Chapter Thirty-Seven:

The being moved through the shadows of the alleyway, steps slow and uncertain. Behind him, a thief grinned. The boy was wearing nice clothing and obviously didn't belong in this part of town. Not to mention, his pale skin marked him as a foreigner, probably some stupid tourist. Judging from his gait, he was already scared, making him the perfect mark. Moving up behind him, the thief lunged, pulling his knife from his belt and placing it against the boy's neck.

"Don't scream, or I'll slit your throat." He murmured. "Now, give me all of your valuables, and I might let you go."

To his surprise, the boy turned, eyes flashing red. "You are the one who will die. Pity… You should learn how to tell when someone is really uncertain." He grinned, and the thief stepped back, paling at the look on the boy's face. Suddenly he remembered the talk spreading through the district of people being found unconscious, in comas from which they never seemed to awake from. These 'attacks' as they were being called had begun the night before, when a nearby dig had been attacked. The survivors had been found in a comatose state, unable to tell who had attacked them or why. Looking at the boy's face in front of him, he could almost believe he was the one behind the bloodshed.

"W-w-what do you want?" he managed, stuttering over his words as he frantically backed away. "Please… I can help you! There's information, money! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you! Just please!"

Moving toward him, the figure continued to grin. "What do you think you have that I couldn't just take for myself?" he asked mockingly. "Don't worry… I won't kill you. All I need, is your soul."

The thief's eyes widened, however before he could cry out or run the shadows on the street seemed to stretch out around him. He had time for one scream before they swarmed over him.

Bakura's eyes narrowed as he grinned. One more soul in the Shadow Realm giving him even more power. He would need to move on soon, of course. After all, pretending to be prey in order to draw out the wary citizens was not entertaining enough. He preferred to be the hunter, not the prey after all. Turning, he stretched out to the shadows to twist the world around him, stepping briefly into the shadow realm as he headed towards the next human city. Soon he would have everything he needed.

Glancing up, Seto watched as O'Neil and Teal'c rejoined the group. They had disappeared about an hour ago, and Seto made a mental note to send a ka after them if they did so again. Not Duos, his personal ka, of course… That was going to be following the Pharaoh when Seto couldn't. He hadn't liked the interest his king was showing in the sealing spell.

As it was, the Pharaoh was already organizing the Guardians to find Bakura. Seto tuned back in to that conversation, wanting to at least know who was being sent where.

"Isis, can you send Spiria out? We need to find where Bakura is so we can make sure he is not harming the citizens." Seto almost snorted at the last bit. Wherever he was, Seto was certain that Bakura was leaving a trail of bodies behind him. After all, that was what he had done the first time they had faced him, although this time they were more likely to be soulless than torn to shreds.

"Mahad, Mana, perhaps we can use your spells to find him." The Pharaoh continued, and Mahad nodded.

"Of course, my king. We will begin work at once." Mahad replied, bowing. Mana was more exuberant in her response.

"You can count on us Prince!" she chirped, and Seto mentally moaned. At least she would soon be busy, he supposed.

The Pharaoh turned to the remaining Guardians, "We need to begin searching across Khemet. I am sorry, Jack, but the cars take too long to travel where we would need to go. In order to make good time, we need to use horses."

O'Neil made a face, however didn't immediately speak. Ishizu did, though, moving forward.

"If I may, Pharaoh," she interrupted, waiting for the Pharaoh to incline his head before continuing. "We should work on regaining your memories. Among the many tales passed down through our clan were instructions on how to help the Nameless Pharaoh when he returned."

O'Neil suddenly interrupted, "No offense, but before we go into all of that, can you just explain something to me? How exactly did Ryou, or Bakura, or whatever get away?" Seto glared at him. They didn't have time for this, but as he was opening his mouth to tell O'Neil that the Pharaoh spoke.

"That is right… I am sorry. We should have been more open with you, especially with all of the help you have been giving. In order to explain how Bakura escaped, you need to know about Shadow Magic."

