A/N: Apologies for the three-month hiatus. I had taken a breather to work on some of my other writing projects over on Archive of Our Own. From here on out, updates will most likely be more spread out as I try to work on all my current WIPs equally. Not to say there will be a several-month delay between OLSSM updates, but it will definitely surpass the 2-ish week update schedule that I've held onto for most of this fic.

Rest assured, even if there is a rather large gap between new content, this fic will be finished. It will just take time.

Thanks for your patience. Enjoy the new chapter!

/Text/ Spirit to Host

/Text/ Host to Spirit

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Chapter 38: Motive

Seto knew before his eyes even opened that something wasn't right. There was a chill that wormed its way through his body, and an odd pressure around his head. But the study was just as empty and dreary as it was yesterday. The sun still rose through the dusty windows at the same time, as would the changing of his guard.

He rose from the couch, not quite remembering just when he had drifted off to sleep, but it was inevitable. Without anything truly stimulating to keep him occupied, he wouldn't be able to keep himself wide awake forever. And after the first night of poking around, none of the books on the shelf were worth reading. And if didn't pose the risk of him getting into serious trouble, he would have pitched half of them into the fire.

They were written that terribly. And he thought some of the cringeworthy company reports he had to read were bad.

Seto started his morning pace across the width of the room and tried to work out the kink that formed overnight in his neck, all while keeping his usual distance from his two masked guards. The couch was not comfortable. In the slightest.

Perhaps Voldemort would attempt to use that next for bartering information. A better place for him to waste his days away in exchange for getting his barrage of questions about the Orichalcos answered.

Well, so much for that. He'd rather nap on the floor.

Seto paused in front of the window and brushed a spot of dirt off his jacket. His suit was in pristine condition. But after four days of pacing and sitting around, the dust and grime in the room was trying to absorb him.

With a huff, he continued his trek back and forth. He'd sleep in the armchair instead. It may be just as uncomfortable as the sofa, but it was probably the only spot that was relatively clean, and it was at least close to the fire. Thank goodness for that too, because despite all the layers he was wearing, he was freezing.

He reached the wall again and spun on his heel, freezing mid-turn as two Death Eaters walked in, one of them none too gently dropping a plate of food onto the table. The two Death Eaters that were stuck with him overnight left, but only one Death Eater remained behind, rather than two.

Odd.

Seto glanced at the plate. It was not nearly as full as the previous days' meals. Perhaps whoever was preparing them finally wised up that he wasn't eating half of it. Or maybe they were going to use food as a coercion to get what they wanted. Not that it worked in their favor before, but he wasn't going to put it past them to try and starve him to death in order to weasel information out.

But normally there were two meals set out, not one.

"Your boss not coming?"

"There are other matters requiring the Dark Lord's attention today. He will not be seeing you."

Well, that sure changed things. Voldemort visited him without fail for every meal so far. What could have happened that he had to skip out and take some of his guards with him?

"Is that why you're stuck on babysitting duty alone?"

The Death Eater bristled. "The Dark Lord felt it wise to be cautious. I don't see why. It's not as if you are getting out of this room. Two of us are not needed to keep you in here."

Seto snorted, gave a last fleeting glance at his rather unappetizing breakfast and turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Is that so."

The Death Eater shifted irritably at his post. "Yes. Now I suggest you either sit there and eat your food, or be quiet."

Seto suppressed the urge to visibly shudder. The air in the room felt like it dropped another degree, and he couldn't figure out how. He looked to the fire. It was far from dying, though no one had tended to it since he first woke in captivity. It had to be enchanted somehow to not go out. But even still, at its intensity, he shouldn't be this cold standing near to it.

He walked back to the window and stood there for a few seconds, his back to the guard. There was no draft coming from it. The sun was out – its rays coming right into the study. If anything, that should warm the room, not make it colder.

Seto turned back to the Death Eater. "Why is it so cold in here?"

No response.

Seto shook his head. It was a surprise that the guard even spoke to him at all. Usually Voldemort's sentries merely stood there and attempted to look intimidating, only speaking out if he came too close to the door.

He moved back to stand before the fire, but even now it didn't feel as if it was warming him, like it did in the past.

Something was definitely wrong here. It was as if the cold was artificial, like when he would train with Set in the Room of Requirement. The cold there wasn't from the school itself – even though the castle was extremely drafty – but a creation of the –

Seto paled. The Shadow Realm.

