A/N: We've made it to the big 5-0 milestone! Thank you for the love and support so far, and enjoy the new chapter! :D

/Text/ Spirit to Host

/Text/ Host to Spirit

Chapter 50: Favors

"My…what!?"

Of all the possible answers Yami could have been given, that was not the one he expected to smack him dead in the face. And, considering Yugi hadn't yet picked his jaw up from the floor, perhaps he was knocked off-guard just the same.

"Your name," Seto said irritably, "I suppose it's not as lost as you all thought."

"That doesn't make any sense," Yami shook his head and floated away from them, towards the center of the room where he started to pace along the open stretch of floor. "I…Ishizu told me I locked all of my memories away, to stop whatever tried to destroy the world millennia ago. There was no record of it anywhere. How does the Shadow Magus know to look for it?"

Seto sucked in a sharp inhale and felt his jaw twitch. "From what I gathered, your name was carved on the tablet in the museum. The Shadow Magus was trying to dig through my memories to find it, with the hope that I saw it with the name intact. But I hadn't."

Yugi's eyes widened, and he mouthed out a silent oh! "And maybe that's why he went for Ishizu – because she had contact with the tablet before we saw it in the museum! And since Pegasus made the God Cards from those carvings too, that would explain why Duelist Kingdom was also hit."

Yami stopped, facing the window, brow furrowed. "And he took the Millennium Rod to get to Set, but he doesn't have any memory of my name."

"His memories were starting to come back though," said Yugi, "He was able to dig out names of his friends that he hadn't been able to do when he first came from the Rod. Maybe they're all going to filter back in, and the Shadow Magus just has to wait it out."

"Even still," Yami said, "I'm almost certain that Bakura has almost – if not all – of his own memories of the past, and even he cannot say my name. So if he can't, the same must be true of Set."

"The Shadow Magus isn't going to wait for Set to suddenly remember your name so he can spit it out to him," said Seto, "He was looking for the tablet. It wasn't time that decimated the cartouche on the bottom. Someone deliberately scratched it off, and you don't need three guesses to figure out who did it."

"We don't know that for certain," said Yami, and he started pacing again. "Think for just a moment, Kaiba. All of those visions that were presented to us during Battle City showed both myself and Set in some sort of battle. And that fight was immortalized in the tablet. I was always under the impression that that battle was a major part of the fight thousands of years ago."

Seto merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"So…I thought that someone, some witness to the fight had created the tablet, after the war was done," Yami continued, "and if that were the case, it wouldn't make sense for anyone to carve my name and then scratch it out. Perhaps it was never there to begin with. There isn't anyone we can check that has seen the tablet in its original, pristine condition."

"Except Set," said Yugi, "and regardless if he carved the name or not, that's what the Shadow Magus is looking for, and that's why it's so important that we get the Millennium Rod back before he can get to the bottom of things."

"Then we shouldn't wait for next weekend," said Yami, "if Bakura is willing to use the Ring to locate Set, then we have to take advantage of it, before something happens and we can no longer track it."

He looked to Seto. "You're certain that you won't –"

"I'm not going," Seto snapped, and to Yugi's credit, at least he looked annoyed at Yami's asking. "And no amount of guilt or bribery is going to get me to change my mind. I am no use to you without a wand, and in the meantime of that exact thing, don't forget that the idiots in charge are still trying to decide if I'm some sort of deranged criminal. I was already read the riot act for going outside. I don't need to give anyone else an excuse to try and throw me in prison."

Yami sighed, held his hands up, and conceded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Yugi cleared his throat. "So, what can we expect from the Shadow Magus?" Yugi asked.

"Anything and everything," said Seto. "He slinks around and fights dirty. You're going to have to watch your back – and then some."

"That'll be hard just with Bakura along," said Yami, "It's bad enough that we need him and the Ring to find Set and the Millennium Rod, but we both know how much the Spirit of the Ring has been trying to do me in since Duelist Kingdom. If we tell him that the Shadow Magus is after my name, what's to stop him from going to look for it himself?"

Seto sighed and settled his laptop back across his legs. "Whatever issue Bakura has with you has to be put on the backburner. He has Ryou to think about – what good is your name going to do him if Ryou is killed from him meddling where he wasn't supposed to?"

"Kaiba," said Yami, "you know very well that the Spirit of the Millennium Ring has little to no regard for Ryou's safety. We saw that during Battle City."

"Battle City was a long time ago," said Seto.

Yami glared at him.

"The answer is simple then," said Seto, with a final roll of his eyes and he went back to work. "Don't tell him."

"I suppose it's my turn now. Tormenting my host was not enough," said Set, giving only the barest of head turns towards the door in his chambers. The Shadow Magus had long since chained it shut after his second attempt at freedom, and he hadn't the ability to get past them since. He had a vague idea of the passage of time, but only that. Without his link to Seto, and unable to see or hear anything that went on outside the Millennium Rod, the hours all blended together.

The Shadow Magus looked a little different, misting together in the center of the room. Less ghostly than when he was forced out to meet Voldemort in his study, and he could feel a more powerful aura radiating off of him.

Clearly something had happened since being locked up.

"Is he even still alive?"

Of course he is. There were no plans to kill him.

Set turned fully to face him. "Then what have you done to him?"

Seto Kaiba returned to Hogwarts weeks ago. His usefulness to us, for now, has passed. You on the other hand, will help me a great deal.

Set eyed him warily. "I fail to see how, or that you just willingly let him ago, after taking so much time and effort to capture us from his office."

The Shadow Magus blinked to his side almost instantly and pointed a long, bony finger at Set's forehead. Deep down, somewhere in your mind is the lost piece to a very important puzzle. And I intend to find it.

Set sidestepped him and moved across the room and gave the door a fleeting glance. The misted chains were still there, still keeping him trapped inside. Not that it mattered too much – there was nowhere for him to go.

And if what the Shadow Magus said was true, Hogwarts was too far for him to try and seek Seto out on his own. He couldn't travel around on a whim like the tomb robber. The closest he ever got was trying to reach out on his own and try to catch Seto's attention while they were both stuck in the mansion. But that relied too much on Seto being free and mobile enough to seek him out.

That couldn't work now.

"What makes you think I have whatever it is you're looking for?"

Because unlike the Pharaoh, you have your memories.

"No, I don't," Set said angrily, and moved again before the shadows could reach him. They spread out from under the Shadow Magus's feet in a slow-moving fog absorbing everything in his chambers the further out it went. The table of scrolls in the far corner vanished into it, along with the small stone statue of Duos.

