"…And finally, here you go, Kaiba-shacho. The results you asked for."

Seto grimaced as he received the envelope containing the DNA test results that he'd requested two weeks ago. Neither he or Mokuba had decided how they wanted to move forward, should the papers within the envelope prove positive. Still, he was tempted to peek and settle the thoughts that'd been swirling around since his jaunt through the afterlife.

The sound of his brother's phone ringing distracted him before he could make up his mind on the matter. Mokuba hadn't gone anywhere since he'd awoken, and again today, he was practically glued to Seto's side, so the older Kaiba was able to hear everything on his brother's end.

"Hey Yugi."

Seto let out a huff. Speak of the devil…

"You want a meeting? With just me or… Niisama too? We can arrange it for next wee… now? You want it now?"

Seto scowled as Mokuba put the phone on speaker. He owed Yugi a great deal, he couldn't deny it, but expecting him to drop everything for her was rude.

"No, no, just… as soon as possible. Preferably before I leave Hekigan. If you're still here, of course." Yugi sounded a little sad, making Mokuba and Seto wonder what was up. "I have a huge favour to ask and would rather do it in person."

The brothers looked at each other. It wasn't like Yugi to try and push for contact and she had never asked anything of them, even after everything they'd done to her and her friends and family. So, if she was asking a favour now, it had to be for a good reason.

"We're leaving in an hour." Seto finally spoke, loudly enough for the phone speaker to pick it up. "You can meet us in the VIP suites, number one. I'll have security let you up."

"Thank you, Kaiba. Thanks, Mokuba."

The happiness in Yugi's tone before she ended the call made Seto huff, nod to the doctor, and head for the VIP suite in question.

As he stalked through the halls, he could see the park he'd given so much for through the windows.

The park he'd given away in a heartbeat.

It was his again now, of course, but still he didn't regret it. He couldn't. Hekigan was the culmination of his and his brother's dream, but it would've meant nothing without Mokuba to share it with him.

In a way, what happened was a blessing. He'd been put on medical leave for the last couple of weeks, while the injuries that hadn't been healed by magic made a slow recovery and tests came back clear. The doctor had made it crystal clear that he was fit for light duties only, like video conferences and signing off on things.

Mostly because no one wanted him to drop into another several month-long coma.

Under other circumstances, it would've driven him crazy, but it'd shown him just how much improvement he had to make on Kaiba Corp's sick leave policy and given him the chance to enjoy what he'd created in a way that he just wouldn't have had time to do, if he'd been healthy and well.

It hadn't failed to amuse him that without his white trench coat or suits, he could slip amongst the crowds almost unnoticed. He and Mokuba had only gone out in the evenings, when a lot of people were at dinner or a show, but there'd still been people roaming the park, and yet they'd only been accosted once.

Plus, he had a list of improvements that needed to be made that he wouldn't have had if he hadn't had the chance to roam the park as a guest. A list that he fully planned to go over with park management before he went back to work at Kaiba Corp Headquarters, back in Domino, now that he'd finally been released from medical care.

He wasn't actually leaving in an hour. The meeting to discuss the improvements was booked for this evening, and then, hopefully he and Mokuba would be able to be home by sunrise. However, telling Yugi where they were meant that she would hurry over and not waste his time any more than necessary.

And arriving in the suite before her gave him a chance to ask his brother, "Are you ready for these?"

He waved the envelope in Mokuba's general direction, making his brother pause momentarily, then bit his lower lip. "Would you be angry if I said no?"

"No."
Mostly because Seto wasn't sure he was ready either. Confirmation that Yugi was his cousin, was also confirmation that he'd nearly been doomed to Hell for his actions, and a sign he needed to start fixing things in his life.

All things he needed time to process.

"Can we do it once we're back home then?" Mokuba asked, relief clear, "I'm not… I want to know, I just… that's big. And could change everything. And I don't want…"

He frowned, like he wasn't sure how to explain it, but Seto got it. This island was amazing, it was the park they'd always dreamt of, but it also wasn't home. It wasn't stability.

