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Chapter 7

       Kaiba returned from meeting with R&D right at four.  His office door was slightly ajar.  That was the secretary’s way of letting him know someone was waiting for him inside.

       He drew in a breath and entered.

       He had to fight the urge to widen his eyes in surprise at what he saw.

       He had been expecting Yami to be there, but two people were waiting for him.

        Yami looked up as he entered, locking gazes with him. “You recognized it didn’t you?” he asked without preamble.

       “Yami,” Seto nodded and then darted his glance to the second figure.

       It was Yami Bakura, Bakurai.  He was leaning sullenly against the far wall, watching Yami and Seto carefully.  Seeing him there – he reminded Seto of Bakura, of yesterday, and he quickly looked away, focusing on Yami once more.  The former Pharaoh’s gaze was uncomfortably intense.

       Seto didn’t bother to ask what he was talking about, he already knew.  “Yes.”

       “And?” Bakurai asked, pushing off from the wall and approaching them.

       Seto shrugged, “And it isn’t possible.  Unless… Ishizu was right about our past.”  He paused, “In which case I’d say      that crown used to belong to Yami.”

       “There’s only one way to be sure.” Yami said, “We must speak with Marik and Ishizu.”

       Bakurai nodded, “Yes, they are the keepers of the history.”

       Seto shook his head, “They would have said something, wouldn’t they?”

       “They may not have realized the significance at the time.  Neither Bakura nor I did.” Bakurai pointed out.  He noticed that Seto winced when he mentioned his hikari’s name, but he did not mention it.  He did, however, file it away in his mind for further consideration at a later date.

       “It doesn’t hurt to ask.” Yami said firmly. He studied Kaiba, “What I want to know is will you help us find the answers?”

       Kaiba considered for a moment.  It was doubtful the Ishtars knew much about this artifact.  The search would likely be long and involved and might even involve several trips to Egypt.  It could well take months.  Well past the date of the children’s program, and Tea’s trial period with the center.  It could be just the opportunity he had been looking for.  And he really was curious about the crown.  Anything that could cause that kind of reaction in him – he had been curious about ‘his’ past ever since Ishizu had shown him that strange duel.

       “Yes.”  He nodded, “I’m in.” now it was his turn to study them.  “But let me ask you up front: what is it you hope to find?”

       Yami looked at Bakurai and then back at Seto, “the key to our past, and perhaps to our memories.”

       Kaiba nodded, “Then that’s enough reason for me.  Shall we see if the Ishtars are free tomorrow evening?”

*** 

       Seto straightened his tie as he entered the high class restaurant.  He despised ties and almost never wore them, but in certain social situations they were still necessary – even for the CEO of Kaiba corp.  He nodded to the waiter who recognized him and immediately led him to a table.  Yami and Bakurai were already waiting there.  The Ishtars would be joining them momentarily.

       “Good evening.” He bowed slightly to the other two men as he took his seat.

       They merely nodded in response.  It was so odd to see them like this.  In all the time Seto had known them they had never seemed so nervous.  In Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, and in Noah’s virtual world Yami had certainly been worried, angry even, but never nervous.  And Bakurai… he hadn’t known the man knew what nerves where.  But then, others might say the same about him.

       “Gentlemen.” A feminine voice brought their attention to the arrival of the rest of their party.  The waiter pulled out a chair for Ishizu, and then bowed to them before taking their drink orders and leaving.

       Ishizu studied them for several moments before bringing her gaze to rest on Yami.  “My Pharaoh,” she still had a habit of calling him that, as did Shadi.  It was strange, but rather comforting for him, though he would not allow anyone else to address him by the title.  “You seem troubled.  How may I assist you?”

       Marik merely cocked his head to one side, watching the interaction between Yami and his sister.

       “Do you recall the crown from the exhibit?” Yami asked her, no trace of his earlier nervousness in his voice.

       Ishizu narrowed her eyes in thought, “Yes, unusual was it not?”

       “What do you know about it?” Bakurai broke in.

       Ishizu arched a brow but was otherwise unaffected by his outburst.  She kept her gaze trained on Yami.