Of course you do, said the Shadow Magus, and with a snap of his fingers, the same purple-misted chains blocking the door sprang out of the fog rolling across the ground and encircled Set's wrists. You just don't realize it.

Set gritted his teeth and yanked on the chains, but they didn't budge. "What is this!?"

The Shadow Magus started circling around him. Haven't you ever wondered why a piece of your soul was trapped inside the Millennium Rod? Why not any of the other priests? Just the Pharaoh, the tomb robber….and you? Why is that?

"…To aid the Pharaoh," Set said, "Why else?"

But why not any of the others? The Shadow Magus paused, directly in front of him, and stared down, the Millennium Eye on his mask shining bright. Be honest. We both visited the woman at the museum. We both know she is the spitting image of Isis. But she is not Isis.

Set pulled hard on the chains again. "How do you know Priestess Isis?"

A low, raspy chuckle. See? You do remember her. Your memories are intact.

"Blurry faces and a handful of names don't mean anything."

There is a reason why you are here, and none of the others. A very practical reason, which I'm sure you will recall once the fog around your head lifts a little more.

A clawed hand reached out, and tipped Set's chin up at him, gripping tight enough that he couldn't jerk his head out of his hold. Tell me, Set. Why do you really think you are here, of everyone else?

Set stayed silent and instead kept struggling.

You're wasting your energy on that futile task.

"I will do what I wish," said Set, "And I don't know whatever it is you wish to take from me, but you won't get it."

What I want are your memories.

"How unfortunate for you, that I can't remember anything of importance from the past," said Set. "And even if I had them, what assurance is there that I have whatever it is you're looking for? Are you going to tell me that you were the one who sealed me in the Millennium Rod all those years ago so we can fight over this exact moment today?"

The Eye flared bright, and the Shadow Magus leaned forward to whisper his cold, raspy words right into his ear. I did seal your soul into the Millennium Rod.

He drew back and laughed at Set's face, a mixture of confusion and horror and placed both of his hands on Set's shoulders. Not all of it, of course, just a small piece, during a battle I know you cannot recall. It was during a very brief fight, between yourself and the Pharaoh – the very fight that you immortalized in stone that until very recently sat on display in the Domino City Museum. But what I need doesn't come from that moment in time, but of an event afterwards, after the war ended, and after the Pharaoh made his sacrifice.

Set shook his head. "How do you know that I have such a memory. I don't even know what my own memories are, so how can you?"

Isis's necklace told me everything I needed to know.

"I have learned," Set snarled, "through my own host, that Isis's necklace is not without faults. The future can and has changed from the visions it has granted."

Not this one.

The Shadow Magus's hands started glowing as bright as the Eye. It took a great deal of magic to seal you away and block your memories without damaging them. Now is the time to break that seal.

"Your stunt goes both ways, Shadow Magus," said Set, "If you unlock my memories, what is stopping me from telling the Pharaoh and the others of what you went looking for? If I remember everything, then I can aid the Pharaoh."

You say that as if you plan on actually reuniting with your host.

"Seto—"

I can assure you that your host has no intention of returning to this place. So unless you wish to leave on your own accord, you will remain with me. Seto Kaiba did not leave with any true memory of where he was kept. And if the Pharaoh decides to try and play your rescuer, then I have a few surprises in store for him.

The Shadow Magus started forward again and placed both of his hands on either side of Set's head. Now…it's time to shine a little light on a forgotten little secret….

The Eye flared unbearably brighter, and the mist swirled around the two of them in the center of the chamber. What was left of Set's soul room faded away in streaks of light, only to be replaced by one in the Pharaoh's palace.

Sun filtered in through the wide balcony window, flanked on either side by a pair of wide columns, and the curtains set alongside the edges of the doorway swayed back and forth with the warm breeze.

Set spun around. These were…his chambers – he recognized his headdress – identical to the one currently on his own head – sitting on a small table across from the bed, alongside several other pieces of golden jewelry. The table of scrolls from his soul room were in another corner, along with the same floor cushions.

But this just the same wasn't his room – not the one he remembered in broken pieces from his days as a priest.

A rectangular golden box sat on the end of the scrolls table, and he picked it up. There was something very familiar about it, but he couldn't place how. A little feeling, deep in the back of his mind told him there should be carvings along the sides of it, but the surface of the box currently was smooth and unmarred.

The Shadow Magus stood in the center of the room, watching him, but didn't make any move to come closer, so Set pushed the sheer drapes aside and walked out onto the balcony. His room overlooked the palace gardens, versus his old quarters which offered him a sight of the city.

"What is this?" he demanded, and returned back inside, just in time to see himself walk out of an adjoining chamber along the side wall, in similar long ornate robes of blue and white, wearing the Pharaoh's Millennium Puzzle.

The Shadow Magus's hands glowed red and the second Set froze mid-step.

We're in one of your memories. I thought that much was obvious.

"Why am I wearing the Pharaoh's Puzzle?"

Another low, raspy chuckle. Why indeed.

The purple mist of the Shadow Realm surrounded Set and he once again found himself chained down, this time to one of the columns. "Hey!"

I'm afraid this is where your part in this little adventure ends, said the Shadow Magus. There is no point calling for help – no one can hear or see us here. But don't worry, I'll come collect you once I've found what I'm looking for.

"And just what are you looking for?" Set snarled.

With one last laugh, the Shadow Magus waved a hand and time seemed to start moving again. The second Set finished adjusting the golden band on one forearm and continued towards the door, and the Shadow Magus glided after him.

A key.

The tablet was around here somewhere. That much he was certain. But Pharaoh Set didn't seem too interested in visiting it, and instead led the Shadow Magus on a tour through half of the newly reconstructed palace before finally ending up on his throne, surrounded by his new court.

The Shadow Magus recognized Mahad's young apprentice – Mina? Mona? Mana, that was her name – standing off to one side, wearing the Millennium Ring. Fresh faces held the others, and he was only mildly surprised to see that someone else had taken up the duty of physically wearing the Eye.

But the Tauk, and its wearer were suspiciously absent.

He flittered around the throne room and tuned out the various arguments between the priests and the other court members. Something about repairing the city gates this, and funneling more soldiers into the towns that. To use or to not use an army of the creatures collected in the stone slabs to protect the borders from invaders. To aid or not aid the areas of the capital still damaged from the fight against the Dark One.

"Where is Isis?"

The Shadow Magus glanced behind him. Set's words sliced through the buzzy chatter, halting all of it instantly.