And there were already enough shadows looming in it from the disaster of the grand opening, without adding even more complicated feelings.

As someone knocked on the door, he slipped the envelope into his briefcase, where the Millennium Rod was stored, while Mokuba opened the door. Yugi, and surprisingly Bakura, were on the other side, waiting patiently.

"I thought you wanted a private meeting?" Seto scowled as the two girls entered.

"This is important to Ba-Khu-Ra too," Yugi smiled sheepishly as the Thief Queen in question kept her head down.

"So, what's up?" Mokuba asked, bouncing back across the room and standing at his brother's side.

Yugi hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, deciding to just say it. As she explained the truth of the items, and what they wanted to do, the Kaibas looked at each other, trying to decide what, exactly, they should do.

The first answer that came to mind, was no. No, they wouldn't allow Yugi to unleash the souls of Kul Elna upon their theme park. No, they wouldn't let ghosts roam and possibly freak out their guests.

Then Yugi mentioned that there were children locked away in the darkness and had been for three thousand years and Mokuba's shudder started changing Seto's mind.

"I know it's a huge ask, but…"

"Your sister is sure she can do it without endangering the park?" Seto demanded, staring Yugi down, causing a switch between the Mutou twins.

"I have the ability to free those souls," Sakhmet grimaced, not wanting to lie to Kaiba, but also not wanting to cause him to reject the proposal.

"Can you do it without letting anything else loose?" Seto didn't hesitate to demand.

"I should be able to."

"But you're not certain."

The Pharaoh couldn't deny Kaiba's accusation.

"I've only just got my power back so I'm having to adjust to my new limitations." But this should be within my power, and these people, these children and mothers and fathers? They deserve more than the suffering they've undergone for something they aren't responsible for. More than to be victims of a warmongering, Set spawned snake, who have to suffer until they're cast into the afterlife."

Seto mulled the idea over. He could easily see Gozaburo pulling the same thing Akhenaden did back in Egypt. In fact, Seto was fully aware that his adoptive father had happily tested on women and children and sold weaponry to people who'd turned it on schools and hospitals. He was still cleaning up the messes that his father had left behind because of it, even four years later.

This wasn't much different.

Akhenaden had murdered over a hundred people to win a war that he'd started and now Meisa had to undo as much of the harm caused as she could.

Still…

"Even if you can, you still want me to let a village of thieves roam my brand-new park."

"We weren't thieves for no reason, Kaiba." Ba-Khu-Ra's hiss turned the attention of the Kaiba brothers to her.

"We only became a village of thieves because we were abandoned. We were crafters, carvers, painters, stonemasons and blacksmiths. Weavers, jewellers and seamstresses. We were Tomb Builders. The best in all of Egypt. Then we were abandoned, and we had to find another way to live. My people never wanted to be thieves, they won't need to be thieves to survive once released from the Shadows, and my father, their King, will keep them in line. And those who don't stay in line, I will deal with personally, if you allow them this chance to be free."

"Why can't you just do this on the mainland? Why does it have to be here?" Mokuba asked the Pharaoh, already tempted to say yes, but needing to know.

"Because you and your brother created somewhere that is full of joy and fun, that doesn't have all of the overwhelming expanse and differences of the modern mainland and is contained enough that we won't have to go hunting hundreds of souls when the time comes for the gates to be opened."

"The park isn't stuck in the past," Seto's eyes narrowed.

"That's not what I meant." Sakhmet put one hand up, hoping to stall his anger. "This park is an astounding tribute to the hard work yourself and Mokuba put in, and a technological marvel. I can honestly say that it's not something that could ever be imagined back in Egypt."

The flattery was appealing, but Seto couldn't be certain of how much of it was because the Pharaoh needed him and his brother. She had her memories back, after all, and as such she was politically trained. Possibly as well as he was.

Flattery was always a valuable tool to manipulate an ally. One he refused to fall for.

"Get to the point."

