Carved in Stone

 Ana Harrani Sa Alaktasa La Tarat*

            Ryou and Marik sat next to each other on Marik’s cot discussing the strange twist of
events that had transpired. They kept a sharp eye on Bakura as they conversed, for the thief
seemed just as perplexed amidst his new surroundings. Fortunately, Marik had slipped Bakura
the Kama Sutra, and even though he couldn’t read the words, the pictures told him all he needed
to know. Ryou sat cross-legged with his elbows on his knees, propping his chin up with his
hands.

“I don’t know how this happened, but I don’t like it.” He said quietly as he stared down at the
ground.

Marik laid back on the cot and rested his hands behind his head. He sighed as he closed his eyes.
“I agree, but sitting here rattling on about how much we don’t like this situation isn’t going to fix
jack-shit, and as much as I don’t care to admit it, I’m stumped. I can’t think of a single solution.”

Ryou looked up at Bakura and watched the thief page through the provocative book. Just like his
yami, this Bakura was really getting a cheap thrill off of the sexy images on the pages. Ryou
absently fiddled with one of the pointers on his Millennium Ring as he observed Bakura. It was
strange seeing him outside their soul room, and even stranger seeing him in his ancient body.
Ryou couldn’t deny to himself that he found the mis-placed thief just a little sexy........okay, very
sexy.

/I wonder if this bloke is as good of a lay as my yami. He’s definitely got body for some serious
action! / He thought to himself, not realizing he’d giggled at his own thoughts.

“What’s so funny?” Marik asked curiously as he sat up.

Ryou realized his err and bit his lip.

“Ehhh....nothing?” He answered the Egyptian. He couldn’t hide the fact that he was blushing.

Marik shook his head and chuckled.

“Something tells me a certain white-haired hikari isn’t being honest.”

Ryou turned to Marik and grinned guiltily.

“You’re right, but I can assure you what I was thinking has no relevance to figuring out what
happened tonight.

Marik looked at Bakura, who was laying comfortably on Ryou’s cot looking at the book, and
grinned at the thief.

“You learning anything over there?” He joked as he sat up.

Bakura poked his head up and glared sharply in Marik’s direction.

“Keep it down! Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Busy doing what? Jacking off?” Marik laughed, knowing full well the ancient thief wouldn’t
know what he was referring to.

Bakura slammed the book shut and threw it down on the bed as he stood up.

“Shut up! You’re beginning to get on my nerves, you bastard!” Bakura held up his clenched fists,
ready to fight.

Marik stood up and held up his hands infront of himself.

“Whoa......settle down, firecracker! I have no intention of fighting with you, so just cool it. Do
you think you can cut your cranky crap for a bit so we all can figure out what the hell happened
here tonight?”

Though still agitated, Bakura sat down on the cot and put down his fists. He seemed just as
frustrated as Ryou and Marik.

Marik sat back down once Bakura seemed to have settled down.

“Bakura? Would you mind telling us what you last remember before you saw Ryou and I?”

Bakura rolled his eyes and he rested his chin in his hand.

“I was minding my own business.”

Marik shook his head. “Yeah, that’s great. How about where you were. Do you remember that?”

Bakura growled under his breath. He didn’t seem very interested in chit-chatting.

“I was sitting under a tree reading a text I’d acquired from the tomb of Nefrekeptah. Next thing I
knew I was here looking at your ugly faces.”

Marik crossed his arms and made a face, taking much offense to the thief’s remark.

 “If anybody here is ugly, it would have to be you, scar-face. Now if you’ll stop acting like a
fuck-tard, we need you to answer a few more questions.”

Bakura rolled his eyes. “Do I look like an oracle? Why don’t I ask you a few questions instead?”

Marik made a growling noise at the back of his throat and nodded his head.

“Fine, but for every question you ask, we get to ask you one.”

“Fair enough” Bakura smirked. His eyes shifted to Ryou.

“Tell me, how did you come to possess the Millennium Ring?”

Ryou looked at Marik nervously as he clutched the ring hanging around his neck. He was
apprehensive to answer the question, for he knew all too well of his yami’s past obsession with
the Ring.

“Go ahead” Marik assured the edgy hikari.

Ryou looked back at Bakura.

“M-my father.....g-g-gave it to me when I w-was a young c-child.”

Bakura snickered at Ryou’s fear. He held out his hand and grinned evilly at his future light.

“Mind handing it over, little one?”

Ryou’s eyes widened and he shifted around uneasily. Marik quickly jumped into the
conversation.

“Don’t answer that, Ryou, Bakura already used up his one question. Now it’s our turn.”

Ryou relaxed a little when he saw Bakura pull back his hand.