He turned back around and gazed about the room. There was no purple mist. But that didn't mean it wasn't coming. He had considered himself lucky that for the entire time he was here, the Shadow Magus hadn't visited him once. And he had to be around here somewhere.

This must be a sign his luck was running out. He wasn't halfway across the country anymore, within the relatively safety of Hogwarts Castle. He wasn't completely across the globe either. All of the training that Set had tried to give him was about to be tested. And soon.

But the last time he was attacked, it took Yugi and Bakura to get him out of it. Here? He didn't even have Set. Even with Set's training, he may not have a fighting chance…

He did a quick side-eye of the door. Unless he used this opportunity to get out. There was only one Death Eater. He could probably take him.

Voldemort had said that even if he managed to take out the guards in the room, he wouldn't make it past the door. Were there others out in the hallway? Or was he bluffing?

There was only one way to find out, but he had to get past his babysitter first.

Seto looked him up and down. The long robes made it hard to tell just how large he was, but guessed about Kemo's size. He took Kemo down with ease in Duelist Kingdom. But Kemo didn't have a wand and an arsenal of spells at his disposal.

He needed him to lose the wand.

"What are you staring at?" snapped the Death Eater, tearing Seto from thought.

Seto moved to the middle of the room and faced the Death Eater head on. "Trying to decide how much effort it's going to be to get past that door."

The Death Eater laughed. "You honestly think you'll get past me? You must be daft."

"You don't look like much of a challenge," said Seto casually.

"Ha!" the Death Eater pulled his wand from his robes and tapped the tip of it against his opposite hand, drawing a few stray white sparks from the end. "Go ahead. I'll make short work of you, and then the Dark Lord will hand you over to us. We'll get what he wants from you in minutes."

Seto crossed his arms. "If that were the case, he would have done that already."

"It does not change the fact that I will have you stopped before you can reach me," said the Death Eater.

"Because you rely on a fragile twig to solve all your problems," Seto said, "Without it, you're just a meathead following orders. You wouldn't last more than two seconds in an actual fight."

"Is that so," drawled the Death Eater, "Look at you. I am twice your size. I'll break you in half."

"Can you?" Seto said, "Forget taking me down, I don't think you can even swing a punch at me."

"Is that a challenge?" the Death Eater snarled. He balled his hand into a fist.

"It's a fact."

"Not only can I, but I will," said the Death Eater, "I don't need magic to put you in your place. And in my opinion, the Dark Lord has been far too lenient with you. Imagine how pleasantly surprised he will be to return and find you willing to spill your secrets to him." He shoved his wand back into his pocket. "I've been stuck here without any amusement for far too long. This should be fun."

But he didn't make any move away from the door.

"Are you afraid?" Seto taunted, waving his arms out. "Of someone half your size? Or are you just a coward who can't do anything without pointing a stick and muttering some magic words?

"Face it – you're just a nobody. You exist only to take the orders of some lunatic, and for what? There's no glory in your war. You are all a means to an end for him. You really think Voldemort will reward you for keeping me put in here, or for taking away the satisfaction he would get for interrogating me himself? He doesn't care about you or anyone else. The instant you're not needed, he'll throw you away."

Still a respectable distance from the Death Eater, Seto took one step forward. "I'm not a fool. I know there's a timer above my head and the instant I surrender whatever it is he wants, I'm a dead man. And if all of you think for a second that I'm just going to sit around in here and wait for the end, then you're all mistaken. One way or another, I'm going to get through that door, so you can either stand aside or try to stop me."

Seto sneered. "What are you waiting for? If you really think that this will get you into your boss's good graces so you don't have to spend the rest of your days on babysitting duty, then come on. Beat the information out of me." He grinned. "I'll even let you throw the first swing."

The Death Eater hesitated before giving the door behind him a side-eye glance. The wand was removed once again from his pocket, and Seto froze. Did he goad him too far? Perhaps he planned to torture him with magic instead.

But rather than aim it at him, the Death Eater pointed the wand towards the door, and cast a muffling charm. He grinned behind his mask. "There are some in the Inner Circle who would insist on the Dark Lord's presence before interrogating you," he said smoothly. "I am not one of those. But I would prefer to not be interrupted. It would not do for an easy escape because some fool opened the door for you. If you want out, you have to win it."