His sharpness didn't disturb the Pharaoh, who'd expected it. Kaiba was essentially a King of the modern age. An Emperor over a vast gaming empire that stretched the globe. And he would've been trained by his father to be a Leader in the vicious world of modern war.

The level of political astuteness he needed to stay at the very top at his age was something that made him a force to be reckoned with and would've made him one of the most dangerous Kings around.

"My point," she nodded her acknowledgement of Kaiba seeing through her first play. "is that your park is safe for them and they're going to be new ghosts, ones who haven't seen the outside of the Shadows for three thousand years. The mainland would be overwhelming for them, and we wouldn't be able to keep them safe. The park we can explain to them as a bastion of a modern King who sought to create a place of peace and joy using the magic of this time."

"This park was created with science, not magic." Seto's scowl suggested that had been the wrong approach, but Sakhmet had an answer.

"What is science but magic that has been explained?" Sakhmet's question stalled Seto's irritation. "You harness the power of the ocean to create lightning, which you channel through gems and metal to create machines that can provide all this clean water and operate all this machinery. That would seem like magic to those who don't know how it works."

Seto paused to turn over that new description of magic over in his mind. He supposed it wasn't incorrect, science had been decried as witchcraft for centuries after all, and he was planning to have scientists looking into the magic that'd invaded various events to see if they could explain it enough to find a way to block it.

And prevent anything like the Ishtar mess happening again.

He glanced at his little brother, whose expression was thoughtful but inclined towards the girls, then turned back to the Pharaoh. "If I allow this, I want to be there."

"You're leaving in less than an hour."

"I can wait for this. You'll do it at midnight, in the stadium, after the concert and all the guests have dispersed, where I can talk to their Leader and make him understand that the slightest threat to my park and my guests and I'll have them all exorcized."

Ba-Khu-Ra bristled at the threat to her family and people, but the Pharaoh just pointed out, "He'll be a ghost. You might not be able to see him."

Seto considered his options, then let out a snort. "Then either he borrows a body, or I'm not allowing this to happen at all."

That made the pair of petitioners pause. The Pharaoh glanced at Ba-Khu-Ra, having not expected that, even though it wasn't an unreasonable request.

"He can borrow mine," Amane took over and stated without hesitation, surprising Sakhmet, and making Ba-Khu-Ra both proud of her sister and ashamed she'd have to ask her to do such a thing. "So, you can negotiate through me."

Seto nodded, "And you have a plan to get them to where they need to go, to get to the afterlife, so they're not haunting the park forever?"

"If they get attached to a small toy or souvenir, we can use it to move them to Kul Elna, where the gates of the afterlife are waiting," Sakhmet nodded, "I'll pay for whatever they need."

"If they attach themselves to a rollercoaster, then they're out of luck," Seto's eyes narrowed but his words made Amane and Mokuba snicker.

"Is that a yes, then?" Ba-Khu-Ra asked, taking control once more.

"Only if it can be done without endangering the park and everyone here."

Ba-Khu-Ra scowled at the hypocrisy of Kaiba protecting the park after he'd thrown it away to ensure his brother's safety, but the Pharaoh nodded.

"I swear, if I start to lose control, I'll stop. I won't let the Shadows flood this park a second time."

Seto considered the Pharaoh for a moment longer, trying to read her confidence and certainty in her abilities. When he couldn't see any doubt, he let out a huff.

"Don't be late. My time is valuable after all."

"We won't."

Relief slammed into the Pharaoh at his acceptance of her plan. She could've done it without him, but she knew Kaiba. He wasn't above finding solutions to any problems that could hit that which belonged to him, and just abandoning her and Ba-Khu-Ra's people to the care of someone who would find a way to eradicate them in a heartbeat didn't feel right.

Ba-Khu-Ra was barely able to hold back the excitement at the thought her people would finally, finally be freed of the torment they'd suffered for the last three thousand years as the two spirits turned away and headed for the door.

"Meisa."

The Pharaoh paused and glanced back over her shoulder at Kaiba's call, surprised that he was using the name she'd been given by her modern grandfather, when he normally called her 'Yugi'.

