Author's Note: This is basically a thank-goodness-we're-all-okay chapter, and it's a bit rushed, but I hope you all enjoy it just the same.

Shadows of Anarchy

Even before they stepped out into the somewhat open area of the entrance hall, giant burning brazier and all, Molly just knew that their decision to explore the outside of the ancient structure was going to end badly. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach like she'd had that one time she had decided to use magic to try and change the color of her hair.

Thinking about the results of that particular experiment still made her shudder. And the memory of her teacher's laughter upon seeing said results certainly didn't help anything.

Of course, she couldn't tell Bakura that, since he probably wouldn't think 'a bad feeling' was reason enough not to go out into the entrance hall. Instead, she took a deep breath, ignored the stings of her sunburn at the action, and followed after the white-haired teen as he exited the relative security of the building. She had to blink a few times to clear the spots from her vision at the sudden change from torchlight to sunlight, but she looked around cautiously as Bakura started walking towards the far end of the hall.

Molly breathed a silent sigh of relief that there was no trace of the monster they had encountered the first time they had been there, and her shoulders relaxed minutely as some of her tension drained away. So far so good, she told herself, and with that thought took another, more thorough look around, curious despite herself about this new part of their shelter. She hadn't had a chance to get a good look at it earlier due to the encounter with Diabound and her blasting rod exploding, so she took the opportunity while she had it.

For his part, Ryou walked straight to the other end of the hall, ignoring the pillars/obelisks lining the pseudo-room in favor of seeing whether his guess of where they were was correct or not. When he reached the end and looked out, he didn't know whether to curse or feel smug that it was, because his being right about their being in the Shadow Realm and in the Mausoleum of the Emperor opened up a whole new set of problems that he and Molly would have to deal with. Sure he'd already pretty much guessed they were in the Shadow Realm, but it would have been nice to have been wrong.

The former holder of the Millennium Ring had to admit, the view from the top of the Mausoleum was pretty nice, especially in the light of the setting sun (he was glad they'd timed their trip outside so well - he didn't want to make Molly's sunburn any worse than it already was). The sprawling sand dunes fairly glowed an array of colors, most noticeably shades of orange and red, the wind gusting over them and creating the illusion that he was looking not at sand, but at a sea that extended all the way to the edge of the horizon. Heat hazes wafted up from the hot sands, dancing and twisting above the ground, sometimes almost but not quite forming definite images in faint mirages that fell apart before they could be completed.

It was breathtaking, and Ryou spent several minutes appreciating the sight before he reluctantly turned his attention back to more important matters.

He spared a moment to look down at the great stairway leading up to where he was standing. As it turned out, the summit of the Mausoleum was about at the height of one of the larger pyramids back in the human world, and he was grateful for that height as it meant he could see much, much farther than he would have been able to at ground-level. He looked around carefully, searching for any sign of civilization or some sort of clue as to what direction to go in order to reach civilization.

When he didn't find anything after almost ten minutes of searching (although he had taken a short break to glance back at Molly, who had been unnaturally silent, though thankfully she was alright, just engrossed in looking at some of the carvings on the obelisks), Ryou was honestly about ready to give up for the time being and head back inside. Setting sun or not, the heat of the desert hung on with both hands until night completely fell, the temperature along with it.

The whitette had turned almost completely around and was contemplating trying to find a way to look behind the Mausoleum when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Turning to the left to get a better look at it, his dark eyes squinting as he tried to make out details, he was forced to give up as what had gotten his attention continued being just a far away black dot against the sands. He promptly decided he needed a second opinion.

"Molly? I think you better come take a look at this," She looked up when she heard the older teen's call, and she hurried over to where he was standing, gathering her will in case something was wrong. Molly was understandably relieved when it turned out there was no danger, although she unashamedly gaped when she saw how high up they were and the true shape of their 'sanctuary' occurred to her. She paled, turning her red face into more of a dark pink, because Stars and Stones they had been staying in a glorified crypt.

The blonde wizard-in-training was in a state of stunned horror for almost six whole minutes before Bakura gently poked her on the arm, snapping her out of it in exchange for a disproportionate amount of pain coming from the poked spot. She flinched, muttering a quiet 'ow' as she restrained herself from instinctively rubbing the hurting area, knowing from experience that that would only make it worse. Instead, she focused her attention on Bakura, obediently looking in the direction he indicated after smiling slightly at his apologetic look. Like Bakura had, unknown to her, she squinted at the distant black dot, trying to figure out what it was.

It was full night and both of them were shivering by the time they gave up, the black dot having become indistinguishable from the surrounding desert in the darkness. Molly and Ryou quickly retreated back inside the Mausoleum, Molly's horror at staying in a tomb outweighed by the need to get out of the cold. They made it back to lounge easily, sighing in relieved unison at the noticeable difference in temperature, the lit torches around the room serving well as both sources of light and heat.