       “It is one of a kind, the only crown ever worn by a pharaoh of Egypt.  It is far more intricate and fine than European crowns.  Bakura labeled it the crown of the Pharaoh of Light.  That is all I know.”

       Yami looked faintly disappointed at this and Marik leaned forward, intrigued. 

       “You recognized it, didn’t you?” His tone was knowing.  “That’s why you behaved so strangely that night.”

       Yami nodded, “I had hoped, we had hoped, that as the keepers of the history you might know something.”

       Marik shook his head, settling back in his seat.  “You must understand, Ishizu and I, though in her case through no fault of her own, were poor keepers of our heritage.  My father held fast to the ideal that women were the lesser sex.  Because of this belief he allowed my sister to learn very little of the histories and traditions we guarded.  She knows little beyond that which the necklace revealed to her.  And I, as you know, had no desire to spend my life in service to a dead king.  I forgot all I was ever told, if indeed I ever bothered to hear it.  And once I had reached the point where it mattered to me, my father was long dead and the entrance to our home sealed.  I could not gain access to the information even if it existed.”

       Sensing her brother’s pain at the remembrance of their past Ishizu continued, “And it is quite likely that no such information exists.   I spent much time wandering the halls of our dwelling and reading the walls, and I’m afraid I remember no reference to a crown.”

       “And yet,” Seto spoke for the first time since the arrival of the Ishtars.  “Yami, Bakurai, and I all felt a connection to the piece.  You claim to believe in destiny, in connections with past lives, with our ancestors, is it not reasonable to believe that our reaction proves that connection.”

       Ishizu turned her gaze to his, “And when, Seto Kaiba, did you become interested in your ancient past?  Have you not told me time and time again that each man shapes his own destiny?  Why this interest.”

       Kaiba resisted the urge to look away and answered with a half truth, “I recognized it, I felt drawn to it.  There must be a reason, and I want to find it.”

       Ishizu’s gaze narrowed.  For a moment he was afraid she would call his bluff and force him to admit the truth.  All of it.  But she nodded, accepting his explanation, and looked back to Yami.

       “I am truly sorry, but we cannot be of service to you in this matter.  Perhaps I can contact some of my field researchers in Egypt, but that is all.”

       “Thank you.” Yami said quietly, “I know you will do all you can.”

***

       Dinner was a less than comfortable affair, each person lost in his or her own thoughts.  But one could not simply order a drink at the ‘Vernay’ and go home.  Yami and Bakurai were quick to excuse themselves but Seto lingered.  He had something he wished to discuss with Ishizu.

       “Ishizu,” she looked away from the retreating figures of their friends and met his gaze inquisitively, “you mentioned field contacts.  I was wondering if I might get some names and contact information from you.  You needn’t waste your time contacting them when I already have to contact others.  Between our contacts I may be able to find some information.”

       Ishizu nodded slowly, “I can have those faxed to you in the morning.  And I truly do wish you luck.  If I find anything, I’ll contact you.”

       “Good luck.” Marik smiled at him.  “I wish I could remember my lessons, but I really can’t.”

       “I understand.” Kaiba folded his napkin and placed it beside his plate.  “And now, I really must be going.  I’ve work to do tomorrow and I need my rest.”  He stood, bowing o them, and briskly left the restaurant.  Fortunately the bill here was always charged directly to his account and he didn’t need to wait for the check.  He had letters to begin writing.  With any luck he’d have them ready by the time Ishizu’s fax reached his office in the morning.

***    

       Seto arched his back and shrugged his shoulders before returning his attention to the screen.  He had nearly completed his letter of inquiry regarding the crown.  He could have had his secretary do it, but he had wanted to do it himself.  The night before he had created a master letter, this morning he had come in early and saved it as two files – one for his personal contacts, and one for Ishizu’s, mentioning that she had referred him.  He typed the closing thanks and saved the file.  With a little modification, name and location to be precise, it could be sent to any archeologist or historian he chose.  He was about to exit the document when he paused.

