Chapter 3: Back to the Past?

'I guess I've finally gone wacko. But it's no wonder. All those crazy adventures, surrounded by crazy people, it was bound to happen sooner or later. But when I thought of myself going nuts, I didn't picture it in a old shaggy house in Hokkaido with Kaiba there, too. Though he did amount a great lot to my craziness. Life isn't fair...'

While Anzu was busy thinking up excuses for their current situation Kaiba was confusing the priest and himself more and more every second. He'd tried acting like he knew who this 'Master Seto' was and chalked up the priest's inquiry on his 'pale' face to the bad light in the temple, but had gotten himself stuck trying to explain who the woman was. That woman of course, was Mazaki who was staring off into space, looking like she was contemplating the meaning of life. He was seriously considering shaking her and telling her to think of something, but that'd probably land them into greater trouble.

Just as he was about to begin the long-widened explanation that Anzu was an apprentice or something of the sort, even a concubine for all he cared, the door he and Mazaki had originally been headed to, opened and in stepped what he presumed was the actual 'Master Seto', since the man in the black silken tunica and cream pants looked exactly like him, aside skin color that is.

The two look-alikes stared at each other for a long moment, both unable to say anything. Kaiba Seto knowing that he and Mazaki won't be welcomed with open arms and 'Master Seto' wondering what Shadow Magic he was seeing. The priest just looked between the two, back and forth and went back to where he came from, muttering about lacking sleep.

Anzu chose that moment to 'wake up' and when she realized that she most probably hadn't gone insane as of yet and that there were two Kaibas looking at her, rubbed her eyes and looked again. No, still two.

"Kaiba," she addressed the one standing beside her in the black trench-coat. "Why are there two of you?"

"How the hack should I know?! You're the one who brought us in this situation, now do something to bring us back to Hokkaido!" Kaiba spat at her and crossed his arms over his chest, looking for all the world like a pouting child throwing a tantrum.

"Oh, quit being a baby and start acting like a man for once!"

'Master Seto' contemplated using his Millennium Rod and letting one of his monsters take care of whatever sick joke this was, but decided against it when he saw the spark in the strange girl's eyes. He recognized a pure soul when he saw one, this girl was not evil, she was as pure as they got. But the guy... Seto couldn't recognize any evil in him, but a very dark side was taking up most of his soul. The darkness was bitterness and hatred, nothing nobody else had, and he wasn't an imposter meant to pose as him and get to the Pharaoh, so it was at least clear that they weren't enemies. But one question still remained, who were they and why were they here?

"For once?! What do you mean for once?! I'm more a man then the simpletons you surround yourself with will ever be! I wouldn't trust you to recognize a man even if he bit you in the ass!"

Anzu got red from anger and turning her back to him, stuck out her backside and slapped herself a little.

"Come on, bite me, you big man! Let's see how much of a man you really are!"

It was Kaiba's turn to get red and start seething.

"You vulgar woman! I wouldn't want your ass if it were the last in the universe! I'd rather be gay then have you as my woman!"

Anzu paled then blushed again, this time ready to rip his head off.

"You ARE gay, you asshole! Nobody would believe the opposite you even if you got married this instant! Everyone's talking how you just want to get in Jou's pants and that's why you tease him so much! And I've been wondering if maybe you wanted a piece of the Pharaoh's ass as well! It wouldn't surprise me, you jerk!"

'Pharaoh?' The High Priest perked up at the mention of his friend and King. What in Ra's name were they talking about? Curiosity wasn't something the High Priest felt on a daily basis and he didn't like it when he did. It proved that there were things that he wasn't aware of and that didn't bide well with him. These strangers were going to answer some of his questions and it better be good, or he'll deal with them, no matter if they were pure or not.

"Excuse me for interrupting your oh so important conversation, but you need to answer some questions, or you'll find yourselves in the dungeons and you can argue there all you want, about sexual preferences, manliness and everything else you can come up with. You'd be staying there for a very long time, to be sure."