One of the court members without a Millennium Item bowed low. "No one has seen her this morning."

"Maybe she's having another vision," Mana murmured, and then her eyes suddenly widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

Set slowly turned to look at her. "…Another vision?"

Mana quickly shook her head. "I-it's nothing, my Pharaoh! Forget I said anything."

The priest bearing the Scales, standing off to Mana's other side snorted. "It better be something useful this time – like which of those three," he said, nodding to the bearers of the Eye, Rod, and one of the lower court members, all glaring at each other after their argument was cut short, "won their little fight so we can –ow!"

Mana huffed and tucked her staff back under her arm, after thumping the man hard in the stomach with it. "Priestess Isis wouldn't have missed court unless it was something very important, Pharaoh. I'm certain of that."

Set drummed his hand along the rest of the throne. "So what visions has she had, Mana, that are keeping her from being here?"

Mana cringed. "She hardly speaks of them –"

"But she has to you. And there has been more than one."

Mana hung her head. "Yes. They are…of the future, I think. She sees glimpses of the Millennium Items, in the hands of other people. And strange things, creatures both like and unlike the ones in the shrines and people fighting each other with strange sticks."

"Why didn't she say anything about them before?" asked the priest wearing the Ankh.

"She wanted to make sense of them before coming to you," said Mana to Set, "some of the visions repeat themselves, and that has never happened before, so she thinks they must mean something."

Mana bit her lip.

"Mana," said Set firmly. "What else?"

"Once…she mentioned A—him," she quickly wrung her hands tightly around her staff and bowed low. "I'm sorry – I can't. I can't speak anymore of it."

"I see." Set quickly rose, and stepped down. "Where is she? Never mind. I already know."

Set's robes swirled around him as he stalked off towards the side doorway in the throne room. "You're all dismissed. When we next meet I expect agreement, not argument."

The Shadow Magus quickly followed after him, and wasn't surprised that Mana seemed to tag along several paces behind him, but Set stopped after rounding a corner and stared down at her.

"Was there something else you haven't told me?"

"No," Mana said quickly, "but…I…thought…I'd see Isis too…for support."

"You just want to eavesdrop."

Mana blushed and quickly looked away from him.

"Have you finished your search of Lord Shimon's designs?"

Mana shook her head. "No…many scrolls were lost in the battle when the west library collapsed."

Set sighed. "I understand you were close to him. There will be time for Isis to share her visions with you later. But right now I need those plans. Shimon had to have left them out for the builders. Someone has to have them, because the tomb can't possibly be finished yet. Find them."

Mana turned on her heel and ran back up the corridor, passing right through the Shadow Magus as if he were never there. Set stood in the center of the hall and watched her disappear out of sight before he continued out and into a small garden not far from a long-abandoned set of living quarters.

The Shadow Magus glided behind him through the small weaving paths around the different plants, surprised that anything in this particular area was still alive. Mahad used to tend to this plot himself, and used the shade under the large persea tree to meditate. It didn't come to any surprise to find Isis here, sitting on a bench under the same tree, eyes closed, while the Millennium Tauk glowed brightly against her tanned skin.

She and Mahad used to be close. He should have known she would have taken over the care of the magician's garden after he died, but then again, he had quite a number of other things to worry about other than who would maintain Mahad's plants.

It was servant's work anyhow.

The Shadow Magus watched Set sit beside her on the bench, sigh, and stare off into the distance. Isis didn't open her eyes or acknowledge him. She continued to sit perfectly still with one hand raised up and fingertips pressed lightly against the Tauk's eye.

And Set didn't seem keen on interrupting her.

The Shadow Magus tilted his head and did a slow spin to look around the garden. Was there something he was missing? Of all of the memories that Priest Set possessed, why did the shadows see fit to drop him here? The gateway tablet was not here. This was just a day in Set's life. And since this was one of his memories, there was nowhere to go but wherever Set went. He couldn't search for the tablet on his own.

Joy.

He lost track of just how much time had actually passed before the Tauk finally died down. Isis lowered her hand back down and took a long, deep breath.

"I'm surprised you came looking for me. Surely there are other more pressing matters for you to attend to."

Set balled one hand into a fist. "Because listening to them all squabble is so entertaining."

"The life of a pharaoh is never dull."

"Hn." He flexed out his hand again. "Mana also sold you out."

Isis sighed. "I know."

Set finally turned to her. "Why didn't you tell me you were having visions again?"

"I needed to be sure of what I was seeing," said Isis, "before I came to you."

"Well, I came to you, instead. So what have you seen?"

"I've seen many things," Isis said cryptically.

"What have you seen about him?"

Isis quickly turned to look at him. "Light. And darkness. Battles. Creatures from the tablets – but without the tablets. He's constantly fighting, with monsters and gods, and with strangers wielding wooden sticks, against people in masks and cloaks."

She swallowed. "But most importantly – I've seen It."

Set narrowed his eyes at her. "The Dark One?"

Isis closed her eyes and nodded. "If these visions come to pass, the Great Evil God will rise again."

Set clenched both of his hands into fists against his lap. "Did you see how? When?"

"Not exactly, but it involves all of the Millennium Items together, and…." She took a deep breath and clutched at the fabric of her dress. "His sacrifice. There are still missing pieces that I haven't seen, but I think there's enough that if we work now, we can curb the Dark One from coming back."

Set got up. "What do we have to do?"

Isis stared up at him. "It will not be favored by the majority of the court. As soon as they hear I'm sure you will hear nothing but angry words and complaints over it…"

"How unlucky for them," said Set, "but my word is the only one that matters. I don't care if it gets a few stubborn old men angry. This kingdom is still reeling from the war, and it is my duty to repair and protect it."

The Shadow Magus sighed, visibly frustrated, as they talked for a few more seconds before Isis stood up and they started back for the palace.

FINALLY.

…He had better be moving towards the damn tablet.

"How do you plan on getting us out of the castle if there are Aurors patrolling the grounds?" asked Yugi. The moving staircase floated them down past the third-floor landing and towards the bottom of the hall. Beside him, the Spirit of the Ring remained in control, one hand on the stair railing, the other against the top of the Ring.

"I thought you had the master plan," Bakura grumbled, "Since it was your idea to forgo the original one and give me one day's notice."

"Look, the Thestrals are still the plan," said Yugi, "But…I forgot about the Aurors patrolling the grounds and stationed near the front doors."