       That crown might well hold the key to Yami’s past, and even Yami Bakura’s.  But what of his own?  He had asked for information on the crown, but his own ancestor was a priest not a pharaoh, and not the thief who might have coveted that crown.  Even if any information were present concerning the priest it was unlikely anyone would think to send it to him.  At least nothing beyond his immediate interaction with the pharaoh, and Seto already knew about that from the visions Ishizu had shown him.

       He struggled with this for quite some time.  His purpose here was to help his friends, not to satisfy his own curiosity.  And yet, though he was loath to admit it, he was curious.  He wanted to know why his ancestor had turned against the Pharaoh.  Who had won the duel?  Yes, he wanted to know, perhaps even needed to know.

       He called up the personal contact letter and hastily typed a few more lines, saved once more, and closed out the file.

       Just as he turned to the stack of papers on his desk his secretary gave a light knock of warning and entered.

       He looked up, “Yes, Ms. Jacobs?”

       “Mr. Kaiba, the fax you were waiting on came in.” he motioned her forward and she handed it to him.  He perused it quickly.  There were quite a few names, many well known. 

       He looked back up to see that his secretary was still standing before his desk.  She looked a little uncomfortable.

       “Was there something else?” he inquired politely.

       “Yes sir,” she shifted, “Cynthia Hagarthy called again.  I told her you were currently unavailable.”

       “Thank you Ms. Jacobs, you may go.”  The young woman nodded and quickly left the room, her high heels clicking against the hard wood floor.

       Once the door had closed Kaiba sighed.  Ms. Hagarthy had called him four times in the six days since the museum event.  Subtlety was evidently not her forte.  He had yet to return her calls, hoping she might take the hint gracefully and back off.  But apparently she had no.  Eventually he would have to deal with her, but he didn’t have the energy today.  Besides, he had other business to attend to.

       Looking over the fax once more he keyed the intercom.

       “Ms. Jacobs.”

       He heard a click as she keyed her own intercom, “Yes, sir?”

       “You have a copy of the fax I just received?”

       “Yes Mr. Kaiba.” It was Kaiba corp. standard policy to keep a copy of all faxes on file for reference. 

       He clicked open the two letter files, copying them to another file.

       “I’m sending you three documents, two are letters and the third is a list of my Egyptian contacts.  The letters are labeled ‘Ishtar contacts’ and ‘Personal contacts’ respectively.  See to it that each contact listed in my files and Ishizu’s fax receives a copy of the appropriate letter, personalized of course.  I’d like the letters to go out with this evening’s mail.”

       “Yes Mr. Kaiba.”

       “Thank you.” Kaiba keyed out, he was relieved to get that task out of the way.  Now they need only wait, surely something would come up.  He turned back to his desk ready to begin the day’s work.

***

       It had been a week and a half since Tea had last seen Seto Kaiba.  In that time she had taken Bakura’s advice to heart and had truly thought about her relationship with him, her feelings toward him.  Unfortunately she was no closer to an answer than before.  His absence wasn’t helping, but she did know that she missed him.

       She was tempted to call him, but thought that might seem forward.  So, instead, she called Yugi.

       He was pleased to hear from her and for several minutes they just chatted.  Then Tea could stand it no longer and decided to cut straight to the point.

       “Yugi, is Kaiba alright?”

       He seemed a bit surprised, though whether by her abruptness or her question she couldn’t begin to guess, “What do you mean?”

       “Well, it’s just that he used to come by the Center nearly every afternoon, and he hasn’t been by since the day before the museum, I was just wondering if something happened.”

       “Oh, um… well, I’m not sure, but I guess it’d be alright to tell you.” He paused, “Just a second, let me go ask Yami something.”  She heard him set the phone down and shortly after heard his voice and a deeper one in the background.  <What’s that all about?> she wondered <and what does Yami have to do with Seto being alright?>.

       “Tea?” Yugi was back on the line.

       “Yeah, I’m still here Yugi.”

       “Oh, right.” He sounded so sheepish she could almost see his blush.  “Um, Yami says it’s no big deal if I tell you, so…” he paused, “Tea, do you remember at the exhibit, there was this crown?”

       “Crown?” she echoed in confusion.

       “Yeah, it was in the center of the main room.  It was gold and really delicate.”