"Shadow Magic?" Jackson repeated, leaning forward, "It sounds dark. Does this have anything to do with the Shadow Games your grandfather was mentioning having found referenced in tombs?" he asked.

"Yes." The Pharaoh replied, a small smile crossing his face. "Shadow Magic is what powers Shadow Games. While it is not inherently dark, many who use it are corrupted and it can be easily misused."

"Shadow magic is what allows us to wield the Millennium Items, although the Items had to choose us as well." Isis put in, "Shadow magic has many uses. It can be used to summon one's ka from the shadow realm or sealed kas from stone tablets or to place objects in the shadow realm itself. Shadow magic uses ba to power it. As long as the wielder has enough ba, they can continue to summon."

"So essentially it uses what we would call a soul to power it?" Jackson asked, and Seto decided he might as well join them, since it was too late to tell his Pharaoh what a stupid idea this was.

"If that is how you wish to understand it, yes. Shadow magic can influence souls, as you call them, including taking the soul of another and locking it in the shadow realm." He stated bluntly, ignoring his Pharaoh's faint wince, barely visible. If these people wanted to know what shadow magic was, they needed to know everything and there was no point in trying to figure out how to say it in the least offensive manner.

O'Neil raised an eyebrow, frowning. "That doesn't exactly sound like a good magic." He commented dryly.

"There are many uses. As I said, there is a higher chance for an unscrupulous individual to use it. Many shadow mages grew to be power hungry because it is a magic that can corrupt the wielder." The Pharaoh spoke, and Seto nodded his agreement.

Picking up the explanation, Isis continued, "To summon a ka, one must have enough ba to hold it in this world. If you are not trained in shadow magic, you cannot see the ka of another."

"So you could all have your kas summoned and we wouldn't be able to tell?" Teal'c asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked around.

"Well, yes. However, self-preservation is such a powerful instinct that should you be attacked by a ka there is a high probability of you being able to see it." Seto replied, and Teal'c inclined his head in his direction.

O'Neil hesitated before finally putting forward a question. "So a little while ago we were going over security footage on base… A routine check and all, and we noticed a big purplish fog. Was that your shadow magic, or more like whatever it is that Mahad does?"

"You mean heka?" Mana put in before quieting under a glare from Seto.

"That was a manifestation of the shadow realm in this world. It is easier to learn how to summon there, and the Pharaoh needed to learn." He commented, and O'Neil seemed satisfied with his answer.

The Pharaoh spoke up, turning back to Ishizu. "So what do these instructions say?" he asked, curiosity evident in his voice. "Are they for getting back the remainder of my memories?"

"In a way." Ishizu replied. "You will get your memories returned to you, but they are also to prepare you to fight the Great Evil. How much have you heard about the kas known as the Egyptian Gods?"

Eyes widening, the Pharaoh slowly responded, "I have heard of them. Their tablets were in the Wedju Shrines. Only the chosen Pharaoh was supposed to be able to summon them."

Ishizu hesitated, glancing over at Seto briefly and he sighed, shaking his head subtly. Telling their Pharaoh he was the Chosen Pharaoh was not extremely likely to go over well. Most likely he would deny it, which would, of course, make it harder to convince him later. Seto wasn't advocating keeping the information from him, rather letting him discover the truth for himself.

"We must try to get their help." The tombkeeper continued, delicately stepping around the issue of the chosen pharaoh. "If we can gain their assistance against the Great Evil we will have a better chance to win this fight."

"Great." O'Neil commented, shifting slightly. "So, where are they, and how exactly do we get the help of a ka?"

"While we cannot ask them directly, we can do so through their tablets." Ishizu replied. "Unfortunately, they have been lost for many thousands of years, therefore we must locate them. I believe that an American has found them. He has since formed a game around them and the other ka tablets located with them."

The Pharaoh's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Pegasus!" he exclaimed. "If he knows where they are we can ask him. Jack, you have a satellite phone with you, correct."