“Jackass” Bakura snarled at Marik, his eyes full of animosity.

Marik ignored the insult and continued with another question.

“Was their anybody with you before you showed up here?”

Bakura nodded his head sharply. “Yes, two travelers from Sumer. We were planning on paying
the Pharaoh a little visit.”

“Pharaoh?” Ryou interrupted. “You mean Yami?”

Bakura shook his head and chuckled. “Uh-uh! My turn to ask a question now!”

Bakura looked at Marik with a twisted grin. Marik could just tell Bakura was going to ask him
something he didn’t really want to answer. Ancient Bakura was turning out to be just as much of
an asshole as the Bakura he was used too, maybe even a little worse.

Bakura cracked his knuckles as he eye-balled the Egyptian.

“Though it seems you both know my name, neither of you have told me your names. Mind
telling me?”

Ryou nodded his head. “My name is Ryou Bakura.......”

Bakura’s jaw dropped.

“And my name is Marik. I am the darker half of the soul of Malik Ishtar.”

Bakura was completely stunned. For the first time since his arrival, he was speechless.

***********************************************************************

            Malik felt himself slowly waking up. He could smell the musky scent of smoldering
wood nearby. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. The sky was grey, and
light grey fog hovered above the golden desert sands.

“About time you woke up.” A woman chuckled from off to his left.

Malik sat up and looked around slightly disorientated.

“Your little friend never came back last night. Goes to show you can’t trust these Egyptians.”
Ereshkigal said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Malik cleared his dry throat and sat up.

“Right.....uh......is there anything to drink around here?” He asked as he licked his dry lips.

“Of course” Ereshkigal nodded as she handed Malik a jar of wine.

Malik sniffled the contents of the jar and made a sour face, but he was too thirsty to care. He
quickly began to drink.

Ereshkigal laughed when Malik set down the jar and shivered from the bad taste of the wine.

“That bad?” She asked.

Malik nodded his head. “Fucking stuff tastes like camel piss, yuck!”

Ereshkigal chuckled stood up and looked up to the heavens.

“I spoke with my father Anu while you were sleeping.”

Malik looked at her inquisitively, noticing she was looking up. “Is he dead or something?”

Ereshkigal started to laugh and shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder that myself! But no, he’s
just retired to the upper heavens and has left the dirty work to a younger generation. I ask him if
he could aid us on our quest to locate the Egyptian Pharaoh. He didn’t seem very enthusiastic
about helping us out though. I think it’s just me he doesn’t like, because we both know how
much he’s favored my little sister over the years.”

Malik cocked his head and he pulled his knees to his chest.

“Sister?”

Ereshkigal shook her head and laughed. “Yes, my sister Inanna......your cheating WIFE, or have
you already forgotten about her?”

/WIFE!?!/ Malik thought, /Ryou is NOT going to like this...../

Malik chuckled nervously as he wrapped his arms arm his knees “You could say that.”

Ereshkigal got up and sat next to Malik, her grey-blue eyes were filled with amusement.

“You don’t seem to be yourself, is everything okay, my King?”

Malik battled with his thoughts. He wanted to tell Ereshkigal everything, but how would she
react? Though she seemed non-threatening, something inside Malik told him this woman was a
force to be reckoned with. Malik fought the butterflies in his stomach and decided to tell her the
truth, even if he didn’t understand what was going on himself.

“No, actually.....something is very wrong. I don’t belong here!” He answered her adamantly.

Ereshkigal put her arm around Malik and smiled. “Neither do I, but as long as I’m here, I’m
trying to make the best of it.”

Malik bit his lip. He felt so out of place! He looked down at the sand and drew circles in it with
his finger.

“I’m not who you think I am.......”

Ereshkigal cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

Malik bit his lip as he turned his head and looked at the astonished woman.

“I’m not a king.”

Ereshkigal sympathized with Malik.

“Your kingdom may be in ruins, but that does not mean you are not still king. I’m sure the
Pharaoh of Egypt can help you restore your land. Speaking of which, we should be hitting the
trails while it’s still early.”

“But what about Bakura? Shouldn’t we at least look for him?” Malik asked, remembering that
the thief was supposedly traveling with them. /Maybe if I can find Bakura, he can help me figure
out what I’m doing here./ Malik thought silently.

Ereshkigal rolled her eyes. “I suppose, but if we don’t find him, we’ll have to leave without
him.”

Malik got up and dusted himself off. “I’ll meet you back here!” He shouted as he ran for the
forest, leaving Ereshkigal behind.

            After an hour of searching for the missing thief, Malik gave up. He returned to
Ereshkigal empty handed.