He stowed the wand away again, clenched his fists, and stepped forward.

Seto smirked.

He expected to be stunned, or hit with something stronger when he tempted fate and threw open the door to the study. But there was no one there.

Voldemort was bluffing then, Seto said to himself. He spared a look back at the unconscious Death Eater in the middle of the room. Turns out he had thrown a punch before, but that was neither here nor there. The man was actually a slightly bigger build than Kemo. And he went down just as easily.

He would have to thank Roland for all of the judo training when he got out of here.

Seto spared no time finding the Death Eater's wand and used it tie him to one of the chairs. The last thing he needed was to be attacked from behind when the man woke back up again.

He reached for the door handle and quietly closed the door to the study, tapping the lock with the wand until he heard it click.

That should stop him, for at least a little while. Through his studies, he was more than well aware that wandless magic existed, and he didn't really want to find out the hard way if that particular Death Eater was capable of it.

Seto looked up and down the hallway. There had to be other Death Eaters here. Somewhere. And he didn't have a clue to where he was. Would this end up a blind chase through the house until he found the way out? How long until there were spells whizzing past his head to subdue him again?

He gripped the wand tighter in his fist. They may have a greater number of spells in their arsenal, but he had, if anything, the only two he truly needed, thanks to Harry's defensive lesson. Disarm, and shield. So long as he didn't get hit, it would have to do.

With a sigh, he crept down the hallway. There was no point trying any of these doors. No point in accidentally alerting anyone that he got out. But he knew just from looking through the study's windows that he was on an upper floor, at least two stories up. A staircase had to be around here somewhere.

And there was one, at the end of the hall. Still no Death Eaters in sight.

Voldemort wouldn't have run off for the day and only left only the one in the whole house…right?

He listened carefully for footsteps as he quietly moved downward. The chill from the study was gone, as was the pressure he felt in his head. If that was truly an effect of the Shadow Realm, wouldn't it follow him around until the Shadow Magus made his appearance?

Unless…Seto paused as the thought flew through his mind. Unless the Shadow Magus is with Voldemort…

He reached the bottom of the stairs, which merely opened up into another hallway. This part of the house was dark, and either end of the hall could lead to another staircase or a dead end of some sort.

It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if Voldemort masked the front doors to this place as a precaution, just in case he got himself out of the study. He could wander this house two times over and not find the exit.

Although, he mused, he could just smash a window on the main level and jump out.

…And then what? How would he get himself back to Hogwarts?

"HEY!" Seto whirled to his left, and had half a second to throw up a shield charm before a jet of red light could hit him square in the face. He sent out a quick "Expelliarmus!" which missed its target before bolting the opposite direction of the room the Death Eater had just vacated.

"GET BACK HERE!"

There were only two doors at the end of the hall. No stairs.

"I don't know how you got out," the Death Eater snarled, "But you're going back."

"Not today," Seto muttered. The first door was mercifully unlocked and he darted inside, mentally crossing his fingers that there weren't more of Voldemort's stooges in here. It was instead another hall, though there was a staircase leading down.

Seto had barely enough thought to seal the door behind him before the Death Eater could get to it and ran down the steps. It wouldn't keep the Death Eater out for long, but hopefully the extra seconds would get him to a place he could hide, catch his breath, and think.

He landed hard on the bottom step and continued past an empty dining room that was just as dusty as the study upstairs. The furniture in the next room was covered in large white sheets. Clearly no one had lived here for some time…and it seemed to be nothing but a maze of hallways.

Just how big was this place!?

He paused in front of yet another set of stairs, these both went up and down. He could see another door just past the top step, and cast a quick spell up towards it, flinging the door wide open wildly enough that it made a noisy bang! against the wall, and ducked around the nearest corner, clutching the pilfered wand tightly in his hand.

The Death Eater bolted up the steps. "You can't hide from us!"

Seto waited for the Death Eater's footsteps to fade away before he sagged back against the wall. He was on the ground floor. He could just break a window, as he thought about before, and escape. He had a wand. Surely, he could Portkey back to Hogwarts, or at least to safer ground. Of course, he had never created one before, but he at least knew the incantation, and how difficult could it be, really?