"Yeah. We can go ahead and make the call now." O'Neil commented and the Pharaoh nodded. "I'll go set it up then. See you up above in a few minutes." The SG member commented as he ducked out of the room.

Seto watched him leave before turning back to the others. "Someone will have to remain with the Pharaoh at all times. He will be a target for Bakura, after all."

"Seto, I do not need a guard." His king immediately began to protest only to be cut off by looks from almost all the Guardians and, much to Seto's surprise, Mana.

"You do not remember what he is capable of, therefore we will decide whether or not you need an escort." His Pharaoh made a slight face, but was soon sweeping out of the room to follow O'Neil, Seto following him.

"So you can understand why I need to know the location where you found the tablets with the Egyptian Gods depicted on them." Yami finished, waiting for the static could clear so he could hear Pegasus's response.

"Well, Yami-boy, I hate to tell you this, but I am not sure I remember. Oh dear…" Pegasus sighed, and Yami could almost see him lifting a hand to his head overdramatically.

"Could you at least give us an idea of where to search?" he asked patiently, biting his lip as Jack mimed shooting himself in the head to keep from laughing.

There was a long pause, before Pegasus slowly spoke. "I might, however I found three different sites. I believe that the tablets may have been spread between them, although they could have been together… Or they might have been somewhere else."

Seto gained an eye twitch. "Just tell us where to look." He ordered, annoyance obvious. Jack, apparently unable to stay silent any longer, snorted with laughter and Yami had to raise his voice in order to drown out his companions.

"Could you give us what you remember, and if we cannot find them there we can always call you again." He stated calmly.

"I suppose so. When will we be seeing you again, though? After all, you do owe me a competition. Having you play always brings much more attention which sells more cards."

Yami sighed. "As soon as I can, Pegasus, I give my word. Now, the locations?" Pegasus was soon giving descriptions of the locations as well as guesses as to the coordinates. Jack wrote them down carefully, until finally they had all three taken down.

"Thank you, Pegasus." Yami said, and the other laughed.

"No problem. Let me know how it turns out." With that, the connection cut out and Yami leaned back.

"Well, that leaves us with quite a range to search." He stated, sighing.

Jack nodded, "I'll say. Are you sure we can't take the rovers?"

Snorting, Seto nodded. "It would take us days to travel to those sites. If we take horses it could cut down the time significantly."

Yami nodded in agreement. "We can always double up." He added, trying to reassure his friend. "Mana and I can definitely take another rider, and I am sure Shimon and Isis would be willing."

"Thanks. We'll take you up on that." Jack stated, "Or at least some of us will. Maybe one of the others would prefer to ride alone."

"You are welcome." Yami replied, starting back. They had a lot of supplies to gather before heading off. Water was, obviously, the biggest concern and they would need enough for both them and the horses. Mentally going over what they would need, he turned to Seto.

"Seto, can you make sure the Guardians are ready to go by this evening? It would be better to travel while the sun is down so we can conserve as much water as possible. We also need to ask Ishizu where there may be an oasis so we can refill our water."

"Of course, Pharaoh." The Priest replied. He didn't leave, though, and Yami remembered that they were not in the Palace and there was a threat on the loose. Sighing, he turned in the direction of most of the others.

Entering the room, he noticed Isis in the corner, hands clasped around her necklace as she looked through Spiria's eyes. Mahad and Mana were the only two missing, likely because it was always safer to cast without distraction. While Mahad was an experienced mage and therefore could cast in many different conditions, the last he remembered of Mana was that she could… not. He was certain she had gotten better, but apparently Mahad still preferred to use their heka where there were no distractions.

"Karim, Shada." He greeted, moving past them. Behind him, Seto paused next to the two Guardians, likely passing along his orders as well as giving some of his own regarding their journey. As long as he didn't end up with a horse which could barely move (Shimon has taught him to ride on such a horse, claiming that his safety was tantamount and by learning to ride on a calm mount he would be safe from harm) he did not have a problem with Seto dictating who was to ride which horse.