He glanced nervously at the portraits throughout their descent. Nearly all of the subjects within them were fast asleep, but it only took one pesky painting to wake up and its occupant run off in search of Filch, an Auror, or anyone else really. No doubt they'd be caught before making it to the Entrance Hall. It was bad enough they were already breaking curfew – that was hours ago.

"Maybe you should have, before wanting to pull this off."

"I know leaving when Umbridge wouldn't be here would be ideal," Yugi whispered, "but we can't risk the trail leading to the Millennium Rod going cold. This might be our one chance to find it!"

"Alright, alright, don't short circuit your duel disk," said Bakura, "I have an idea."

"I thought you might," said Yugi.

Bakura snorted. "There's more than one set of doors out of here. We can use the east wing's exit to the training grounds. It's the closest route towards the forest and the creature paddocks."

"Not the courtyard?"

The stairs reached the bottom and Bakura stalked off, rolling his eyes. "No. That's an Auror stomping ground."

Yugi hurried after him. "How do you know that?"

Bakura turned to look down at him, a mischievous glint in his red eyes. "You don't think I just sit in my soul room and twiddle my thumbs while Ryou sleeps, do you? I've mapped this entire castle from top to bottom."

"…and you've never gotten caught?!"

Bakura stopped and slowly turned to stare at him. "Just who do you take me for?"

"Heh," Yugi said, "Right. Sorry. Forget I mentioned anything."

They slunk down the first-floor corridor and Yugi took a cursory glance behind him. The halls were surprisingly clear. He expected to have to avoid at least one or two patrolling wizards, or at least Mrs. Norris on their journey out of the castle, but so far no one. Perhaps this was why Bakura led him down this particular path through the castle. Maybe his nightly excursions in the shadows allowed him to see patterns in the patrolling routes.

Well, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Is everyone outside, you think?"

"Maybe," said Bakura, "though we passed that stupid knight's portrait – the one who kept harassing Kaiba every time he left the tower this past week. I'm surprised he hasn't called everyone else to arms yet."

"Maybe he was asleep," said Yugi. Hopefully he was asleep, though if they've already passed him by, then there was nothing to worry about, right?

"He wasn't there."

Oh. So he was hanging out in someone else's portrait. Or traveling. Which meant that they might still come across him. Great.

But there was no sign of the obnoxious Sir Cadogan during the careful sprint across the ground floors and out onto the training grounds, and Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. They were past the worst of the run. The portraits and ghosts couldn't see them outside. And in the cloak of darkness, it should be an easy run to the Thestrals.

"Can the Ring alert us if there's someone patrolling near us?" asked Yugi.

"If I tell it to," said Bakura, "but they have to light their wands in the dark. We'd see them coming."

Yugi paused. "Aren't we going to do that too? Won't they see us?"

"I can see just fine in the dark. Can't you?"

Yugi bit his lip. Technically no, he didn't have to light his way to see, but the hills going down to the forest were rather steep. If he stuck close to Bakura he might be okay, but seeing where he was going would be an absolute nightmare.

"…Right."

Bakura rolled his eyes and shoved him along. "Just don't scream if you trip."

"I won't need to. They'll hear me rolling all the way to Hagrid's hut."

Bakura shrugged lightheartedly. "Think of it this way. You'll get there faster."

Yugi glared at him. That didn't make him feel any better.

They hurried past the path leading away from the training grounds and towards the Quidditch Pitch, and Yugi couldn't help but steal a glance behind him. Still no sign of anyone on patrol.

"Okay, I don't want to jinx anything," he began, "but it is normal that we haven't run into anyone yet?"

"There are far less Aurors patrolling the grounds at night than you think there are," said Bakura. "And a bunch of them got pulled onto that stupid committee investigating Kaiba. So I suppose we ought to thank him that Voldemort possessed him and tried to turn him into a murderer."

Yugi stumbled on a loose rock on the descent down towards Hagrid's Hut. "I don't think he would appreciate that sentiment too much."

Bakura reached down and righted him. "Try not to kill yourself before I can."

Yami bristled from inside their shared soul corridor and Yugi huffed. "The Pharaoh and I will keep that in mind."

"Good." He gestured them around the back side of Hagrid's Hut and down the short walking path to the paddocks. Even in the dark, Yugi could see the edge of the trees and hear the rustling of life deep within them. Or maybe that was the light, but biting breeze. Maybe it was both.

"I hope you're going to at least help me get onto one of the Thestrals," said Yugi. "I can't see them."

Bakura mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. "Must I do everything for you?"

"Or we can both ride one?"

/I don't think that's a good idea, Yugi./

/It would be easier that way, and less awkward because I can't see what I'll be holding onto!/

"I don't think so," Bakura snapped. "I don't think I could go the entire journey with nothing but you and the Pharaoh for company. I'll likely push you off."

Yugi listened to Yami cross his arms and mutter back a scathing reply before he sighed. "Somehow I doubt that's the way you wanted to get your revenge on the Pharaoh…or whatever."

"It's not the way I would want to do it, no," Bakura admitted, and quietly opened the gate to the paddock. "But it will be quite effective."

Yugi looked around the empty enclosure and took a step forward and crashed right into Bakura's back. "Oh—sorry!"

The Spirit of the Ring hissed. "Well, this…hm."

"What is it?"

"They're not here."

"What's not?"

"The Thestrals."

Yugi's eyes widened. "They're not? Are you sure?"

"Considering only I can see them," Bakura snapped, "I think I would know if a giant skeletal horse was standing in front of me or not." He looked back, past Yugi, and then ahead again, towards the back of the paddock. "I can't see the other end – wait here."

"Oh—okay." Yugi rubbed at his arms. His duel disk didn't fit on his arm with his warmer, puffier coat, so naturally, he elected to wear his lighter jacket – and freeze in the cold winter night. It really was a shame he couldn't see the Thestrals – not for the conditions to let him see one, of course – but it would make this trip a bit more bearable to at least know what he was riding. Especially because he couldn't trust Bakura to not try and either steal the Puzzle and/or try and kill him in mid-air, and he couldn't bet on Ryou having the strength to push the Spirit back and save him.

He shivered and squinted out ahead. He couldn't see Bakura anymore. But he also couldn't see the far end of the enclosure from the gate.

"Bakura?"

Did he find one, and was he on his way back? He didn't remember the paddock being that big.

A twig snapped from the ground behind him, and Yugi sighed. "C'mon Bakura don't sneak up on me like that."

"Hem, hem."

He turned around and flinched against the bright wand light shining into his eyes, and the rather smug look of Professor Umbridge staring right back at him. An Auror flanked her on either side.