Kaiba and Anzu stopped their bickering and turned to the Kaiba-look-alike. Anzu was on the verge of freaking out, she couldn't stand looking at this guy, he looked exactly like Kaiba and it bugged her to no end. In her mind Kaiba was a one of a kind, looks and personality wise. It was hard to find someone as handsome, intelligent and cold as him, not to mention all in one person. And here she was standing across a man who could be Kaiba's clone.

'He must be Kaiba's past self. Isis did say that Kaiba's also a part of the ancient past, he was one of the priests in the Pharaoh's court, but he ended up betraying the Pharaoh for some reason. The biggest Shadow Game of the past was between the Pharaoh and Kaiba's past form, they're destined to end it one day. But this guy doesn't seem evil to me. So he didn't betray the Pharaoh yet.'

"Ummm... What do you want to know?"

Kaiba looked at Anzu like she'd lost her mind. Why was she talking to that guy so calmly?

The High Priest regarded her with a questioning look. She seemed to know something about him. Her initial reaction to him was replaced by an understanding that confused Seto even more.

(Note: Kaiba Seto will be called Kaiba and the High Priest Seto, so don't be confused. I'm not all too sure as to how Anzu will address the High Priest or Atem for that matter, but you'll know when I figure it out.)

"Who are you?" It was a good start, he figured, maybe he could get out some information if he stayed calm. The girl was blinking up at him with curious, large blue eyes and he fought the urge to look away. He'd never in his life seen such penetrating eyes. To be honest, she scared him and he disliked that.

"I'm Mazaki Anzu, this is Kaiba Seto, and I'm afraid we're stuck here."

"Stuck?" He asked before he could stop himself. What he really wanted to know was why that guy not only looked like him, but also had the same name. He's going to resign from his post as the High Priest if this wasn't Shadow Magic.

"Well, you see we don't exactly belong here, in this time, I guess. We're from the future, 5000 years into the future to be exact."

5000 years into the future? Now he was sure that the two strangers were either crazy or sent to confuse them into a early grave.

"And why should I believe such an absurd thing? Do you have any evidence or are you simply expecting me to be stupid, young lady?"

It irked him that she didn't look nervous at all. She was as calm as when they begun this odd conversation, and he was the one getting anxious, why he didn't know.

Anzu regarded him for a bit before taking out an old thing that looked like bound scrolls from her bag. He looked at her with interest as she turned to him again.

"Do you happen to know how to read the Roman numbers?"

Roman numbers? He was educated in speaking, reading and writing twenty languages, Roman was one of them.

"I am familiar with their script. Why?"

He almost took a step back as she smiled brightly at him.

Kaiba meanwhile looked at her curiously and almost laughed as he realized that she intended to show him the year printed on the book, it was in Roman numbers and if he knew how to read them, he'd get it that they come from a time in the future.

Seto looked at the strange thing in her hands and after realizing that he couldn't read anything else beside the date, concentrated on the numbers. It read 27. 7. 1983.

"1983? Is that the time you come from?"

Anzu smiled and shook her head. "No this book is old; we come from the year 2006 AC. Though your calendar is different, it was the original that ours was copied from. Year 2006 or 1983 for that matter is counted in the years after Christ, seeing that the Christian religion is the dominating one in the modern world, and Christ lived a few hundred years after the fall of the Egyptian Empire."

Seto was truly interested in what she was saying, but the words 'fall' and 'Egyptian Empire' in one sentence didn't bide well with him.

"If you know so much then you can surely tell me more about what awaits us in the future, about the war we're fighting and the Shadow Games."

He looked truly hopeful and Anzu hated that she had to shatter those hopes, but she couldn't very well lie to him, she had a feeling he would sense it. "I'm afraid that you know much more then me about this time period. In our time this is called the 'Dark Era'. We have no idea what happened here, our archeologists could only find bits and pieces, we don't even know the Pharaoh's name. Shadow Games and the Items are a well guarded secret known only to a few, but we do know that the Pharaoh will save the world."