       Tea frowned in concentration, “Alright, I think I know what you’re talking about.”

       “Good.” He paused once more, “Well, Yami and Bakurai sort of… recognized it, I guess, and so did Kaiba.  They think it has something to do with their pasts – the yamis’, not Kaiba’s, well, and Kaiba’s ancestor or something.  It gets kind of confusing.” He sighed, “Anyway, Kaiba has the resources they need, and since he recognized it also he agreed to help.  It seems to be taking a lot of their time and energy recently.  I mean, I live with Yami, and I work with them both and I’ve hardly seen them this last week or so.”

       “Oh, I get it.  Well… I’m glad he’s alright then.”  Somehow she felt the need to defend her concern, “The kids were worried, you know.”

       “Yeah.” Yugi agreed, though she was sure he didn’t believe her.

       “Well, bye then, I guess.”

       “Goodbye. Hey Tea?” he asked hurriedly, no doubt trying to catch her before she hung up, “are you free Thursday night?  Maybe we could go do something.”

       “Sure, Yugi. That’d be great.  I’ll call you tomorrow to settle the details.”

       “Great!” she could hear his smile, “Talk to you later then.”

       Tea hung up the phone and sighed.  Well, at least Kaiba was okay, and it wasn’t as though he was avoiding her or something.  He was just busy.  Still, the nagging voice in her head whispered doubts.  No matter what the reason for his absence, he was absent from her life. She smacked a nearby pillow in frustration and grabbed her book starting to read.  She wasn’t really getting much out of it though.

       <how am I supposed to figure out how I feel about him if he’s never around anymore!?>    

***

       “Does anyone know why we’re here?” Kaiba looked around at the other three men.  They shook their heads; if Marik knew anything he wasn’t inclined to give them any answers.      

       Kaiba sighed and leaned back against Ishizu’s desk.  Bored, he looked around the office.  It was a fair size, with a few artifacts from Ishizu’s personal collection, most of them Egyptian and many from the Shadow Era (as they had come to call it).  He recognized a small carving of a duel monster. 

       As for the men in the office…

       Yami looked almost sick with worry, this crown thing was really getting to him, and Kaiba found that disturbing.  Yami had always been so strong and confident.  Bakurai was inscrutable, his arms crossed (as usual) and his face closed.  But Kaiba thought he detected a hint of concern in the man’s eyes whenever he looked at Yami.  Marik was not concerned in the least.  He reclined easily in a chair, his legs stretched out before him, twirling a lock of his hair absently.

       The door cracked open.

       “I am sorry I am late.” Ishizu entered and bowed. “Something came up.”  She looked around the room and saw all four men watching her, unmoving.  Marik arched a brow at her and she sighed.  “I suppose I’ll get straight to the point.”  She stepped over to her desk forcing Kaiba to stand and turn in order to face her.  “Four nights ago Marik and I told you that we knew nothing of the history of the artifact you saw.” Seeing Yami’s hopeful look she held up a hand, “We still know nothing… however,” she continued when his face fell, “I have recalled something that may prove helpful.”  She looked at them all once more.  “Perhaps you might like to have a seat. This may take some time.”

       Seto and Yami moved to do as she suggested, but Bakurai remained standing.  When Ishizu looked at him he shook his head.  He liked to stand.

       “Your questions intrigued me and I have been turning them over in my mind since that night. Yesterday a memory surfaced.  It was when I was very young, and still living in our underground chambers.  It may have been before Marik was born.

     “Our home consisted of a labyrinth of tunnels and passageways covered with hieroglyphs, carvings, and paintings.  I was not allowed to study the scriptures, as I was a girl, but I often wandered the tunnels trying to piece together what I could.  The story of the Pharaoh who had saved mankind fascinated me.”

       Yami shifted, leaning forward as Ishizu spoke.  She had closed her eyes and her voice had gone soft, as though she were reliving the moment in her mind.

       “Generally one or the other of my parents would catch me and make me come back to the main chamber.  But one day they were busy and did not notice my absence.  That day I ventured further than I ever had before. It was an old and dusty tunnel, and the light was very dim.  I couldn’t reach the torches and I was a little frightened.  But the story told on the walls held me there.  I followed the tunnel farther and farther, looking at the carvings and paintings.”  Now even Bakurai was leaning forward slightly, in anticipation.