"Mr. Muto, just what do you think you're doing out here?"

Yugi swallowed hard. "Just…going for a walk, Professor."

"Hm," she said, completely unconvinced, and the two other wizards did a quick sweep of the paddock before returning back, wands aimed towards the ground. "Ma'am, there's no one else here."

"What?" Umbridge spluttered, and turned to Yugi. "That's impossible! Where did he go?"

Yugi's eyes were wide, and he could only half-shrug. Did the Spirit sense them approach and make a convenient exit back to Gryffindor Tower, and then leave him behind to take the fall? He was going to have words for Bakura the moment he got back to the dormitory.

Umbridge spun around, as if Bakura were really hiding right behind her the entire time, but when it was clear that Yugi was the only student she managed to find, huffed and made a gesturing motion with her wand. "Alright, come on, Mr. Muto. Back to the school. Oh – and I'll take that."

She held her hand out and pointed with her wand at his duel disk.

Yugi's stomach churned. "Please don't, Professor!"

"Mister Muto," said Umbridge, "it's bad enough that your roommate could have very well endangered countless lives by practicing experimental magic. Give it to me."

Yugi placed his hand over it. "Will I get it back?"

Umbridge smiled sweetly again and Yugi felt his insides twist into a knot. "If you cooperate with me, then yes. I think I can be agreeable to that."

/I'm afraid it's over for this attempt, Yugi. We're going to have to give up our duel disk./

Yugi nodded numbly and slid it off of his wrist, and couldn't have been more thankful that he hadn't yet placed his deck inside it, and they were still safely in his pocket, before passing it to Umbridge.

She tucked it under her arm and glanced back to the two Aurors. "Keep searching for the other boy. The white-haired one. I know he's out here somewhere." And with a final gesture of her wand, pointed Yugi back towards the path.

"Well, it is a lovely night for a walk, I suppose, hm? A little chilly perhaps. Why don't we warm up in my office and you can tell me all about what you were doing down by the Forbidden Forest after hours."

She didn't lower her wand at all, and Yugi closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, Professor."

Umbridge, still smiling, patted him on the shoulder and he felt himself shiver. "That's a good boy."

"I've had another vision."

Set glanced up from his spot on the cushions against the open window and lowered the scroll he was reading to his lap.

"They've become quite numerous as of late."

"They are," said Isis, and she clasped her hands together in front of her. "But this was not quite about the Millennium Items, but of our…other project."

The Shadow Magus paused in his exasperated pacing of the room and turned to face them. Set had holed himself up in this corner of the palace for the majority of the day. So far he had followed him all around the palace, in and out of the gardens, visited one of the stone tablet shrines in the midst of repair, and then here. Still no visit to the tablet. Still no sight of the Pharaoh's name.

Why did the Shadows see fit to put him here? Why here, instead of in a past memory, well before the Pharaoh even sacrificed himself to the Millennium Puzzle? Surely someone had to call him by his name before Aknamkanon's death. Surely the magic that sealed the Pharaoh away wouldn't have altered past memories.

Then again….maybe not.

"The tablet you are creating will have more importance than you realize," Isis was saying, when the Shadow Magus finally tuned back into them, "if we place it in the Pharaoh's tomb, it may go undiscovered."

Set crossed his arms. "The same can be said for splitting the Millennium Items. The tomb keepers will write and pass down the necessary scriptures, per your instructions, but the Pharaoh himself will be going into his tomb."

"I've already seen that the Pharaoh will return," said Isis, "But the tablet must also be seen by the necessary people, and it will not from there. I suggest placing it with the clan that takes the Tauk, and they will take the proper steps when the time is right."

Set got up and tossed the scroll aside onto the vacated window seat. "Walk with me."

Where are you going this time? The Shadow Magus grumbled and trailed after him, back towards where he knew Set's bedchambers to be. The doors to his rooms were closed, but he could still sense present-day Set trying and failing to get out. He continued past, and down a corridor he didn't quite remember; this must be a new rebuilt section of the palace. Zorc did leave a rather destructive mark on the kingdom.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Mana requested our counsel after your meditation was done," said Set. "She's taken up residence in Mahad's old quarters."

Isis stopped short, eyes wide. "W-what?"

Set raised an eyebrow at her. "It is rather reasonable. All of his initial research into the initial creation of the Millennium Items are there, and so are all of his more…obscure texts. She's been poring over all of it ever since your vision of the Pharaoh returning home."

Isis quickly recovered herself. "Ah. Of course."

The Shadow Magus raised an eyebrow. Just how close were Isis and Mahad, before the Thief King broke into the palace? Was he really so hyper-focused on training Set for priesthood and starting to manipulate his failed overthrow of the kingdom to ever notice that they may have had more than a deep friendship? Or maybe they didn't and she was just overreacting. With the Tauk, he didn't think anything really fazed her anymore, but it was far too late to have his curiosity sated now. Both of them were long since dead.

They stopped outside Mahad's rooms and Isis warily eyed the doorway. "It feels wrong to intrude inside. That's why no one has wandered into the Pharaoh's rooms."

"Mana expressed the same concern," said Set, "but she, like you, knew Mahad better than I and she was very firm in reminding me that Mahad died to protect the Pharaoh, and he would want us to do what was necessary to bring him home."

He paused, and eyed her anxious stare at the door. "But if you prefer I can summon her elsewhere."

"No," Isis quickly shook her head. "I am fine."

Mana sat on the floor in the middle of the room, surrounded by a scattering of scrolls, and jerked her head up wildly when Set pushed his way through the doors.

"Oh!" she squeaked and pushed aside the three papyrus sheets on her lap in order to stumble to her feet.

"Stay," said Set, holding up a hand. "What have you discovered?"

Mana sighed and glanced around wildly for one of the discarded scrolls behind her. "We can create a doorway to A'aru, but in order to access it, the Pharaoh will need a very specific key."

She bit her lip and looked directly at Set. "His name."

"His name?" Isis gasped, "We can't – the Pharaoh used it as the seal to lock away the Dark God. His name was stricken from every written record. His final instructions were to make him forgotten. If we allow his name to be passed down through the generations of tomb keepers until he rises, we could risk the darkness swallowing the lands again."

"The Pharaoh's name isn't the only thing required to resurrect the darkness," said Mana. "All seven items will have to return to their original stone as well. And we've already planned to split them up."

"That doesn't mean they won't find their way back to each other in the future," said Set. "But the one true way to keep Zorc from returning is to keep the Pharaoh's name a complete secret. Let the few of us left who remember him travel to A'aru with that secret intact, and time will do the work for us."