In unspoken agreement, Ryou and Molly sat down on their previously claimed couches, getting comfortable before Ryou spoke, "Well, I suppose it's safe to say that there's at least something besides us and this building in this desert, going by the black dot we couldn't identify,"

"Yeah, and it wasn't moving, I don't think." Molly agreed, her sinking feeling returning with a vengeance, and she just knew that Bakura was about to say something she wasn't going to like.

Ryou smiled and confirmed her suspicions, "Well then, what do you say tomorrow morning we set out and try and find out what that black dot is? Even factoring in the fact that we could probably only see it because of this place's height, it can't be that far away."

Molly immediately shook her head, "No way! How do we even know it wasn't just some kind of rock formation or something? I don't want to get caught out in the heat of the day because of a rock!"

"But it could just a easily be a building," Ryou argued, leaning forward as he tried to emphasize his point, "And if it is a building, then we might be able to either take shelter there or even run into someone who might be able to help us get home!" Okay, that last one was likely a lie, but they couldn't stay in the Mausoleum forever.

The dubious look on Molly's face clearly showed that she didn't believe the lie one bit, and she quickly shot back, "Who knows what kind of animals live in this desert? For all we know there could be sand sharks!" She had once seen the creatures in an old episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and they had terrified her. She certainly didn't want to meet the things in real life!

"Sand sharks?" Bakura parroted, blinking in confusion at the seemingly unrelated issue, before he paused, thinking back and trying to remember if there were any cards like that. He came blank on any shark-like monsters that lived in a desert, but he felt a chill run down his spine as he recalled that there were a lot of desert-dwelling monsters that were a great deal worse. He probably shouldn't mention those, even if Molly didn't know what Duel Monsters* was...

...Wait, his deck! He still had his deck with him!

It was like a lightbulb turned on in his head as he remembered slipping his deck into the case on his belt before he'd gone out to get something to eat and everything went spiraling out of control. His deck normally wouldn't be or much use, but since he was in the Shadow Realm, his deck could make the difference between life and death. He hadn't tried summoning anything either in the human world or the world of shadows, but he remembered how it was done. Hopefully he'd be able to make that attempt before either his or Molly's lives were in danger, but he wasn't going to bet on that.

Bringing himself out of his thoughts, Ryou looked at Molly, his mind whirling as he mentally ran through the cards in his deck even as he told her, "At any rate, we should at least try to go see what that black dot was. I'll tell you what, if you really don't want to go out onto the sand, I'll go alone and then come back and tell you what it is."

Molly hesitated, not because she doubted Bakura would come back for her after investigating, but because she didn't know if Bakura would even be able to make it to where the black dot was. The sand could hide any number of dangers, sand sharks aside, the least of which being scorpions, snakes or even quicksand. She really didn't like the thought of letting Bakura, who was her only friend in this strange place, go exploring on his own, but she also didn't want to go out with him, and not just because of her sunburn.

The blonde was mentally torn, and she was so busy turning the options over in her head that she didn't notice the minute flash of understanding cross Bakura's face as he saw her inner turmoil. Finally, she had to nod in defeat as she muttered, "Okay, you can go alone, but I'll stay at the top of the stairs and start screaming at you if I see something dangerous before you reach the black dot." The last was part warning, part reassurance for both Bakura and herself. She hated to admit it, but without her blasting rod she wouldn't be much help even if Bakura was attacked by a desert creature.

"That's fine," Ryou agreed, relaxing now that Molly didn't seem in the mood to argue with his decision to investigate the anomaly they'd seen. "We should get some rest," He added, and suited actions to words by laying down on his couch, stretching himself out and sighing as his muscles flexed. He hoped his inner clock woke him up a bit before dawn, but with the Shadow Realm who knew how much it was messed up (did the Shadow Realm even have time zones? He had no clue).

Molly huffed, feeling a bit like one of those toy ducks on strings with wheels, and she mentally swore that she was going to find some way to contribute to their search for a way back to Chicago. A good thing about being a wizard, she consoled herself, was that she healed fast, so her burn-reddened skin should already be healing, even if it didn't feel like it. She would check tomorrow in the bathroom before Bakura headed out and she kept watch for him.

Feeling somewhat better, Molly gently reclined on her couch and sighed, trying her best to relax and get some rest before dawn came and Bakura put his crazy plan into action.

She tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut and Empty Night she hoped that she was just being paranoid...

*...Do I really need to explain this one?

Author's Note: So they now have a plan and the Shadow Realm might be making Molly paranoid...or that might just be me, LOL. ;P Things will definitely be getting moving in the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Read and review and tell me what you think! As always, constructive criticism is welcome!