       “I know not how long I remained, working my way slowly down the tunnel.  I had the vague feeling that it was getting darker as I went, as well it should have been with no source of light, but it was unimportant.  I was captivated.  And then… it stopped.  The walls of the tunnel had collapsed.  It was then that I realized the grave danger I was in, and not from the dark.

       “I had heard my father speak of this place.  It had collapsed long before my father’s birth, or even my grandfather’s, centuries before, locking away the secrets it held.  My father regarded it as a sacred place.  It was protected by the spirits of the pharaoh’s servants.  I was afraid of them, but I was more afraid of what my father would do if he saw me there.  I turned to flee, but it was too late.”

       She winced, remembering, “My father was behind me.  He was furious and grabbed me, nearly running from the tunnel, dragging me in his haste.  I had never been hit before that day.”

       She paused for a moment, her face contorted in remembered agony.  Then she drew in a shuddering breath and folded her hands before her on the desk, continuing.

       “What he said to me is not as important as the few hieroglyphs I remember seeing just before the collapsed section of the wall.” She leaned toward Yami, gazing earnestly and intently into his eyes, “I saw the symbol for light, and the symbol used to represent foreign kings.  I also saw the beginnings of a carving that could resemble part of a crown.”  Leaning forward even further she took Yami’s hand in both her own.

       “Do you not see, my Pharaoh?  The answers you seek may well lie hidden in that tunnel.”

       Kaiba was amazed.  He had not honestly expected Ishizu to remember anything.  He had expected they would have to wait months for a lead.  Glancing at Yami he saw that the man’s breathing was labored; he did not blink, he was motionless.

       “Go to Egypt my Pharaoh.  Find the answers to the questions that haunt you.”  She released his hands and turned hr head away, sorrowful, “I wish that I could accompany you, but I cannot.  Marik will go in my stead.”

       Marik stood and gave a grave nod.  “You’ll need a guide through that maze.”

       Ishizu looked back at Yami.  “I pray you find the answers you seek.  And I hope they bring you the peace you long for.”  She looked around to encompass the other men, including them.  Her gaze then returned to focus solely on Yami.   Her voice became low and laced with pain, “But be forewarned my Pharaoh, there are some things better left in shadows.”

       Yami’s eyes narrowed in confusion at this, but he nodded.  Kaiba watched for a few moments as they all sat in silence, and then he spoke.

       “We’ll need a team, to help us remove the rubble, and to assist with any excavation that might be required.”

       Bakurai straightened, “That will require considerable funds.” He looked at Kaiba.

       “I will finance the expedition, if that is your concern.”

       “It was not a concern, merely a statement of fact.”  The former thief stated flatly, “Digs can be very costly.  Especially in old and unstable areas.”

       Kaiba nodded, “Yes, I’ll take care of it.  Just tell me what you need.  You are the expert after all.”

       Bakurai nodded, “I’ll need to tell Bakura about this.  We’ll want his expertise.”

       An uncomfortable feeling rose in Kaiba’s throat at the mention of the British man, he was finding it difficult to swallow.

       “Do we really want to involve anyone else in this?” he asked.

       Bakurai’s eyes narrowed, “We’re going to have to involve someone, better one who already knows our history.  Besides, he is my partner.”

       “Yes, but-”

       “I want Bakura on this.” Yami said quietly.  “He’s the best.  And…” he paused, “there is very little in all this that will surprise him.”

       Kaiba fought a grimace but nodded in acquiescence.  

       “How quickly can it be arranged?” Yami asked.

       Kaiba made some quick calculations in his head. “Give me ten minutes and we’re set.” he said confidently.  That was all it would take to place the call that would inform his second of his impending absence and settle his affairs. “We can leave tomorrow.”

       Yami glanced at Bakurai who nodded stonily; he could be ready by morning.

       “Well, I’m in.” Marik moved closer to them and placed a reassuring hand on Yami’s shoulder. Yami looked very relieved.  The sooner they got to the bottom of this the better.