But leave the Millennium Rod behind? The Shadow Magus and Voldemort both wanted it. Leaving it here didn't seem like a smart plan, even if he had to put himself back in the line of fire to go find it. Even if he made it out of this place without it, it would only be a matter of time before Yugi formulated some foolhardy plan to get it back, since the Pharaoh needed it in the end. And he'd be back to square one.

Might as well try and find it now while he had the other Death Eater on a wild goose chase. And cross his fingers that there weren't more of them around.

Ugh. He reached up and pinched at the bridge of his nose, eyes shut. The headache was coming back. Naturally at the worst possible time. But…it felt different. Not the migraines or the pressure headaches that he was used to at Hogwarts right before the Shadow Magus would arrive to torment his sleep. Not the sort he'd get from staring at his laptop for too long.

This felt almost…probing. A prod in his mind that seemed to come and go and come back again. He had felt something like this once before, though it was some time ago…when Set first came out of the Millennium Rod and had poked around at his memories.

Seto froze. Voldemort had said he was cut off from Set. Was he close enough to the Millennium Rod that the spirit was trying to reach out to him? Was that even possible?

He glanced up towards the second floor. He couldn't hear the Death Eater moving around up there. Did that staircase lead to another maze of rooms? It was doubtful he gave up searching.

But if he could find the Millennium Rod, he would have an edge in getting out of here. Could he use the Shadow Realm as transportation, like Bakura with the Ring? Assuming he found Set, it was worth a shot.

He started down the hall again, another long walk filled with doors on either side. Was this house purposely built to get people lost? Or was it, like most things in the Wizarding World, a creation of magic just meant to get him lost and unable to get out.

He was banking on the latter.

Seto took a quick glance behind him as he heard footsteps coming from somewhere up above. The Death Eater was near, and could return downstairs at any minute. The corridor he was currently in was a dead end.

With the wand more or less forgotten in his hand, he began testing doorknobs. The first two didn't budge, but the third easily swung open and he slipped inside, closing the door as quietly as possible, leaning against it until the footsteps faded away again.

Seto's shoulders slumped as he turned around. He was back in a study again, and it was mercifully empty. Though this one was smaller than the one upstairs. The fireplace in this room was not going, and it was not nearly as grimy as the one had been stuck inside. Clearly this room had been used.

And sitting on top of the mantle, flaring in and out frantically, was the Millennium Rod.

Seto blinked. Seriously? The search for the Millennium Rod was going to end that easily? With a cautious glance back at the door behind him, Seto crossed the room, sidestepping the armchair in the middle of the floor facing the fireplace.

Once he was standing in front of it, the Rod stopped flashing. Seto reached for it, but the instant his hand would have grabbed around the handle, it vanished, as if it was never there in the first place.

The temperature in the room then plummeted, and a low rasp was heard right behind him.

Looking for this?

Seto's fist closed around the empty air as he shut his eyes, as intense dread washed over him. It didn't take a genius to know who was in the room with him. The last time he heard that voice, he was nearly strangled in his sleep.

There was no doubt about it now. He may have lost the Death Eaters, but he stumbled upon someone far worse.

Seto steeled himself, slowly turned around, and felt next breath catch down in his chest. The Shadow Magus, who definitely hadn't been there four seconds ago, loomed over him, the Millennium Rod struggling to get out of his grip. He had seen the Shadow Magus before…but there was something different, more menacing about the Shadow being physically in front of him, versus a figment in his mind.

It seemed taller, its clawed hands sharper, and he was slightly more than just a black shape with a Millennium Eye on its head. He could make out what appeared to be a mask over its face with a wild mane of reddish hair fanning behind him, and was unnerved over the fact that the mask had no eyeholes.

Did he see through the Millennium Eye? Was that even possible? …and if he had a Millennium Eye, did that mean there were two of them? Wherever Pegasus's Eye ended up, and this one? Or was this Pegasus's Eye? The thoughts were unsettling.

Knowing what at least Pegasus was capable of with the Millennium Eye, that didn't sit well with him either.

The Shadow Magus moved forward a step, and Seto barely had time to raise his wand before the Eye on the mask activated, spreading the Shadow Realm's purple fog throughout the entire room.

Thank you for coming to me this time, Seto Kaiba. The Shadow Magus rasped, raising his hands. They were shrouded in the same mist and glowing brightly.

Seto stepped back, but the purple fog along the ground formed streaks that snaked around his legs, and then up and across to his arms, holding him in place. The wand was plucked from his hand and it fell through the mist, clattering uselessly to the floor.