Stopping in front of his Uncle and Shimon, he nodded at them. "Has Isis had any luck?" he asked, and Shimon nodded.

"Spiria has picked up signs of soulless bodies scattered around the poorer districts of nearby cities. Although we have had no sign of Bakura himself, we know where he has been. The fact that they were so hard to find might indicate that he is unlikely to return."

Akhenadin added, "However, we do not know how long that will last. If he gains enough strength he will no longer care about being found."

Yami frowned worriedly. "Then we need to stop him before he can hurt too many more." He decided, starting to turn away before pausing. "Uncle, I had a question. I remember you and Seto as being very close, however now he seems to avoid you. Why is that?"

Shimon shifted to look at his companion. As they had both served in the original Millennium Court they were close and if something had happened, Yami knew Shimon likely knew of it as well.

Ahkenadin remained silent for a while, glancing over at where Seto was still talking to Karim and Shada on the opposite side of the room before sighing. "I am afraid that during Zorc's attack, I was… controlled. While bringing me back released me from that, Seto has not been able to forgive me for what I did."

"But surely if you had no control over your actions he must understand!" Yami replied, frowning. "I will talk to him…" he began before his Uncle shook his head.

"Forgive me, Pharaoh, but I do not think this is something you will be able to fix. It will take time for him to forgive me. For my sake, please do not mention this to Seto. I will talk to him when the time comes."

"Very well." Yami replied reluctantly. "I will leave it to you."

"Thank you, my Pharaoh." Akhenadin replied, bowing slightly.

Yami nodded in response, turning to head back to Seto. Before he reached him, though, he was approached by Ishizu.

"Pharaoh." She commented, "I wanted to inform you that all of the resources of are clan are available to you. We have more than enough horses for you and your companions. If there is anything else that you require, please ask. I would like to make a request." The last piece was said with a slight pause.

"Of course." Yami replied, tilting his head. "What do you want?"

"If we may, Marik and I would like to accompany you along with our adopted brother Odion. While we may not know where the tablets are, there is still more to do with them once they are found. They must be moved to a safe location, after all. If that is acceptable?"

"It is. You are welcome to accompany us." Yami replied, starting to head off before pausing. "I do have a question to ask of you, though. Marik knew where my grandfather and Yugi lived, otherwise the goa'uld possessing him would not have. May I ask how you knew of their location prior to realizing that I was the Pharaoh?"

Ishizu blinked. "Ah. Over the years there are members of our clan who choose to leave. Our father was… abnormally strict in that regard, especially with Marik being his only male heir. We do keep track of those who go, though, so we can find them should the need arise. Your Grandfather is related to one of the tombkeepers who left over two hundred years ago."

"He is?" Yami replied, surprised. "Then does he know about the Prophecy?"

"Those who leave swear never to talk about it." Ishizu responded. "He may have heard stories, but nothing that would have been passed as the truth. The only reason we knew of him was because he returned here many years ago as an archeologist. His continual visits have all been noted. He came close to finding us at one time before we sent out some of our members to lead him away by pretending to be guards."

Yami shook his head, feeling slightly stunned. "That would explain some of his more… unbelievable stories, I suppose." He managed. The Gods had really planned things well. For his Grandfather, the man who had adopted him and taken him out of Khemet before the seal could break before he was ready, to be related to the group which had vowed to serve him was too much of a coincidence to not have their hand in it.

"I should have told you earlier." Ishizu commented. "However, I was unsure until after we saw him whether your Grandfather was who I believed him to be, and I had to leave to return with Marik so he could recover."

"Of course. Thank you for answering my question." Yami stated, giving her a small smile. "I will see you when we leave, then." He replied even as Seto moved over, Karim and Shada heading out of the door.

"Karim and Shada are taking care of preparations." His high Priest commented. "We shall be ready to leave by nightfall."

"Thank you, Seto." Yami replied, "We should go and inform Jack and the others." With that, they left the chamber, Yami only briefly glancing back at his uncle as they disappeared around the corner.