Thanks so much to XAriciaX, Lioutenant Flame, biskittins, miaou5, MackenzieMedica, Wendy Wan, plenoptic, Lace Kyoko, Meowth That's Write, SouJaE, hopelessmine, Wulfeh, Miseri, NitratesTrot, TeresaShiho, and The Duelist's Heiress for reviewing, and to Mimiholly, Cenizas, Juliedoo, sweetsummerrain, Soul, VyFayria, and dragonflare137 for faving/alerting!

Sands of darkness, full of lies, Sands of shadows, full of cries.

Twenty-Five: Crazy

The growls of a caravan of Hummers pierced the dark and muggy silence of the Egyptian night. Hot sand flew up in the air as massive tires tore across the desert, and in the distance an ancient, near-forgotten temple grew closer and closer.

"And so we return to the land of the barbarians," said a man named Dimitri, a hunter with catlike grace and a lethal stare. In his hands he twirled a dagger as carelessly as if it were a toy, the blade still stained red from a recent incident with his dear cousin. From behind him came the sound of someone nervously clearing their throat. Dimitri's black eyes roved back, and he sighed. "Yes, George?"

George took off his glasses, wiped the lenses, and put them back on. "Ah, D-D-D-Dimitri, I understand the old m-m-meaning of barbarian, which includes anyone not G-Greek, like us, but technically, the Egyptians –"

"Barbarians."

"Yes, Dimitri."

Just as he thought he was going to get some peace and quiet, another noise sounded from behind him, this time quiet sniffles. Slowly, lazily, he smiled and looked back at the pretty, redheaded girl wrapped in a woolen blanket. "Why the tears, Aikaterine?"

She sniffed again and glowered at him, a chilling glare that reminded Dimitri of another female cousin of his. "I want Thea."

"What would you say if I told you she abandoned you?"

Kate spewed out some four-letter words that sounded unnaturally couth on the innocent fifteen-year-old's lips.

"See, Thea is a bad influence on you."

"Let me go home!"

"No can do, Kaiba's probably called the police on us. Sorry," Dimitri said, not sounding sorry at all.

"When Thea gets her hands on you –"

"You want Thea so badly? How about this, if you behave yourself, then I'll bring her bleeding, broken body to you first." Dimitri slammed his knife into the dashboard, where it quivered, buried almost up to its hilt.

The creeping line of black vehicles coasted to a stop around the temple, and masked and robed figures swarmed out of the Hummers. Dimitri stepped out of the one closest to the mouth of the sanctuary, dragged out Kate, and pulled her after him into the temple. George skittered anxiously after them, followed by their remaining family and associates like a giant, moving shadow.

Dimitri sneered at the looming Duel Monsters tablets as they passed them. Monsters? The Egyptians had seen nothing. They would run away crying to their mothers at the mere site of one of his pet hellhounds.

The tablet that should have stood at the end of the hall was missing. Secure in one of the family vaults. But tonight, Dimitri was more interested in the two tablets that stood around the empty space. "Greetings, most honored magicians…" he hissed, and the torchlight around him flickered. The master and his apprentice seemed to be glaring haughtily down at him, but he merely returned the stare. "Now, Aikaterine, it's time for you to finally be of use to our family."

Hermes. Roman name: Mercury. Greek god of tricksters, thieves, merchants, travelers, messengers, boundaries, wits, orators, sports, inventions, and… cowherds. Couldn't forget the cowherds. Basically, he was the god of anyone who relied on dexterity or cunning. Or both.

Did cowherds require dexterity or cunning? She'd never met one before.

After hearing the name whispered, shouted, and snarled around the house all day by Seto and Yugi and the Pharaoh and their various friends who'd come to discuss – or just plain argue – about their impending plans and possible journeys, Kisara gave in and looked up that boy with the winged shoes and hat. And then that had led to reading about Zeus, Hera, Apollo…

Well, at least the Egyptians weren't the only ones with crazy mythologies. But according to Thea, they weren't just myths. That suggestion wasn't hard for Kisara to swallow, since she had spent most of her life believing that the gods guided her every step, as did her entire people – but her friends, who were strictly twenty-first century, were having trouble wrapping their minds around it.

Kisara cringed at the sound of a crash from downstairs, and angry voices rose again. Seto had been fighting nonstop with Joey and Tristan about the events of the past few days – and what their decisions about this Ali person would be. Joey and Tristan, and many of their other friends, watned to stay in Domino until the "monsters" Thea had mentioned came, if ever.

Seto, surprising everyone except Kisara, wanted to leave. ("Besides," he'd added, "no one said that I had to stay with you dweebs.")

All Kisara knew was that where Seto went, she would go, and so would Mokuba, she was sure. The Pharaoh also seemed prepared to head into the unknown, as did Yugi, but everyone else was opposed to the idea of placing their lives in the hands of a stranger.

"I'm done. You can put the finishing touches, can't you?" Mai held up the near-finished product for Kisara's approval. Mai was one of the ones who wanted to stay in the city.

"It's great. Thank you." Kisara clutched the object in her hands, staring at it as Mai left her room, blinking rapidly as the memories it unearthed flooded into her mind. Wasn't this twenty-first century supposed to be… safer than her Egypt? Why did they still have to worry about death around every corner?