Ah, ah,The Shadow Magus mused, gliding forward. Leaving so soon? It's time we had a little chat.

Seto glared up at the Shadow Magus. "I should have known this was too easy."

The Shadow Magus merely laughed as he came to a stop right before him, and pressed one long finger against his forehead. Pain, much stronger than anything he had experienced through the nighttime attacks, seared behind his eyes and he clenched them shut and locked his jaw to keep from screaming as he fought against the Shadow Magus's hold.

The Shadow Magus let go of the Millennium Rod, letting it float amongst the mist as he grabbed a fistful of Seto's hair and yanked back, applying more pressure to his forehead. You are making this harder on yourself, he scolded. Stop fidgeting.

The mist surrounding the hand on Seto's forehead flared red for only an instant, and the last thing he heard was the Shadow Magus's dark laughter as his legs gave out. The Shadow Magus let go of him and he was unconscious by the time he landed at the Shadow's feet.

The first thing he noticed as he came around was the pounding in his skull. His eyes opened to a brightly lit room, and he was sprawled out on a gleaming tile surface.

Wait…

He rolled onto his side and propped himself up onto his elbow. This was not the study – either study – in Voldemort's convoluted lair. In fact, it was far too bright and open in this place to be any part of that house. It wasn't even his soul room.

It wasn't until he got back onto his feet and turned around did he realize exactly where he was. On display before him were the two stone tablets.

Seto fought past the throbbing behind his eyes and scowled. The Domino Museum? How did he get here? Surely the Shadow Magus didn't transport him halfway around the globe. Was this another image in his mind, another memory tapped and thrown into to satisfy the Shadow's curiosity?

But he didn't see the Shadow Magus anywhere. Though that didn't mean a whole lot. He didn't see the Shadow Magus in the dark study, but that didn't stop him from laying that trap with the Millennium Rod.

Seto did a half-turn to look behind him. The stairs leading out of the chamber and back up to the main level of the museum were right there. While doubtful, if this was the real world…what was stopping him from just leaving and making his way to safety? And if this was just a memory, and he was stuck in his own head, would he just…disappear back to his soul room? Transport to another vision?

He held his hand out in front of him, cautious, and took a step forward. And another. Three steps out and his hand hit some sort of barrier that he couldn't see.

You didn't expect to just walk away, did you?

Seto whirled back around. The Shadow Magus stood before the tablet depicting Yugi's Pharaoh and Set, watching him with his head tilted slightly to the side. The Eye was glowing again. Great…

Seto narrowed his eyes. "Where did you come from?"

I had to take care of a quick matter in the waking world, he said. I am sure you have gathered that we are inside your mind. He gestured next to him. Come.

Seto made no move to join him.

The Shadow Magus laughed. So defiant still. I am not like the wizards. I will not sit and waste time idly gossiping matters of the day and wait for your cooperation. You will join me or I will drag you here myself. I wish to show you something.

"I can see just fine from here," Seto glared. "And if you are really that impatient, why did you wait four days - the last two months even – to start your round of breaking and entering?"

By now you are aware that your connection to the Priest is gone. Removing him from your mind and keeping the Millennium Rod from returning to you on its own accord took time and a great deal of energy. Here, I do not have to worry about your other half, or even the Pharaoh interfering.

Seto looked warily at the tablet. "I vaguely recall you forcing this memory out the last time you decided to romp through my mind. And it didn't work. I also know you harassed Ishizu at the museum. What is it you still need from here that you haven't gotten already?"

The Shadow Magus grinned behind his mask and gestured at the tablet. What do you see?

Seto barely gave it a fleeting glance before focusing on the Shadow Magus again. "A chipped rock."

To his surprise, the Shadow Magus let out a low chuckle. …That it is, and so much more. But we need to look deeper. You cannot see from there… He held up a curled finger and beckoned him forward. I will not ask you again.

Seto looked up at the tablet. He could see everything clearly from his spot, several paces away where the Shadow Magus couldn't reach him. There was at least a three-arms-length distance between them, and that's how he preferred it.

"…What are you going to do, try and suffocate me again if I don't comply?" Seto snapped. "What's the point? I can't leave this bubble you've created."

The purple mist surrounded the Shadow Magus's hand as he snapped his fingers, and Seto was blinked to his side instantly.

