanted to help both her brother and her former partner, but the name they had, the name she had taken when she had taken the throne, the one she had borrowed from her twin, whose soul was trapped with those of Bakura's people, was not enough.
A Pharaoh chose the name they would forever be known by at coronation, and while she had officially taken 'Atem' as her Pharaonic name, that was not the name she had been born with all those years ago. Nor was it the name her true friends had known her by…
They would need her real name, the one she had tried so hard to hide to protect her country…
And the only clue they had was from the inscriptions upon Marik's back. The ones they had read on the first night they had met Ishizu.
"The Lioness who buried her name twice."
They needed more if they were going to be able to do anything… which meant getting through Battle City and getting the God Monsters.
A part of Meisa did not want to believe that her family could have been so evil as to have done that to everyone Ba-Khu-Ra cared about, but after her uncle had attempted to kill her twin during the Duelist Kingdom tournament, she found herself unable to doubt it.
Her only question was whether it had been her uncle acting alone, or if her father had been in on it as well.
"Azra… did you know?" Meisa's voice shook as both her and Yugi struggled to handle these revelations. "About Kul Elna? About what my family did there?"
"What about the Thieves' Village?" Azra frowned, "All I know about it is that it's where Ba-Khu-Ra hailed from. It's not mentioned in the scrolls."
Anger flooded through the Pharaoh. The whole reason Ba-Khu-Ra had snapped back in Egypt was because her people had been sealed away. Meisa had known that in the past. She knew she had. Ba-Khu-Ra had told her as much when they first met. Back during the Monster World game where her sister and their friends had been trapped in game pieces.
"In the past you understood."
Meisa KNEW she would have told her successor the truth and yet somehow those who had organised this whole protection racket for her name had FAILED to record the reason why Egypt had nearly been destroyed, meaning that she could not even rely on getting any information from them about it.
It made horrible sense. If the Pharaoh's family had been responsible for the massacre, then those who were expected to serve her until she could fully return could not be allowed to know. Just in case they decided to turn on her instead.
It made sense, but it did not make it better.
"Are you sure?" Meisa asked, "This is important. Ba-Khu-Ra…"
"You realise that it doesn't matter if Egypt was a set up or not, the Demon Thief will kill you if she's given the chance? Ishizu too. Because you are the only thing standing between the demon that's manipulating them and escaping into the world to destroy or rule it. He will do anything and tell them anything to manipulate them into what he needs them to do." The Necklace Bearer pointed out; her voice as sharp as she could make it when confronted by the irritated Pharaoh of legend.
"Ishizu doesn't want me dead and even her Other Self has been more interested in pushing me into my destiny than trying to take me out." Meisa shrugged, frustrating Azra, who was honestly not sure that the teen was taking the danger seriously. "I will worry about Ba-Khu-Ra and Zorc once I get through Battle City. I need the God cards if I'm going to stand a chance anyway and I can't get them without competing. Though I wouldn't have had to if you'd just given them to me. How did Kaiba get his hands on one? Do you know?"
It was a question, but the knowing look Meisa gave Azra told the older woman that the Pharaoh had guessed.
"It's interesting, really." The Spirit of the Puzzle sighed as she turned away from the Necklace Bearer, preparing to leave. "Every member of the Tomb Keeper tribe I've run into has had the same goal when I think about it clearly. Push me into doing something I am not ready for by forcing me into battle. Shadi, by nearly killing Imoto and brainwashing my friends. Ishizu, by her gauntlet of lessons she's planned for Battle City. And you by giving Kaiba a God card. Did you give Ishizu hers too?"
When the Pharaoh paused at the doorway for the answer, Azra sighed, "No. We were considering having one of us Challenge you, to see if you were ready to be taken to your tomb to try and find your name when Rishid returned to the tribe. He said he was repentant and had seen that Ishizu was dangerous. That he wanted to return to the tribe and help us…"
"He played you like a harp." Meisa snorted, the realisation earning Rishid several points in her book.
"He stole Ra from us and gave it to Ishizu. Yes."
"And now I have to clean up your mess."