"I need a private meeting with your sister. Once we get back to the mainland."

Confusion and caution flickered across the Pharaoh's face before Yugi took over and tilted her head at him, "You know I'll come in for a sponsorship meeting when you call."

"There's another issue that needs to be dealt with. One regarding your education plans."

"Oh." Yugi blinked, confused, then nodded. "Sure. Just let me know when."

"I'll send you the details."

"Ok."

With her agreement secured, he gestured towards the door. Yugi took the hint and with a grin at the Thief Queen, headed out.

Once the door had shut behind them, Ba-Khu-Ra turned to Yugi.

"Thank you."

"It's not me you have to thank," Yugi stepped back, allowing her sister to grimace.

"It's the least I can do. After everything you and your village and bloodline went through." Sakhmet grimaced, "If I'd known about the Menfet..."

She shook her head.

She'd been horrified when Ba-Khu-Ra had finally shared Isis's plot.

She'd never, ever wanted more innocents hurt, but that was exactly what the Menfet were set up to do. Isis had organised the group and set them to prevent the return of Apophis and Ba-Khu-Ra by eradicating the last of Ba-Khu-Ra's bloodline.

The last of the people of Kul Elna.

It was utterly, utterly disgusting.

More innocent lives ended, more innocent blood shed.

She would've never allowed it, if she'd been asked.

But she hadn't.

And once again, her priests had ruined the lives of others.

Her heart sank.

She was responsible for the actions of her people. Their crimes were her crimes.

And she had so much to atone for.

Freeing the people of Kul Elna... was just a drop in the ocean.

"I'm so sorry, Ba-Khu-Ra."

"Sorry doesn't change anything," The Thief Queen pursed her lips. "You can't undo what that… that bitch did to me and my family, you can't fix that my daughter, my precious Lilith, was burned alive as a witch because of them, that Amane's the last child of Kul Elna because of Isis's pet project. But…"

The Thief Queen let out a sigh.

"Your runt? She's faced her end because of them too, remember? It's not just us that Isis's plans hurt."

Sakhmet's hands balled into fists.

She couldn't forget that Isis had also left orders for the Menfet to hunt for the Pharaoh's reincarnation too, and, if she couldn't be brought back to Egypt safely, to become the Pharaoh's new host, they were supposed to end her life. That way her soul couldn't grow and become complete, so when Sakhmet emerged from the Puzzle, she could overwhelm the damaged vessel and become whole once more.

Just like Hanaq had tried to force her to do. All the pain and suffering her friends, her family, her sister had been through, had been the end result of Isis's manipulations.

The only thing that kept Sakhmet from reaching into the afterlife to strangle Isis was the knowledge that her plan had failed.

Because when given the chance to be whole, to have a life amongst the mortals and be more than just a spirit, Sakhmet had given it up, because it wasn't her life to live, it was Imoto's.

"My daughter, Lilith, had a friend, Helena. A friend who happened to have tri-coloured hair and purple eyes."

Sakhmet's eyes widened as she realised one of her sister's previous incarnations had been friends with Ba-Khu-Ra's daughter.

"They, and Eve, Lilith's mother, all died because of the Menfet. Helena and Eve, when the girls were thirteen, Lilith a few years later. Thankfully her son and husband lived, or my entire family would've been wiped out."

Isis was going to get kicked so hard when Sakhmet made it to the afterlife.

"It was part of why I hated you so much. I thought you knew. But I was wrong, and by doing what you're doing now, by freeing my people, you're proving yourself a million times better than them."

"Thank you."

That really did help Sakhmet's mood, even if she couldn't help but feel it wasn't enough.

"Just don't screw this up, okay?"

"I'll try not to."

As the last of the guests filed out of the stadium after the spectacular concert, Sakhmet, who'd been waiting in one of the tunnels with her friends and the Kaibas, she couldn't help but be nervous.