“I couldn’t find him, damn it. I guess we can go.” He told his raven haired traveling companion.

Ereshkigal had packed up camp while Malik was away searching. She handed Malik a long
black cloak. Malik couldn’t help but notice it looked almost exactly like the ones issued to the
rare hunters. Malik pulled the cloak over his head and sighed.

“I feel really bad leaving Bakura behind.” He said somberly as he looked back at the forest.

Ereshkigal just smiled as she strapped her bundled up belongings onto her back.

“I’m sure he’s just fine. He probably left during the night to go rip off some little nearby village.
Now hurry up and strap on your things. If we leave now, we can still make it to see the Pharaoh
before sunset.

Malik nodded his head. He had no clue what was going on, but considering Bakura was in the
picture somehow, he had an idea who the Pharaoh was.

Together, they headed out into the desert. As they were walking, they both spotted a man
walking towards them.

“Namtar!” Ereshkigal exclaimed as she ran ahead to greet him.

Malik was a little spooked out by the man, for he wore a black cloak and had an eerie feeling
aura about him. Ereshkigal seemed to know him though, so Malik quickened his pace and
caught up to them.

“Namtar! I can’t believe you’re here! What are you doing here in Egypt?” Ereshkigal asked as
she hugged the creepy guy.

Namtar looked at Malik cautiously, than focused back on Ereshkigal.

“Anu sent me. He said you called upon him for some help.”

Ereshkigal nodded her head.

“Yes, I did.”

Namtar held out a gold box.

“Anu told me to give this to you. He said to use these with extreme caution though, for they
contain powers far beyond those of this world.”

Ereshkigal took the box from Namtar and opened it up. Inside there were two strange looking
gold devices. Ereshkigal took one out and handed it to Malik.

“How do we use these?” She asked as she took out the second object and handed the box back to
Namtar.

Malik knew exactly how to use the new device. He could tell by the looks of it that it was an
ancient form of a duel disk. He slid it on his arm and grinned.

“These are Shi-Kám. (soul disk) With these, you will be able to call upon the souls of the spirit
realm.” Namtar said as he closed the gold box.

Malik held up his arm and looked over the strange device. “Uh......how do we do this without
cards?”

“Cards?” Ereshkigal asked curiously.

Namtar and Ereshkigal looked at Malik as if he were speaking a foreign language.

Malik shook his head. “Nevermind, how do we call upon the souls?”

“Just say their name and they will come forth.” Namtar replied.

Ereshkigal threw her arms around Namtar and smiled. “Thank you so much, Namtar.”

“I am here to serve you, my goddess.” He smiled as he bowed his head.

/Goddess???/ Malik thought to himself as he stared at Ereshkigal.

“I best get going now. I wish the best for both of you as you face the Pharaoh.”

With that being said, Namtar turned around and left, disappearing in the distance.

Ereshkigal grinned playfully at Malik.

“Shall we?” She smirked as she held up her Shi-Kám.

Malik shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, we might as well get used to using these things if we are to
master them.”

Ereshkigal thought for a moment than held up her Shi-Kám.

“Asag!” She shouted.

Suddenly, a half man, half demon looking creature appeared infront of them.

Malik felt a cold chill run down his spine as the hideous creature bowed to Ereshkigal.

“Your turn” She grinned at Malik as he stared aghast at her summoning.

“But, I don’t know...” Malik began to say, but suddenly, a name popped into his head. He
instinctively held up his Shi-Kám towards the heavens.

“Tiamat!” He shouted. The named rolled off his tongue as though he’d said it a million times
before. Suddenly a very large, bloated looking red dragon appeared before him. Malik was
stunned at what he had just done, and at what he’d summoned.

“Oh my” Ereshkigal exclaimed in awe of the mighty dragon.

“Okay, they work. Let’s go now. Malik chuckled as he admired his Shi-Kám.

Following their beasts though the desert, Malik and Ereshkigal continued on their quest for the
Pharaoh.

********************************************************************

(Back in Domino now)

            Mokuba kicked a small stone across the walkway as he approached the front doors of the
Kaiba mansion. He stared absently at the front doors. He’d been walking around for hours
debating on what he was going to do about Noa. Since Seto was too busy to help him, Mokuba
decided to take care of business himself.....the old-fashioned way.

Mokuba stormed into the mansion and slammed the door behind him.

“NOA! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!” He shouted loud enough for the
entire block to hear.

This was it. Time to confront his half brother..........

*********************************************************

 A/N:

*Sumerian: “Road Whose Course Does Not Turn Back”

 No, I haven’t forgotten this fic.....I’m planning on focusing more on it now that Hellraisers is
over. Time for some fun!!;-)