"That's not…" The Necklace Bearer paused her protest at the look the Pharaoh gave her, "My husband thought we were doing what was right by following tradition. The same way we've been doing since you failed to destroy Zorc all those years ago."
Meisa internally winced at the jab. "So tell me what I'm supposed to do. Because I had the Divine Avatars back then too and I still only got a standstill. What's going to be different this time?"
Azra froze at the question, then looked away. "I can't see the very beginning of all this, or the very end, just that there is a timeline where the world survives your war with Zorc."
"But I won't?"
Azra's silence answered the question for her and caused the Pharaoh to scowl.
"And Imoto?"
"I've already told you; she can survive this."
"But it's not guaranteed…" The Pharaoh sighed, anger flooding through her for just a moment. "Until I'm sure my friends are ready, I won't take them into a battle I don't know if we can win. Because I may HAVE to die to ensure this war ends, but I am done with others dying because of my war. Karim was the last victim, I promise you that."
"I… I thank you, my Pharaoh." Azra bowed, "That's all I needed to hear."
"Do you need anything else?"
"No… I'll manage by myself."
"Good." With that Meisa headed out of the painting room and down the hall, needing to get away. Behind her, Azra wrung her hands, hoping she had made the right choice by warning the Pharaoh of what was to come.
Not that Meisa turned back to look. The noise from the evening event that was going on in the room with the Egyptian tablets made her pause in the doorway instead.
She had seen them in Tokyo, before they had been transported to Domino and date tested, and again here when her sister had taken photos of them to use with an article on their website, since people had been asking about the likeness when the existence of the tablets had gone public. It still unnerved her that people had been worshipping her image for thousands of years. And that even now, she and Kaiba were confronting each other. Not that they could truly have been enemies, for every good Egyptologist knew that enemies of the Pharaoh were always depicted bound and kneeling, not facing each other like equals.
She wanted so badly to know what really happened back then, but she suspected she was never going to get a straight answer unless she recovered her memories, so she had a first-hand experience to go off.
She slipped into the room to check the exhibit. Thanks to her grandfather teaching her Egyptian, both hieratic and hieroglyphic, she could read everything that was carved, including the prayer her cousin had carved in.
"Blessed be the Pharaoh, who gave their life for our world." She breathed, repeating it once again, as she had in Tokyo, "We pray that their travels through Duat are not eternal, that their soul will become whole again and that they will return to us when we are in need once more. May our souls be there when they need us and may those who serve fulfil their roles once again."
He at least understood that what she had done was not easy. The Tomb Keepers had told her over and over again how much they had given up for her and how much they had lost and suffered.
Ba-Khu-Ra too, had lost more than anyone could feasibly bear and then lost more again when she had thought she had been betrayed.
But Meisa had suffered as well. Her soul had been torn in two, one half to suffer three thousand years of torture while trapped deep within the Shadows. One half dying again and again, until it was strong enough to survive, constantly fleeing the darkness that hunted it…
All because of something that was none of their faults.
Back in Tokyo, Meisa had asked Azra to reveal the moments of betrayal to her and both incidents had been preceded by the interference of a hooded man with one glowing green eye. He had hired men to assassinate Meisa while disguised as Ba-Khu-Ra AND they were pretty sure he had been behind Shada or Seth ordering the guards that had gone with Mahad, to kill Ba-Khu-Ra.
That man was responsible for everything. Not her and not Ba-Khu-Ra.
The decimation of Egypt was on HIS shoulders and her war with Zorc was his fault too.
The scratched-out cartouche on the tablet reminded her that if she just had her name, she could change everything. She would have her full magical strength. She could free Bakura's people. She could release her brother…
But even that might not be enough. She had been at full strength in Egypt and she had not been able to defeat Zorc then. She had once been told it was because she had lost too many allies and could not draw on enough magical strength to win the fight. She did not want to risk her friends in this timeline too, but there was no choice.
And what would happen if the same thing happened again? If she lost everyone and had to stand alone once more?
'You won't, Anesan.' Yugi murmured in her head, wrapping her arms around Meisa's shoulders in the best equivalent of a cuddle they could share across the soul bond. 'You'll always have me.'
