Kaiba: You aren't as bad as the Geek Squad. At least Marik, Ryou, and the thief are more tolerable than the supposed pharaoh.

Yami: Still skeptical, Kaiba?

Yoruko: Yami, be nice or get out.

Yami: *sulks at his inability to bait Kaiba*

Summary: When Selene Potter was in elementary school, a substitute teacher who was really a college professor and archaeologist realized how bad her home situation was. This resulted in said professor adopting her. In this way, she became Selene Bakura. When they were children, she was the first to realize that something odd was going on after Ryou received the millennium ring from their father. In this way, she befriends the thief. In this way, the future of those connected to the millennium items is slightly changed. Atem, aka Yami, and Akafia, aka 'Tomb Robber' as Yuugi and co so imaginatively call the spirit of the millennium ring, gain bodies of their own rather than pass on. After the millennium items are no more and the five thousand year old spirits are used to a remotely normal life in the modern era… something unexpected happens. A group of magic users who use sticks they call wands come calling, claiming that Selene is their savior. But the wizards and witches may have bitten off more than can chew when Selene has a sadistic former thief for a boyfriend and an ex tomb keeper for a best friend. Selene/Akafia (aka Yami Bakura) & fem!Yuugi/Marik

Disclaimer: Yoruko Rhapsodos owns nothing readers recognize in her fanfiction.

Chapter One

Jewelry Isn't Always Harmless

It had been three years since Selene had been rescued from the Dursleys by and adopted by Professor Kai Bakura. Selene's brother Ryou was her best friend. He was really nice, and the sweetest boy she'd ever met. But something had been weird with him for a little over half a year now. Which would be around a month after Ryou's birthday, which was eight months ago. That was also when their father gave him a necklace of Egyptian origin called the Millennium Ring, she'd noticed…

Selene had every intention of finding out why. She knew no one else could do anything anyway. They didn't even notice that something was off. Besides, the girl would do everything she could to protect her brother since he was too nice to defend himself. Today was a day off of school but their dad still had work. This meant they were alone. As a result, the girl had been presented with the perfect opportunity. Selene approached the cause of the dilemma.

"Who are you and what are you?" she bluntly asked the person who mostly looked like her brother.

Because while it was technically her brother's body, the person pretending to be Ryou just didn't look the same to someone who truly knew him.

"What do you mean Selene? I'm your brother, Ryou. Don't be such a silly goose." he said in the voice that was almost just like her brother's but had something different about it to her ears; it sounded false coming from him.

Selene frowned.

"Please don't lie to me. I used to think Ryou-nii was just acting weird… but I noticed about a month after he got that weird Egyptian necklace that your voice, hair, and eyes are different." she pointed out, "Besides, ever since I started to wonder if he was possessed or something I could see a boy in his late teens that looks a bit like Ryou but has wilder hair, red eyes, and dark skin wearing a version of Ryou's clothes that suits a teenager better. It doesn't help that it envelops with Ryou-nii when he's acting weird."

Not-Ryou and the spirit's eyes widened. "You mean you can see me when I'm out of the Millennium Ring?" he asked.

"The reason Ryou's my only friend is that we're both abnormal. We both like the supernatural, he's awesome at games, and weird things happen around me." Selene responded.

"You mean the outbursts of your uncontrolled magic when you're upset or worried?" the spirit asked nonchalantly.

"I knew magic was real! That must have been why the Dursleys hated me!" Selene exclaimed.

"The Dursleys?" the spirit asked.

Selene scowled, clearly not liking talking about them. "Pitiful excuses for human beings, not that I'll let Dad or Ryou know that I feel that strongly about it. Petunia was my biological mother's sister, supposedly."

He raised an eyebrow. "'Supposedly'?"

"She reminded me of a borderline anorexic horse in appearance and is a nosy woman with nothing better to do than spy on her neighbors. Her husband Vernon is a big, fat, prejudice brute with zero tolerance for anyone or anything he deems not normal. Dudley, their son, is a pig in a wig who only inherited his mother's hair color appearance wise, is spoiled beyond rotten, and just as cruel as his father. I spent four years of my life either in the cupboard under the stairs, doing the chores, and avoiding- sometimes unsuccessfully- being Dudley's punching bag."

"It's no wonder that you're so protective of Ryou." He said drily, deciding that he couldn't bring himself to dislike the odd girl with a past that reminded him of things he sometimes wished he could forget.

Selene was silent for a moment, probably remembering her time with the lousy people who had called themselves her relatives. "Ah- May I know your name? I don't want to call you Spirit and you're not Ryou."

He chuckled. "Then… you may call me Akafia if we're alone."

"Akafia-kun… does Ryou realize that you're there?" Selene asked.

"Of course, Selene. You asked him yourself the other day why he seemed upset so much of the time since he heard about the bullies." Akafia said with a slightly dark chuckle.

She narrowed her eyes for a moment then shook her head. "You're the one who made the bullies I couldn't scare off disappear?"

Akafia scoffed, as if even considering any other explanation was ridiculous. "Of course. I won't tolerate brats giving my host trouble."

Selene smiled. "I appreciate it but can you make sure nothing too bad happens to people? I don't want him to get in trouble or be upset, people like that aren't worth so much effort."

"I suppose so. The last thing I want is to attract the kind of attention none of us want."

They spent the next hour or so trading stories and talking about nothing in particular. Akafia even promised to help her gain control of her magic. Eventually, he let Ryou regain control. Ryou just blinked in confusion at first.

"Selene…?"

She just smiled softly and hugged him. "Silly Nii-chan. You should have told me before. I finally met the spirit that lives in the Millennium Ring, and he's not the type to hurt people his host cares about if both they and the host themselves are at least semi-decent people."

And then the siblings watched a movie, forgetting just for the moment anything serious. Kids are supposed to have fun, after all. Little did either sibling or even a certain thief know, however, that in befriending the former tomb robber resident of the Millennium Ring, the fates of all three were changed to varying extents. Because no seer could possibly account for the Girl Who Lived having family and friends as abnormal as she is. Three of which being wielders of shadow magic at that. Nor would Ishizu know that the future her Millennium Necklace will show her was one that would never entirely come to pass due to the influence of a girl who could wield a different type of magic would have on both the tomb robber and her brother.

Owari