Seto immediately side-stepped away from the Shadow's glowing hand before it grabbed hold of him again.

Do not test me, he warned. This will benefit both of us.

Seto crossed his arms and backed away until he hit the invisible barrier just to the side of the stone tablet. "I think it's been made pretty obvious that nothing that happens here is going to benefit me."

The Shadow gestured to the tablet. Haven't you always wondered why this is so important? Why Set and the Pharaoh are locked in this eternal struggle? Why you are so drawn to that dragon of yours, and the Pharaoh to his pesky little mage?

"The only thing I've wondered about it," Seto said, keeping a leery eye on the Shadow Magus, "Is why you are so interested in it. It's an old relic. Sure, Set and the Pharaoh duked it out a few thousand years ago, and someone made a carving about it. But that's the past."

Yet you and the Pharaoh's vessel are rivals. The Shadow Magus took one step forward.

"Because some people decided to inhabit a few gaudy trinkets," said Seto.

The Shadow Magus snorted. We both know that is not the case. Destinies have come full circle, and everyone has a role to play. Even you.

"It's clear my role is over," Seto said moving a step away from the Shadow Magus again. "Since you ripped Set clean out of my head."

Perhaps. Perhaps not. The Shadow Magus glided forward, placed his hands on Seto shoulders, and roughly turned him towards the tablet. Now…what do you see?

Seto shuddered under the Shadow Magus's grip. The claws were digging in just enough that he couldn't shake him off.

"Besides the obvious?" he huffed.

Humor me.

Seto glanced back up at the tablet. What kind of answer was he looking for that he didn't already have?

"The Millennium Puzzle…the three Egyptian Gods…a Blue Eyes and Yugi's Dark Magician," said Seto.

One of the Shadow Magus's hands started drumming along his shoulder blade. Continue.

Seto sighed. "Set, and the Pharaoh. Something that resembles…Monster Reborn and Swords of Revealing Light." His eyes fell towards the bottom. "I can't tell what was supposed to be down there."

No… said the Shadow Magus, and Seto raised an eyebrow at the disappointment in his voice. Was there something he was looking for in the missing sections? It would appear that the bottom of this tablet did not survive as well as the rest of it. A shame, considering the magic swarming this piece versus its partner in the next case. But there is more.

Seto shook his head."You and Voldemort have a knack for making things complicated. Just spit it out what you're looking for. The only other thing on there are the hieroglyphs around the other carvings."

The Shadow Magus roughly patted Seto's shoulder. Very good, he said, practically whispering it into his ear, and chuckled at the visible flinch he received in response. Read it.

Read it? Seto furrowed his brow. Why? "Sorry," he said stiffly, "I don't read rock."

Don't you, laughed the Shadow Magus. How quickly we forget.

He snapped his fingers and the Domino Museum around them started morphing into a completely different setting, and Seto found himself in the darkened computer room on his blimp. Mokuba was sleeping in one of the extra chairs, huddled in his stark white coat, while his own doppelganger sat the desk with a larger-than-life image of the Winged Dragon of Ra on the screen.

You are one of the few individuals in this modern world capable of reading the ancient summoning text. And I know you have. You may not remember the incantation, but your connection to Set, and to the Millennium Items, grant you that ability. This is no different.

"Surely you know what it says," Seto scowled.

I do. As I said, answers you have sought are right here, in front of you. He sunk his claws in deeper as the environment switched back to the museum. Now read it.

"What are you going to do if I don't, slap me on the wrist?" Seto wrenched out from the Shadow Magus's hold. "Have the Death Eaters torture me? Everyone knows that information given via duress is not reliable. And if you're going to trap me in here until I give up and spill something, then you'll be waiting a long time."

I don't need to wait. I just need Voldemort to keep you alive. What I truly require lies hidden within the Millennium Rod. This is merely setting the stage so that I am not interrupted later. But if you wish to be coerced into following instruction, I am sure I can make arrangements.

To Seto's immediate relief, the Shadow Magus didn't reach for him again, and drifted off towards the second tablet, depicting an assortment of Duel Monsters. But the relief didn't last long as a small piece of the museum drifted away again and reverted back to the computer lab on the blimp.

And to Mokuba.