What she was about to do was a huge thing. Something she knew was possible but had never tried before. How could she have? The seal hadn't been forged until the moment of her death, and until she'd recovered her name, she had been able to reach through the veil, opening and closing doors using her powers, but she hadn't been able to pull anyone out easily.

She couldn't help but worry that recovering even one Kul Elnan soul would be too much for her.

But she'd promised she would try, and she didn't want to break her promise to Ba-Khu-Ra, not again. Not now that they were finally on good terms again.

Seeing her shift nervously, Anzu smiled and nudged her, quietly murmuring, "You've got this. I know you do, and we've got your back."

"Thank you."

The reply was just as quiet, but the reassurance of her friend helped her ground herself and gave her the confidence to step out into the eerily silent arena and pull the list of names from her satchel.

There were one hundred and twenty-three names on the list. One hundred and twenty-three souls who'd been a citizen of Kul Elna, who'd died and been sealed away because of her uncle. Ninety-nine who'd died on the day of the massacre and twenty-four who'd been hunted down and killed or worse, on her uncle's orders.

She didn't know how many she would be able to free, but she hoped it was all of them.

"You ready?" Ba-Khu-Ra asked her, watching her closely as they reached the middle of the arena.

The Pharaoh just nodded, trying not to think about the fact that the last time she'd stood in this spot, she'd been forced to her knees before a woman who would've seen her dead and the world ended.

And how, if she lost her grip on the magic, she would complete the demon's goal for him.

Uncertain of what was about to happen, Sakhmet's friends followed her direction and stood back, where they couldn't be grabbed by the darkness easily. Mokuba stood with them, at his brother's order. Seto, however, didn't hang back as Sakhmet unrolled the scroll she carried, and instead stood with the Pharaoh and Thief Queen, as Sakhmet took a deep breath and reached for her magic.

"Souls of those lost in the darkness of the realm beyond, as your Pharaoh, as your Demi-Goddess, I call you now." She spoke as she traced a door in the air, and reality ripped and shimmered away until a swirling purple vortex replaced it, "As I call your name, follow my light and rejoin the one who's sought your freedom all this time."

With that a bolt of burning, golden light shot through the door.

Already she could feel the Shadows pushing at her control, wanting to rip free through the rend she'd torn in the seal, but she held firm as she called, "King Akefia of Kul Elna, I call you to parley!"

The moment she gave a name she felt something connect to her spell. Within moments, a humanoid shape stepped from the door she'd created, coated in the darkness that seeped through behind him. As he moved towards him, his form solidified, as much as a spirit's could, and the Shadows were dragged back through the door, revealing a tall, broad, older man with dark skin, messy black hair and sharp, green-blue eyes that seemed to pick up everything around him.

The moment his eyes rested upon his daughter, he gave a broad smile and, with a light, teasing tone asked, "What happened to my dark-haired daughter? She seems to have become a ghost."

Ba-Khu-Ra separated from Amane and dove into his arms, sobbing out her joy and relief at finally getting to see her father again after all these years.

Because of the opened vortex, the Shadows were thick enough that everyone present could see what was happening, but almost everyone averted their eyes to give the Thief Queen some privacy. Everyone except Mokuba, who darted to his brother's side and clung to him, barely holding back tears of his own as the image revived the joy and relief he'd felt when his brother had started breathing again.

Sakhmet held her hands together tightly, hiding the shaking that the effort of keeping the portal safely open was causing as Ba-Khu-Ra pulled away from her father just enough to smile up at him, tears shining on her cheeks as she laughed out. "It's a long story."

"Well, it's just as beautiful as it was when you were my little shadow," her father promised, just as unwilling to let go as she was. "Now, who do I need to speak to?"

"Pharaoh Atem, and Lord Kaiba." Ba-Khu-Ra turned her father's attention to the pair in question, "Atem is the one who…"

"Sealed the darkness, but also saved your life," Akefia nodded, having been aware of everything that'd happened involving the Shadows, and turned to stare at the Pharaoh who didn't flinch, knowing her family owed this man greatly.