"But, we can't," Mana cried, "Without his name, the Pharaoh won't make it back with us. He'll remain trapped in the pendant forever!"

"I want the Pharaoh to join us in A'aru as much as you," said Set, "but I also have to acknowledge that he made his sacrifice to save us all, and we have to honor it."

"But what if we can do both?" said Mana. "We can create the doorway to A'aru and protect his name!"

The swirling mist of the Shadow Realm dissipated, dropping Bakura into a dimly lit study in who-knows-where, and he took a minute to make a slow spin around the room, taking in the moth-eaten curtains and the dusty tabletops. The armchair by the fireplace looked like the only lived-in thing here.

"I expected more of him," Bakura snorted. "This place is a dump."

The room was so dark he nearly missed it but there – on the other side of the study, hovering off the ground just to the side of a rickety end table was another Shadow Realm cloud, and floating inside were both the Millennium Rod and a glowing, broken sword.

Well, what do we have here? Bakura stepped right up to the edge of the cloud. He remembered the kind summoned during the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments, where intruders into the current Shadow Game weren't allowed into the mist. Yugi's friends had mentioned trying to intervene against Pegasus, and ran headstrong into the cloud only to come out the other side.

But if this bit of Shadow Realm was like every other that was created recently, it should allow him to pass as if he were the one who summoned it. And should that be the case, recovering the Rod back to Hogwarts suddenly got a lot easier.

And if not, time to start a little Shadow Game of his own. Ryou may not have brought his duel disk to Hogwarts, but there was more than one way to cause a little bit of chaos, mayhem, and despair. But first – the mist.

Without waiting even a beat, he shoved his arm through the cloud, and to his immediate satisfaction, his fist didn't reappear back out facing him.

Bakura grinned and took a step into the Shadow Realm, and within seconds, reached out and grabbed the Millennium Rod. It activated in his hand, glowing bright against the dark shadows surrounding them, and the foggy cloud in the dismal study started shifting away and into…what appeared to be a bedroom in the Pharaoh's palace. It was far too richly decorated in gold to belong to just anyone, so it must be royal quarters of some sort.

…And, considering Set was glaring at him from where he was pinned to a column across the room, perhaps they were his.

"You!?" Set hissed.

"Me," said Bakura, "Nice to know that in the month or so you've been gone, you haven't forgotten who I am."

Set futilely yanked on the chains. "What are you doing here?" He then paused, and narrowed his eyes. "How are you here?"

"Believe it or not, Priest," Bakura snapped and took another curious look about the room. No sign of the Shadow Magus anywhere. "And I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I'm here to rescue you. The Pharaoh would have come along, but his host does not believe in the art of stealth and got himself caught leaving the school. So you're stuck with me."

"But that doesn't explain how you are here," Set growled.

"The Shadow Realm works in mysterious ways," said Bakura cryptically. "So where's the Shadow Magus?"

"Following who I believe is a version of me," said Set. "I haven't seen either of them since I was trapped in here."

"…I see."

Set raised an eyebrow at him for a moment before he sighed and gestured as best as he could with his wrists. "Well, make yourself useful, and let me loose."

Bakura crossed his arms over his chest and sneered at him. "Perhaps I won't."

"What!?"

"I don't have to release you, and to be honest, I think I prefer you like this, out of my way." He stood back and watched, smirking, as Set's face turned a furious shade of crimson.

"Then why are you here?"

"Maybe I'm just nosy," said Bakura. "The Shadow Magus has clearly been preparing for whatever this is for a while, and I'd like to know what my host is getting into before all hell breaks loose again."

Set narrowed his eyes at him. "And what does Ryou think of this?"

The corner of Bakura's lip curled upwards and his red eyes glittered dangerously. "He would want me to let you out, of course, but fortunately for me, he's tucked away in his soul room and can't hear us. So long as I bring you back to Hogwarts, he won't be any the wiser."

Set rolled his eyes. "Then you aren't going to just leave me here then after all." He then paused. The absolute feral grin on Bakura's face absolutely said otherwise.

"Oh, I can return you to Hogwarts," said Bakura, and he started circling the pillar. "But what good will it do you, hm? I could still leave you right here, trapped in this….whatever this is, and let the Shadow Magus do what he wants. The school is just another prison."

"But Seto—"

Bakura cackled. "Kaiba? Wants nothing to do with you. I've observed enough to know that no matter how much the Pharaoh insisted on it, he is not having another voice in his head. Not for at least a long time. So where does that leave you?"

"The Shadow Magus needs to be stopped," said Set, "and leaving me here with him is not going to make things better for me, you, or Ryou, whether I am trapped in my own memories or not."

Bakura's brows raised, just a hair, and made another curious sweep. "Oh, is that where we are?"

Set glared at him.

"These quarters are far too opulent for that of a priest, even one chosen to wield one of the sacred Millennium Items," said Bakura, and he rounded the column to stand directly in front of Set. "So when are we?"

Set still didn't say anything, and Bakura nodded. "That's alright. You don't have much memories of…anything, really. I can figure it out on my own while I see what the Shadow Magus is looking for."

He rocked back and forth on his heels. "Must be something rather important for him to summon a Dragon Capture Jar right in your soul corridor. I wonder how long it took him to figure out how to keep that monster at bay."

Set's brow furrowed and he drew back. "What are you talking about? What dragon?"

Bakura's eyes lit up, and his grin widened. "You don't know?"

"I've been trapped in my soul room since Seto was taken," said Set, "I didn't think the corridor even existed anymore since our bond was broken."

"Oh," said Bakura mildly. "I can assure you it's still there, and there's quite a large Dragon Capture Jar sealed shut right in the middle of it. You're no fool. You've seen the tablet in the museum. We both know which one is inside trying to get out. She's rather persistent."

"She?"

Bakura raised a hand and made a dramatic show of covering his mouth with it before turning on his heel for the door. "Oops, silly me. I shouldn't have said anything. Well, you have fun struggling, Set. I'm off to find the Shadow Magus. You wouldn't happen to know where he's gone would you? Oh, no – you've been locked in here, how could you?"

"Wait!" Set shouted, just as Bakura was ready to glide through the door, and he turned back, brow raised.

"What do you plan to do when you find him?"

"I don't know," said Bakura. "I'm enjoying watching this play out as it goes."

Set paused. "He said he was looking for a key."

Bakura wrinkled his nose. "That's it?"