The Shadow Magus circled the chair, his hands emitting the purple mist again as they hovered over the figment of Mokuba's sleeping face. Unlike these Death Eaters, I can traverse where men cannot. Your wizard protectors made their shields, but you here are living proof that their little wards cannot keep me out. So turn around, and humor me, or your reunion with your brother will be much sooner than you think.

Seto's glare turned icy, but it did little to intimidate him. I have waited thousands of years to enact revenge on the Pharaoh. My patience wears thin.

"Leave my brother out of this."

The blimp disappeared again, and the Shadow Magus blinked out and reappeared right in front of him again. Then stop this defiance.

Seto shot the Shadow Magus another dark look. He was well aware that the Shadow Realm was used to capture him. But by now, if anything at home was going according to plan, Roland should have taken Mokuba to ground. And none of the wizards should know where. He could accept the Shadow Magus finding him by using the Millennium Rod like some sort of sick homing beacon, but there were no other Millennium Items back in Domino.

Even if the Shadow Magus could pass through magical barriers, how would he know where to find them? If Roland created some sort of contingency, he followed orders and didn't share what it was. So the Shadow Magus couldn't tear through his mind and find it.

But he couldn't risk calling the Shadow's bluff and putting Mokuba in any danger. It was bad enough that the Shadow Magus was even mentioning him. The last thing he needed was Voldemort getting the same idea and sending more Death Eaters back to Domino.

With a heavy exhale, Seto slowly turned back towards the tablet. Even now, with a clear tie to the Millennium Items, and having Set through his head, it still felt odd to be able to read the hieroglyphs as easily as the other languages he had thoroughly studied.

"'The corpse sinks to the floor…the vessel becomes sand, becomes dust'," he read as the Shadow Magus paced behind him. "'Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest sword…is wrapped in the sheath of time. Woe to the Pharaoh, for his body lacks even his name…'"

The Shadow Magus stopped behind him as he trailed off. Keep going.

"'Time is the battlefield of souls. I cry the song of battle, the song of a friend. …To the place far away where souls meet…guide me."

There now…was that so difficult?

"I don't see the point of playing analytical literature," Seto snapped. "You already knew what it said."

The Shadow Magus seemed to ignore him, circled around and pointed towards the bottom of the stone tablet. Do you know what this is here?

Seto eyed him suspiciously before looking to the indicated portion of the tablet. "A…rather worn piece of rock."

The Eye on the mask flared again, and Seto wasn't sure if it was out of anger or annoyance. He was fine with either. Even if the rest of his day was about to spiral out of control, he would take aggravating the Shadow Magus as a small victory.

That is a cartouche. Any carving within one signified a royal name.

Seto stared at the tablet. Whether it was from time, or removing the tablet from some wall in a tomb somewhere, but the bottom did not survive very well. He was lucky to see the cartouche at all. Anything that was written in it was long gone now.

The Shadow Magus seemed to pluck the thought right out of him. The name on this cartouche had been forcibly removed. I shouldn't have to tell you who's name it was.

He gestured wildly at the tablet. This was forged sometime after the Pharaoh locked away the darkness and sealed himself into the Millennium Puzzle.

Seto shifted back a step and crossed his arms. "Is this where you go off on why this rock is so damn important?"

The Pharaoh sealed away the darkness because he had no ability to destroy it. In doing so, he lost all of his memories. This carving is a gateway to another world – one the Pharaoh will have to journey to recover what he lost.

But there is something I need as well, that is no longer here in its present condition. And in order to find it, I must see the tablet in its original form.

Seto's eyes narrowed as he looked over the tablet again, and his gaze lingered on the defiled cartouche. The only way for the Shadow Magus to do that…would be to go back in time. By the time even Ishizu had set eyes on the tablet, it had already been removed from wherever it was found.

Unless… His eyes darted back to the epitaph and he read it again, and the various puzzle pieces started clicking into place.

Why Yugi was never a target for the Shadow Magus's barrage of mind assaults. Why Ishizu Ishtar was attacked. And why the Shadow Magus kept forcing him to see the tablet and visions of the past…Set's past.

Set carved the tablet.

You understand now. The Shadow Magus took a step closer to him. What I need is buried deep in the Priest's mind. And you are going to help me get it.

Seto took another step back as the Shadow Realm aura started glowing around the Magus's hands again. "I don't see how, since you broke apart my link to him."