"Her opinion barely matters, this land is mine," Kaiba stated loudly, able to feel the tension in the air and wanting to get on with the discussion before it turned into a fight. "Which means I'm the one you have to parley with."

The Thief King's eyes turned to Kaiba. "Then let us talk."

As Kaiba and Ba-Khu-Ra's father talked out details, Sakhmet's chest ached, warning her that she was burning time and energy, making her concerned that she might not be able to pull more out if this took too much longer. Before she could mention anything to those talking, Amane had slipped a hand in hers.

"If you need it, pull from me. I want them to be happy too." Amane whispered.

"Thank you." The quiet reply caught Mokuba's attention and caused him to tug on his brother's sleeve. When Seto looked down at his brother, Mokuba glanced at Sakhmet and then at the portal, alerting Seto to the issue.

He frowned, nodded to the Pharaoh, then quickly agreed a deal with the Thief King, where the spirits of Kul Elna would behave and keep an eye on the park and let them know if there were magical issues he needed to fix, and in exchange they would be allowed to live on the island until it was time for them to move on.

Seto even agreed to arrange a dropbox for the items the Kul Elnans used to anchor themselves, much to the surprise of those watching.

Once that was settled, Sakhmet started calling out the other souls, one by one, name by name, starting with Ba-Khu-Ra's little sister, Esi, a black haired, green eyed girl of five, and mother, Kismat, a white haired, blue eyed woman who reminded Kaiba uncomfortably of the 'Kisara' he'd seen when he'd grasped the Millennium Rod.

As they joined their father and husband in hugging the girl who'd fought for them for thousands of years, the Pharaoh continued to call, trying to draw every last person from the darkness and secure their names and faces in her mind. From Hadya, the youngest child, who was carried out by her mother, the seamstress Jinan, to Raja, the oldest man, an old, crippled former stonemason and well-loved teacher of craft and word.

Until finally there were no more answers, and one hundred and twenty-two souls stood before her.

Sakhmet's heart ached when Tarek, a mage-priest and scribe that'd worked for the palace, didn't come through, even on seventh or eighth call. Even when she reached her trembling, waning power into the dark realm to try and find him, only to have to recoil when her attempts disturbed something powerful and furious.

"I can't find him," She stared at Ba-Khu-Ra, hoping the Thief Queen wouldn't hate her for her failing.

The woman in question stared at her, an expression of disappointment making the Pharaoh's stomach twist, but Akefia shook his head and gave the Pharaoh a reassuring smile.

"Tarek escaped by himself many moons ago. You won't find him in the darkness."

"Really?" Ba-Khu-Ra perked up.

"He refused to be trapped when he'd promised you he would return, my daughter." The Thief King reassured her. "After the sacrifice, he didn't want you to be alone."

The Thief Queen nodded, ecstatic at the news and the sight of her people, free from the shadows. Though she wished she'd found where he'd come through from the darkness and hoping that she would one day find the man who'd gotten her safely to civilisation after the massacre.

"Then you can close that mess," Kaiba glowered at Sakhmet.

"I have one other soul I wish to call." The Pharaoh shook her head, "With your permission."

"I will warn you, your brother may not be able to be called," Akefia's words shocked Sakhmet, who stared at her. "He burned too much strength saving your sister's life. He's drifted into the tides of darkness."

Guilt slammed into Yugi as Sakhmet paled. "Then he's lost forever?"

"No, just until he has a chance to recover himself. Once he's had a chance to pull himself together and solidify his soul, he'll be okay. We can't go anywhere while we're in the Shadows, we just fade and surface. He's held onto himself for so long, that he's overdue for this rest. Let him have it."

Sakhmet hesitated. She wanted her brother free as much as Ba-Khu-Ra had wanted her own people free. Seeing that, Kaiba nodded his approval and, unable to resist she reached out one last time, calling for her brother's soul, needing to try.

"Prince Atem of Kemet, I, your loving sister, your precious Lioness, call you. Please, please answer me!"

She felt something weakly respond, something momentarily grasp her lifeline, then the connection was overwhelmed by something huge, something potent. Something dark.