Set shook his head. "He summoned me to this room, and I saw myself, wearing robes I don't remember owning—"

Bakura snorted. "You don't remember anything."

"Listen to me," Set hissed. "I was wearing the Millennium Puzzle."

Bakura froze. "Really…."

"It was not the same as the one Yugi Muto wears now. It was still whole."

Bakura slowly turned back around to face him.

"I'm telling you…" Set started, "as much as I loathe to, because somehow, you have gotten past the Shadow Magus's traps before. You can move through the shadows and the Pharaoh and I cannot. Please, you need to stop him from finding whatever it is he's looking for."

Bakura didn't come any closer from his spot at the doorway, and stared right through him, mind whirring. If Set saw a version of himself, wearing the Puzzle, then the Shadow Magus somehow unlocked part of the priest's future. And if he saw the Puzzle, then the tomb keeper clans hadn't yet been created. All of the Millennium Items were still somewhere in the palace.

Set somehow survived the battle and became the next pharaoh. And the Shadow Magus, for whatever it was he had been searching for since the beginning of term, needed to come here to find it. He didn't piece together how and why Set would have sealed himself into the Millennium Rod, but that also left an unknown about the Shadow Magus. He clearly survived in that broken sword, but what was he looking for? What key?

He didn't expect Set or the Shadow Magus to have returned to the modern world. They were anomalies, just enough that it could throw a monkey wrench in everything.

Ryou needed to finish the diorama so he could enchant it into a Shadow Game. But Set…ever so slowly recovering his memories could stumble upon an event that would upend his revenge game against the Pharaoh. And the Shadow Magus was a wild card – too much of one that it gave him an idea.

Seto Kaiba wasn't the only one who could plan a few moves ahead of everyone else.

"Alright, Priest, I've changed my mind. I think I'll let you out after all."

His admission stopped Set short, and he could only stare back at the tomb robber with a dubious frown.

"You are?" Eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

Bakura snickered. "Would you rather I didn't? I can happily just leave you here."

"No!"

Bakura laughed. "I think…no matter how much I love to watch you suffer, the Shadow Magus is a force too unpredictable to be left unchecked. I'll take you back to the Pharaoh, because I'm not stupid enough to put my host on Kaiba's warpath by shoving you in his face."

Set sank back against the pillar. "I…can't believe I'm saying this, to you, of all people. But thank you."

The cruel smile was back and Bakura stepped right up to him. "Don't thank me just yet. I'm not doing this out of kindness. I'm doing you a favor, and a rather large one at that. So I will expect something equally large in return."

Set's jaw tensed. "What could I possibly give you?"

"Oh, I'm sure I could think of something," said Bakura, "I don't need anything today. Not even tomorrow. But one day I'm going to come for you – or your host – and I expect to be paid."

Bakura raised his arms and his hands started glowing the same reddish-purple mist that the Shadow Magus seemed to favor. "And believe me, I will collect my payment, one way or another."

"Threatening me with the Shadow Realm will not work," Set snapped, "Nor will it work on Seto. You think, after all of this, that an idle threat like that will get under his skin?"

"I think you're forgetting who you're talking to," said Bakura, "and that the Millennium Ring – and only the Millennium Ring – can counter the Shadow Magus's magic. You want to get out of this little world and stop him without me? You'll have to get off that column first, and I can see you've done a great job of it so far."

Set's eye twitched.

"And what if Seto or I refuse our end? How can I agree – or do so on his behalf – without knowing what it is?"

"It's in your best interest." Bakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "Because not only can I stop the Shadow Magus, but I can just as well send you both back to him. And to Voldemort. Let's not forget – of all of us, I know where he lives. You think Kaiba would like another weeklong vacation?"

He watched as all of the color drained from Set's face. "You wouldn't."

"Is that a chance you're willing to take?" Bakura stepped back, hands still glowing, and smirked, satisfied by Set's horrified face. "I didn't think so. So is that a deal?"

"Fine," Set said through clenched teeth.

"Excellent." The mist around Bakura's hands glowed brighter and the room started to swirl back into the mist, until he suddenly snapped his fingers. "Oh! I almost forgot – breathe one word of our little chat to anyone, including Kaiba, and I won't come after you. Or him…."

The chains binding Set vanished and he stumbled forward as the last of the palace quarters, and Bakura, disappeared.

"…I'll go right for his brother."

The Shadow Magus lost track of how much time had actually passed. After an afternoon dealing with unimportant city matters, the memory seemed to swirl away, and now he found himself alongside Set and Mana as they passed through a narrow passage over a bottomless pit in what appeared to be a tomb. Set was no longer wearing the Millennium Puzzle, and instead had an ornately carved golden box cradled carefully in his arms.

Mana stopped on the other side and gestured to the pedestal against the wall.

"This is it?" asked Set.

Mana nodded. She kept a white-knuckled grip on her staff.

"H-he won't remember this place," Mana choked out, and quickly turned away from Set to rub at her eyes. "But I've accounted for that in the spell I've placed on the tomb, and on the pieces. It will appear there when he enters the gateway."

"Why?"

"I…" Her eyes were watery when she turned back to face him again. "I know we have to stop the Evil God—"

"Zorc. Its name is Zorc. Its name alone will not bring it back, and it is time we stopped fearing it."

"Right," she said, barely above a whisper. "…But we have to help him! And I can't bear to have him return to this world and not be able to join us in A'aru! He needs his name!"

"It's gone, Mana," said Set, "There is and will be no record of it, even long after we're gone."

"You want him to return, to us, just as much as I do, and you just won't admit it!" Mana cried, "Why else did you go through with that tablet?"

Set fell silent.

"I read the message you hid in it," said Mana, "You wish he were still here, and that he didn't have to die! His life had barely begun before that thief destroyed it!"

"And you know that I destroyed the cartouche on it," said Set.

"It was empty," said Mana.

The Shadow Magus furiously gnashed his teeth. Oh, that was the worst part of the entire visit to that part of the palace. How long had he been looking forward to seeing the stone tablet in its pristine form, only to find out that the Pharaoh's name never even made it onto it in the first place? That Set merely ruined the cartouche so no one else could go behind his orders and place it in without his knowledge?

Set moved to stand beside the pedestal but didn't place the golden box on top. "What did you do, Mana?"

"I was here yesterday," Mana said, staring up at Set defiantly, "And I left one last recording of his name. So that he could find his way home."

The Shadow Magus whirled around and stared at her.

She held her hands up before Set could say anything and quickly continued. "But – I made sure it was hidden here. It can only be accessed by the soul who releases the Pharaoh from the Pendant."