She hissed as pain briefly throbbed in her arm. She gripped the aching limb and slowly opened her palm, frowning grimly at the ever growing black mark on her pale skin. It was like an ink blot that thought for itself. Instead of steadily expanding in a circular fashion, its tendrils and legs wound themselves around her hand and fingers and were finally starting to curl towards her wrist.

More bandages. Kisara grabbed the roll of gauze in her drawer and quickly added another strip of it. Feeble protection, but it was all she had. Another shout from downstairs drew her attention again. She squared her shoulders and headed out the door.

Mai had joined the argument, which also included Tea, Duke, Serenity, Mokuba, Rebecca, and the Ishtars. Basically, everyone who'd been at the old Kaiba Mansion yesterday, except Thea, who'd disappeared again. Judging by Seto's mood, Kisara was surprised he'd even let any of them in.

"– don't care if you dweebs want to play hero and 'hold down the fort,'" Seto was saying. "I refuse to stay here like a sitting duck while those monsters come."

Tristan threw his arms up in the air. "Kaiba, aren't you supposed to be the cynical one with his head up his –" He made a violent gesture with his hands. "You're supposed to doubt there are even monsters in the first place. You're supposed to doubt that they can get past your security. You're –"

"Don't tell me what I'm 'supposed' to do, Taylor. You don't know me, I don't know you, and I for one and perfectly fine with leaving it that way. Like I said, you can stay here and get turned into monster food if that makes you happy. Mokuba, Kisara, and I are leaving, and that's final."

Mai looked back at Kisara. "Kisara, is that what you want?"

Without hesitation, Kisara nodded.

Joey scowled. "Well, fine, go ahead and get killed by a psycho girl you've never even met before, if that's what makes ya happy."

"Joey." Yami's quiet voice silenced his friend. "I think you should come with us."

The blond stared at the Pharaoh. "Why?"

"Don't you remember what happened with your Red Eyes?" Yugi piped in. "Don't you think we should try to find out what exactly happened to make the four of us be able to summon real monsters?"

Joey sighed quietly and folded his arms, looking around the room. "Well, Yug, you're just gonna have to come back and tell me what happened, 'cause I'm not leavin' Serenity here alone."

"I wouldn't be alone," Serenity interjected. "Tristan, Tea, Duke, Mai –"

"I'm your brother, Serenity! Even if da – da Secret Service were here to protect ya, I'd still wanna stay! You're my sister, and I'm not leavin' ya just so I can answer a few questions of mine."

"Joey, she'll be –"

"Okay, this argument can take place outside of my house." Seto gestured at the door. "Anyone who doesn't live here – get out."

"Wait," Mokuba said as everyone was trickling out of the room. "Ishizu, Marik, Odion – you're not going to come? I thought you'd want to see the… gods."

Ishizu nodded slightly. "As much as we would like to, we'd rather play it safe. The Greeks hold a grudge against us. We have no idea if their gods feel the same way, or if it's just their followers who feel antagonistic. Should we receive word that we would be welcome, then we'll discuss it."

Kisara waved goodbye as the front doors shut behind their friends. Now it was only her, Seto, and Mokuba standing in silence in the living room. Then Mokuba coughed and excused himself, leaving only two of them. Kisara opened her mouth to ask what she should do to prepare for their departure when another subject that had been bothering her all day hit her. "Seto, did you do something to my laptop?"

Seto stiffened. "Why?"

Kisara narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Just tell me if you went near it yesterday or today, Seto."

"I… may have deleted a virus."

The silence pervaded for a few moments longer. Then – "YOU DELETED NOAH?"

"Yes, I – oh, so you did know about him this whole time." Seto frowned. "Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"Because he asked me not to!"

"So you trust him more than you trust me."

"I never said that!" Kisara snapped. "It's because he said that you hated him and would probably do something bad to him before he could say anything in his defense, and Mokuba agreed. And it turns out they're right!"

Seto scowled. "You have no idea what he did to Mokuba and me!"

"I do! I do have an idea! He told me that he was awful, and he told me that what he did was wrong! But he hasn't done anything to me all these weeks since I've met him!" Kisara jabbed her finger in Seto's chest. "How could you get rid of him?"

"Noah was – he –"

"Noah was what, Seto?"

"He was annoying me."

Kisara's mouth felt dry. "I see."

"Kisara –"

"Thank you so much for – for deleting one of my best friends because he was annoying you." Kisara stalked out and raced up the stairs before he could stop her.

She slammed her bedroom door shut then made a beeline for her computer. The background of clouds was still devoid of sleeping, green-haired boys, as it had been all day. She contemplated asking Mokuba to help retrieve Noah, if possible, but then decided there was no point. Seto would've made sure that Noah would stay gone, permanently.

First of all, I am so sorry for the long delay. My Yu-Gi-Oh juices completely dried up the past few months. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll get flowing again anytime soon, so I'm not sure when I'll next be updating, and unlike Part I, I don't have an outline written for Part II. (I do have a general idea where I want to go, and I'll be switching POVs more often to some of my OCs.) So if anyone has any ideas they'd like to contribute to the story, I'd be glad to hear them!

Someone has offered to translate this story to Chinese, so it's actually mainly thanks to them that I've gotten inspired to work on this chapter again. I'm not sure how many of you can read Chinese, but I'll let you know anyway when they start posting the translations.

Thanks so much for staying with TWCSR all this time! I'll try to update as soon as possible. (Keep me inspired, my lovely readers! ^^)

~reader13