Something as powerful as an Egyptian God card.

Something that tried to use her call to rip itself free.

Sakhmet swore as her gateway pulsed and expanded, fighting her attempts to close it with everything the creature that had latched onto her power possessed.

"Get it under control, Yugi!"

"I'm trying, Kaiba!" Sakhmet snapped back, trying to find a way to save her brother, without bringing the other thing with him, fighting with every drop she had, and every drop that her friends, who rushed to her aid, could provide.

If she could just tap into a little more power, if she could reach a little further, she knew she could have her brother out in a heartbeat, but the demon's damned list prevented it, leaving her frustrated and impotent to grasp her brothers soul.

'Let me go for now.'

A male voice in her mind, exhausted, tired and sad, made her eyes widen and her heart stutter.

'Atem?!'

'I'll be okay. Let go.'

'But…'

Her hesitation allowed the creature attached to the bond to surge forth, and begin to take shape through the portal. The creature was canine in nature, with large, bared fangs and the flames that built up in its maw left Sakhmet no choice.

She let go of her bond to her brother and used the power in that connection to push the creature back into the darkness, unleashing a bright golden light that sealed up the portal to the Shadows behind it.

Leaving her brother sealed away within the darkness.

Sakhmet stared at the spot where the vortex had been, unable to control the frustrated, furious tears that erupted from her and rushed down her cheeks or stop the whine of upset and disappointment that loosed itself from her throat.

She'd failed him.

She'd failed her brother AGAIN.

Her friends piled in, supporting and reassuring, and her sister wrapped her spectral arms around her, protecting and comforting her, but their presence hurt in a way she couldn't explain or describe.

They weren't him. They weren't the brother she'd mourned so greatly and still longed for.

The brother she'd been forced to leave within the agonising darkness once more.

"Pharaoh."

Bloodshot eyes in a tear-stained face turned to look at a sympathetic Thief Queen and her father.

"We'll get him out," Ba-Khu-Ra promised with a determined smile, understanding Sakhmet's pain more than anyone else could. "One day. Together. You'll see him again."

"Give him time to recover his strength before you call again, and he will return to you." Thief King Akefia reassured her. "I am sure of it. You pulled us out, after all."

He was right.

The words were a hope she needed to focus herself. She took a deep breath and nodded to them both, pushing her emotions back, before thanking her friends for their support as she wiped her eyes, and thanking the Kaibas for their allowance of this in their lands.

Tonight was a night for celebration, not mourning. She'd completed part of her promise to Ba-Khu-Ra and freed those of Kul Elna from the fate that her brother still suffered. She could still worry about Atem, she could miss her brother, but to take away from that victory was to deny that any progress had been made.

And it WAS progress.

No matter how much it hurt.

Because after three thousand years, the people whose deaths had started all of the death and devastation of Egypt were finally no longer suffering, and Ba-Khu-Ra was finally reunited with her family.

It was a hard-earned victory that was long overdue.

And in a few days, when she returned to the mainland and normality, she could start building up her strength to make another attempt.

So, her brother wouldn't have to wait forever.

Author Note: I am sorry to say that this will probably be the last thing I post on ffn. For the last few months I have had very little honest feedback and many, many spam reviews and private messages trying to get me to commission them, pretending to like my work, only to try and rip me off. They're almost all the same text too, which suggests they're just AI phishing, and those that aren't, I'm sorry but I have artists I know and work with but ffn won't let me post artwork here, so all the awesome artwork I have for the series goes on the EnneadAU tumblr or on Ao3. /works/61397707/chapters/156940777

Speaking of Ao3, the series will be continuing and the next story can be found on archiveofourown at /works/61397707/chapters/156940777 (I really hate how this site eats links btw, I've been fighting with this for hours to try and make it easy for you guys to follow me).

You will be able to follow the series link on False Light to see a couple of one shots I never posted here, as well as see the artwork and follow the whole series as it moves forward.

For those who have been with me this whole time and are still here, I'm sorry for leaving and I hope you will follow me over there.