Mana placed her hands on top of the empty pedestal. "I enchanted the box, and the great puzzle inside. Whoever solves it is granted a wish. But only if that wish is returned can they enter the secret chamber and discover his name."

"…I see."

Set lowered his head and stared down at the box before gently setting it down onto the pedestal. "Then I suppose there is nothing left to do now, except prepare to part with the other six treasures."

Mana nodded. "I…still have to perform the last spells on the tablet before we send it to Isis's family. It should follow the Tauk, so whoever inherits it over the years will know what to do."

"Agreed." He glanced down at the box and then to Mana. "Leave me, for just a moment."

"But –"

"Mana," Set said, his voice suddenly surprisingly sharp. "We have survived the greatest of trials together at the cost of our colleagues, our mentors, and our Pharaoh. I admit, I did not expect us to grow as close as we have, and with that I have been more lenient with you, but I am no longer a priest of the Pharaoh's court. I am the Pharaoh now, and you need not question me."

Mana closed her eyes.

"But here, I am not ordering as the Pharaoh, but asking for a moment to say farewell."

"I understand, and I'm sorry," said Mana. "I will be back in the next chamber, preparing to activate Shimon's traps."

Set nodded and seemed to wait for her to cross the narrow bridge before cradling the sides of the box with his hands. The Shadow Magus glided around this end of the passage; the Millennium Eye shining bright against the dark of the tomb.

Where did she put it?!

"I'm sorry," Set said to the golden box, "But I feel I cannot do what is expected of me. It is something I know you cannot help me with, trapped as you are. But you also did not have this heavy burden on your shoulders. I must rebuild the kingdom, and lead us to a new, prosperous future. I must protect us, and our future, but to do that means that you and your great sacrifice must be erased from this world.

"As the Pharaoh, I am obligated to do what is right. Therefore the kingdom bears no record of your name. Your dynasty will be known only as the one ruled by a nameless pharaoh, for how short it was. But…as your friend…."

Set sighed heavily. "…I must do what is right to help you return to A'aru, even if it goes against what is needed for the kingdom. Isis has foreseen your release. Mana has left you a beacon of light to follow. The great Gods will assist you. Mahad's spirit will continue to serve you once you awaken. And until you do, may the spirit of the White Dragon keep you from being consumed by the darkness."

He straightened up and rested a hand briefly on top of the box before he turned to leave. "Farewell, my friend. I will be waiting for you."

The Shadow Magus watched Set start across the bridge, and turned back to the end of the tomb. Shadow mist started forming around him and he raised a hand. Set froze in mid-step.

Foolish girl. You led me right to it.

He phased through the far wall and then down through the floor into a chamber that seemingly had no door, but the moment he regained bearings of just what he had glided into, the entire chamber suddenly swirled away and vanished into the Shadow Realm.

WHAT!?

"Well, well, well. Someone's been rather busy," said a cold voice.

The Shadow Magus spun around. He was no longer in the tomb, instead surrounded by only the Shadow Realm.

Bakura stepped forward. "I didn't expect you to be alive and kicking still, Aknadin."

The Millennium Eye on the Shadow Magus's mask glimmered in the dark. I shouldn't be surprised that you too have survived. But I am that you remember me.

Bakura chuckled and laid a hand on the top of the Millennium Ring. "Oh, I remember everything."

This is not the first time you've broken through the barriers I've created. The Shadow Magus tilted his head curiously. How are you able to pass through the shadows?

Bakura smirked. "Didn't you know? I am the darkness."

You are nothing more than a tomb robber.

"Oh," Bakura said and slowly started circling him. "I'm much more than that."

And what are you doing here then, Tomb Robber? Are you here to return the Priest back to the Pharaoh?

"I might be," said Bakura, "but more importantly, what are you doing nosing through Priest Set's memories?"

And why should I tell you, after what you've done? Do you realize just what you've interrupted!?

Bakura cocked an eyebrow. "I can think of only one reason why you'd be sulking in the Pharaoh's tomb, looking for a key." He eyed the Shadow Magus suspiciously. "Did you find it?"

The Shadow Magus stayed silent, and Bakura shrugged and started his slow circle again. "It doesn't matter. It will take more than just that to revive Zorc, you know."

Is that what you think I'm after?

Bakura grinned. "That's what you wanted all those years ago, wasn't it? To have him lay waste to the land so you could pave way for a new kingdom with your son on the throne?" The Shadow Magus didn't answer, but that didn't deter him. "But you should know that the Millennium Items will not land together in that tablet, even if you did find the pesky little key."

He stopped and looked up at the Shadow Magus. "Not without help, at least."

What makes you think I need your help?

"Because I have cushy little inside link to the Pharaoh and his friends, where you are about as subtle as a freight train," said Bakura. "But also, I know someone who now owes me any favor I want. So I'll make you a deal. In return for the continuous safety of my host, I'll help track down a few chunks of that rusty sword you call home. And if you also leave Kaiba and the Priest alone after this, I might even share where two of the Millennium Items are."

…You really expect me to believe you'll hold your end of this bargain?

Bakura shrugged and shoved his hand into his jeans pockets. "How about this. Admit that you, like me, want to bring Zorc back in this world and I'll give you a Millennium Item. Right now."

And part with the Ring? You jest.

Bakura bared his teeth. "Who said anything about the Millennium Ring?"

Now the Shadow Magus started to glide and circle around Bakura. …I see. Well then. Perhaps I will even out this little deal of yours. Uphold your end, and when the time comes that I am granted a true body of my own, I will provide you with one as well.

"I like the sound of that."

I thought you would. But should you decide to double-cross me, all bets are off. I will come for you and your host, and you no amount of Shadow Realm trickery will protect you from me.

Bakura laughed. "It's cute that after all this time, you still think you hold some sort of power over me, when it was I who gave it to you in the first place. But sure, do your worst."

Then we have an understanding.

"We do."

The Shadow Realm suddenly vanished, leaving the two of them standing alone in the dingy little study. The Shadow Magus slowly spun around to find Bakura sitting in the moth-eaten armchair like a king on a throne with the Millennium Rod in his hand.

"Don't worry," said Bakura, "Priest Set didn't hear us. Our little secret is safe." He got up and moved towards the door, the Ring glowing bright. "I'll be in touch, Shadow Magus." With a quick swirl of purple mist he was gone, and the Rod with him.

The Shadow Magus slowly turned back to where he remembered his sword floating, but now it rested on the rickety end table. Beside it sat the Millennium Eye.