Oh, you needn't worry about that. I plan to –

The Shadow Magus froze, and whirled around towards the staircase leading up to the main level of the museum. Seto turned to follow his gaze but there was nothing there. What was he looking at?

Unbelievable, he muttered, lowering his arm back down. He is doing this on purpose.

Before Seto could even question what he was on about, the same throbbing pain from when the Shadow forced himself into his mind returned with a vengeance as the Shadow Magus vanished from sight.

The museum faded out of sight, and Seto jerked awake and blinked repeatedly, trying to get his eyes to adjust. In complete contrast to the brightness of figment of the museum, he was back in a dimly lit room, sitting upright in a rather uncomfortable chair, and his wrists were thoroughly tied down to the armrests.

The Shadow Magus wasn't anywhere in his peripheral view, but that didn't mean he wasn't nearby. In the meantime, there was a more pressing matter to deal with, and he looked down and tested the bindings on his wrists.

They didn't budge.

Sighing, he took a cursory glance around. Unlike the other two studies he had been in, the walls were made of stone, and there was only one small window at the very top, near the ceiling. Was he in the basement? At the very least, a room on the lower level of the house.

It certainly was cold enough to be the basement.

His eyes lingered on the window. Even if he could find a way to get up and reach it, he wouldn't fit through it. But aside from the single empty chair facing him, the room was empty.

He didn't remember, or feel being brought in here. Did the Death Eaters haul him in while the Shadow Magus kept his mind occupied?

A door latch sounded from somewhere behind him as Voldemort stepped out in front of him, and moved to take the empty chair.

"Good evening," he said coldly. "I was told you had quite an adventure today."

Seto glowered at him.

"Perhaps you had forgotten," said Voldemort, "That leaving your room would force me to be far less accommodating." He clasped his bony hands in his lap. "I hope you are comfortable."

Seto shrugged. "A bit dark in here."

Voldemort chuckled briefly. "You have been unconscious for some time. Night has already fallen."

Seto paused. Just how long had he been out? He escaped the study relatively early in the day. And there was no way he spent hours with the Shadow Magus in front of the stone tablet.

"Is this the part where you interrogate me over the Orichalcos stone?"

Voldemort tilted his head curiously. "Ah, is that what it's called? I had wondered. But, no. It is time you returned the gesture of my hospitality."

"You locked me up and tied me down. It's going to be rather hard for me to give you anything at this point."

Voldemort leaned forward slightly in his seat. "I think you can manage."

He withdrew his wand from a pocket in his robes and waved it in the air between them. To Seto's surprise his phone appeared, levitating beside Voldemort's chair.

"I have been examining this device of yours," said Voldemort casually. "I understand you use it for communication in your rather primitive Muggle world."

Despite his situation, Seto laughed. "What's primitive is just about everything you all live by. Light by candles and torches, quills and ink? Mail by owl? There is a reason that we stopped using carrier pigeons to send letters years ago."

Voldemort waved a hand dismissively. "I have also been told, that you caused quite a stir in the beginning of term, regarding this and other items."

Seto narrowed his eyes. How would he know anything about that?

"As I'm sure you were told, or at the very least found out rather quickly," said Voldemort, "These devices are incapable of working on the Hogwarts grounds."

"Yet here we are."

Voldemort's smile was eerie. "Indeed. To have working electronics at the school means that the wards around the school have been removed." He eyed Seto. "Or that they have been bypassed."

Seto glared at him.

"How did you accomplish such a feat?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Seto snarled. "I didn't give that information out to Dumbledore when he asked, not to Umbridge when she forced a blood quill into my hand, and I'm certainly not going to divulge that information to you."

"Is that so?"

Seto pulled at the ropes again. "You may have replaced one cell for another, but that doesn't change the fact that I won't tell you anything."

"On the contrary, you are going to sing, even if we must break you first. I want to know every detail on how you managed the impossible."

Voldemort's grin widened, and Seto felt his blood run cold. He did not like where this was going at all, and froze, struggles halted as he felt the Shadow Magus, despite not having any sort of physical body, dig his nails into his shoulders again.

Seto stared at his phone, floating innocently beside Voldemort. The wizards had no need, no want, for technology. Which meant his tech was merely symbolic of something else.

He gritted his teeth as the Shadow Magus tightened his grip. "What do you want?"

"What I want," said Voldemort, "Is Hogwarts. And you are going to get me inside."