Seto Kaiba had done many amazing things throughout the years of his life. Taking control of his adoptive father's business and shifting it to the polar opposite of the once prolific arm dealing company, games. His rise to the top of the powerful world of business assisted by the visionary of his "solid image" system and the card game Duel Monsters.
Though he had once reigned undisputed in all things, he found himself unable to take one thing for himself - the title of "The King of Games", a title he had made specifically for himself stolen by his lifetime rival.
Now that rival was gone, returned to the land of the dead leaving behind his vessel and the knowledge that now Seto would never be able to have his redemption against the ancient spirit. The fact gnawed at him from behind, causing him to obsess over the thought of dueling the pharaoh again and finally settling the score.
Though usually dismissive of the occult and supernatural, Seto could not disavow the mystical nature of his foe and thus was powerless with his technology to return him to this plane. He slammed a clenched fist into the arm of his chair at the thought, it was a fact he knew all too well that his mind would remind him of constantly.
Sighing, he leaned back in his chair as he rubbed his eyes. The door to his office opening as one of his loyal subordinates came in.
"Master Kaiba, the preparations are complete for the experiment. We only await your presence."
Standing, the CEO walked around his desk and collected a locked case sitting by its side.
"Has our VIP arrived yet?"
"Yes sir, she was brought in earlier, albeit slightly annoyed at the summons we were able to convince her to come and assist as per your orders," the man replied.
Kaiba nodded as they entered an elevator and descended into the basements below the company building, stepping out and proceeding to the lab. Once inside he would see his "guest", Ishizu Ishtar, a woman he met during one of his tournaments. She had predicted his fall and been wrong, despite this though he knew she understood two things he did not. The first being the occult, the second ancient Egyptian speech.
Unlocking his case, he produced the one thing more important than near everything in his life: his deck. He recalled the time he had hallucinated himself back in the Ancient Egyptian times, though now he was not sure it was a hallucination. There he saw a man looking much like himself and a young girl that had seemingly been the will of his most powerful servant, The Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Drawing three powerful cards from his deck, he placed them in a triangle formation on the ground before walking out of the chamber. The men worked the console as he observed. Numbers and words flashing along the screens as the ceiling tiles of the chamber opened to lower a familiar item into view: the Millennium Rod. Remembering the priest having used this item, he concluded that it might be needed for this ritual to work.
Multiple electrodes focused onto the object as the eye began to glow, the three dragons sharing its brilliance.
"Now then," Kaiba said, "let's see what comes out, shall we?"<|im_end|>
Ishizu Ishtar
Peace. Harmony. Faith. Hope.
Finally, these aspects had coated the world - specifically Domino City - over the past two years. The last bits of chaos seemed to vanish as Atem was able to be put to rest. The moment had been bittersweet for everyone, including the now twenty-two year old priestess herself. Still, as a priestess devoted to the Egyptian gods, she knew the duel between Atem and Yugi had been essential. It just wouldn't have otherwise been right or fair to force Atem to not be given the afterlife he deserved.
Normally, she devoted herself to the goddess her counterpart had been named after, Isis.
But Ishizu could safely know and say that on the day Yugi had competed versus the Pharaoh, she definitely sent up many silent prayers to Anubis in hopes that he would favor Atem.
Suffice to say, she was glad - even to this day - those pleas had appeared to be heard.
Naturally, everyone had gone their own separate ways. Yugi and the others were focusing on their school, at least this was true according to what she'd heard. The biggest surprise had come from both Odion and her brother, as both agreed to go back to Egypt and try to take their positions as the family 'guardians' once more.
After how long he fought against those duties and obligations? Interesting ...
Her eyes closed as a faint smile crossed her face. Alas, her reminiscing was rather abruptly interrupted by a firm hand landing on her shoulder. The blue eyes of the priestess quickly opened as she turned away from the stone tablet that had been in front of her and saw some very nicely dressed men in black suits.
"May I help you?" Ishizu asked calmly, fighting the urge to narrow her eyes. It was no mystery whom these men were; they no doubt belonged to Seto Kaiba, as his employers were infamous for looking like they belonged to the yakuza rather than someone who was in charge of a company linked to a card game.
However, any lingering doubts on whom these men were quickly vanished as they explained the reason for being in the museum.
"Seto-sama has requested your presence, Miss Ishtar," she merely was told.
That certainly made her raise an eyebrow. "Oh? You sure he asked me? He's ... well .... himself. The last time we spoke, he just scoffed at me and ignored --- hey! What are you doing?!"
No verbal response was given. All Ishizu got for an answer was being yanked out of the museum and into a black limousine which had been parked outside.
"W-Wait! What's this about?!"
Ishizu wasn't quite panicked, per se. But now, her attention had definitely been grabbed as well as herself.
"You'll see .... "
Suffice to say, those last words had stayed with her the entire ride there. This abrupt encounter was not sitting well with her. Even without the Millennium Necklace, Ishizu was feeling anything but good about this.
Thankfully, the silence was broken as the car came to a halt, with her door being the first to be opened.
A hand began to reach in before she smacked it away and stepped out of the limousine herself. "I can walk fine," she muttered, "Just focus on leading the way to where exactly he is."
That seemed to be good enough for them, luckily, as they made no attempt to grip her again.
A brief walk later, she found herself in ... what was this exactly? It was hard to say, but if Ishizu had to label it as anything, it would be a slightly half-assed attempt at some sort of ritual chamber.
"Seto-san, do you mind explaining what .... ??"
Her eyes widened as a glint of gold reflected in her eyes. Ishizu felt her heart sink as she turned and found it to be none other than the Millennium Rod.
"You ... you took that back?! Why?! We put the Millennium Items away to help ensure Atem could be put to rest properly!"
It took a lot to get the priestess annoyed, let alone sincerely angry. But right then and there, she definitely was fuming. And for a damn good reason. As a traditionalist, his removal of the rod was a very taboo gesture in itself.
And more and more, she was starting to feel as if whatever she had been dragged into would be even worse than mere theft.
"What is going on?" she asked, trying her best to maintain a relatively calm and collected composure, though the sight of the Rod made it much easier said than done to go through with.<|im_end|>