'You're right, Imoto. Thank you.' The Pharaoh replied, her shoulders relaxing as she turned away from the tablets, noting that some of the guests were watching her carefully. 'We should go. We need to finish prepping for Battle City. We can't do anything until that's over and we've walked away victorious…'
'And that means fixing our deck.' Yugi agreed as they headed out the door, trying to focus on that rather than the horrific information they had learned today, 'Let's get home.'
AUTHOR NOTE:
On July 7th 2022 I awoke to the awful news that Kazuki Takahashi had been found dead and the bottom dropped out of my world.
In 2001, when the show first aired in the UK, I was only 13 and I was enamored with this cool show about trading cards and friendship. At a time when I was a weak, constantly bullied person with only a small group of friends, Yugi became my mascot.
I was much more like Joey in personality, hense my nickname, but Yugi was basically my spirit animal. He loved games, had his own game shop (which has always been a dream of mine) and just wanted to help people.
It was through Yu-Gi-Oh! that I became someone who would stand up to the bullies for others, not just for myself and someone who was brave enough to go to college to follow my dreams.
On my 16th Birthday, just before I started my higher education, a friend gave me my Dark Magician Girl, who to this day rests within my deck. This was because I had purchased EVERY Magician's Force booster pack I could find, in my home town trying to find her and failed. I do, however, still have a small army of Sonic Duck.
This was around the same time I started writing fanfiction. While I was writing before this point, it was Yu-Gi-Oh! that I first published with, and it's Yu-Gi-Oh! that has helped my writing style and world building skills grow. I wanted to tell a story that honoured the story that had given me such life and I had to develop my skills to do that.
At college I made many friends on my Art & Design course through playing Yu-Gi-Oh! Me and my friends spent many lunches playing the game on the tables near our classrooms.
As university approached in 2006, I suddenly grew afraid. Yu-Gi-Oh! was only on cable at that time and I knew I would not be able to watch once I left home. DM was in the Millennium Arc at this time and I found myself praying that it would end before I could no longer watch.
The day after the final episode aired, during which I, now 18, sobbed like a small child, my acceptance letter arrived.
I would never have gone to the anime club at my university if Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon and Dragonball Z had not gotten me into anime. If I had not attended, I would not have met the man who introduced me to my wife.
And if I had not played the card game, I would not have had the friends who helped me through when my PC blew up 3 months from final project hand-in and my future was almost destroyed because a petty teacher would not give me an extension on a piece of coursework worth 60% of my final grade in his module.
Through Yu-Gi-Oh! I have made many friends since graduating, I have had a lot of fun at conventions through it and Pokemon, and my most proud cosplay achievement was the completion of my Millennium Puzzle, which was made in 2011 and is STILL solid to this day.
The difficulty I had making it proved to me that if I can make my own Puzzle, I can design and build anything.
So far it has not been proved wrong.
Even now, at 34, after I have married my wonderful wife and moved to America, I still collect the cards, I still write fanfiction, I still have friends that I would not have met if not for the series and I have a life I would never have found without the show.
I have had messages from readers that I have inspired them, that they have grown up reading my work. I could reach those readers, I could be there for them BECAUSE of Yu-Gi-Oh!
And then, a few days ago, I found that the man who created such a huge part of my life, was gone.
We have found out since that he was lost to a terrible accident. A reef shark took a man from us that brought joy, happiness and friendship to million upon millions of lives. A man who loved fanworks. Who loved knowing that people were passionate about his work. Who loved the idea that friendships had formed because of his work.
And a tiny little bit of my heart breaks to know that.
But his legacy remains.
We remain.
The lives touched by his work survive and we will continue to grow.
We can be there for those who discover his work moving forward.
We can support those who need support during this dark time.
We can be the light at the end of the story.
So while my heart grieves and, honestly, I keep crying, I know that I belong to something incredible and I will do my best, moving forward, to keep his thoughts in mind.
Because if I had the Puzzle, if I had that One Wish?
I would wish to be someone that Kazuki Takahashi could be proud of.