She strategically left out mentioning that he betrayed the Pharaoh, or that the Pharaoh's ghost still lived on, bound to the Puzzle, in search for his memories and his name in order to save the world once again. He didn't have to know that much.

He looked gravely disappointed, though.

"Mazaki, what the hell are you babbling on about?" Kaiba was never the person to know, not to mention, show any tact, and has decided to speak just as Seto had opened his mouth to voice his own opinion, question, or both. Anzu, while used to Kaiba being rude and lacking in manners, wasn't exactly happy about his behavior in the moment. A wrong word could very well end their lives and she didn't need Kaiba showing blatant disrespect to the man standing before them, past self or not, it just wasn't very smart. So she turned and glared at her crush and involuntary companion on this unexpected journey back in time.

"Shut up, Kaiba. You obviously are not going to do us any good in this situation, so I suggest you leave the speaking to someone who is not socially challenged and manner-less to get us out of this mess. With that said, as of right now you have the right to stay quite and not interfere. You got that?"

The two look-alikes had similar expressions on their faces, though; Anzu was sure, for different reasons.

Seto was shocked and a bit amused by the show of his lighter skinned look-alike and the girl who seemed to have as much in her head as in her mouth and that was plenty. Rarely, or ever, had he seen a man put in his place by a woman like this, but the girl was different, that much was sure and only a truly stupid man would want to play authority to a mouth such as hers.

Kaiba, on the other hand, was not amused at all. Mazaki had a big trap, that he had known since meeting the over-bearing cheerleader for the first time, but he'd always been able to shut her up with a pretty much nasty remark. But now he wasn't so sure as if that would work in their current situation. Mazaki was not playing games or trying to agitate him, that much was clear, and the way she spoke to him said that if he dared to open his own big trap and say anything that she won't like, he be would be in for more then just a tongue-lashing. And even if Mazaki scared him as much as an ant might, he still wasn't ready to know for sure what would await him should he try to play the 'man', so to say, and come nasty to her. So he decided to be wise and hold his tongue. For once.

Anzu, meanwhile was listening to the High Priest as he offered some information to them. He, at the very least, seemed to believe them that they came from the future and for that she was thankful. She didn't want to imagine what would happen to them if he thought of them as potential enemies or whatnot.

"Either way we have to be cautious and you'll have to excuse those who will be skeptical and distrustful towards you. I believe you simply because I see no malice in your souls, but I advise you to let as few people know where you come from as you can. Our enemies are dangerous and malevolent, we can't know what they'll do next, we have to be ready for anything." Anzu nodded in understanding to the High Priest's warning and it was Kaiba's turn to wonder if he'd gone insane.

Why were they in the past? Why was Mazaki acting like she knew the guy that looked like him? And why the heck did he wish that Yuugi was there? Yes, he's definitely gone insane.

To Be Continued....

AN: Few! It has taken me almost a month to finish this chapter, I was sooo busy! I'm sorry for the late, very late update, but at least it's there. I've tried to stay in character, but if they seem OOC that's okay too, since it's an AU story and all.
Once again I'm sorry for the late update, be we've moved into another town, and moving with two infants is not a piece of cake, throw in a dog and you've gotten my life. We still haven't gotten an internet connection. Seems our house is not on the ideal spot and they have to do something, or put more cables in the walls for the receiving power to be strong enough. Right now I'm seriously thinking of blowing them off and simply buying one of those USB sticks that provide a connection, but those cost the double and are only half as fast as the internet provided by the same company as cable television.
So I'm using my neighbor's computer to post this, and if I don't reply to some of your questions, don't be mad, I've already explained my dilemma.
Either way, please do review and I'll work even harder to make the next chapter come out faster, promise!
Jas