AN: Quick head's up, some things may be confusing at first but they will be explained later in the chapter…mainly Harry's backstory and why he calls himself an Ishtar and his slightly different personality.

AN2: Like in my other GX story (A True Slifer Red) Duel Academy is like a college so those starting it are at least eighteen.

AN3: Another note for those who red A True Slifer Red is that I'm putting the Egypt Deck I mentioned in the last AN of that story as Harry's main deck in this one.

Death's Gravekeeper

Chapter 1

-Harry-

"Name?" a bored looking woman at the registration counter asked him as he stepped forward, duel box strapped to his hip and a duel disk on his arm.

"Hadrian Ishtar." He said confidently as the woman's head snapped up at his surname, a name that was famous among dueling circles due to his mother Ishizu and his uncles Marik and Odion. Like his Uncles he had the strange markings underneath his eyes that had become almost a symbol of the family status and he also had both his ears pierced but instead of a pair of Ankhs like his Uncle Odion or a pair of prisms like his Uncle Marik he had two golden Jackal heads. His hair was still as black as coal but his skin had tanned considerably to the point that he almost looked like an Egyptian Native and he had even emulated his uncle by using the same hairstyle that Marik used and wore a sleeveless black jacket that his Uncle had apparently worn during Duelist Kingdom. Underneath his jacket he wore a white t-shirt with the same symbol that was atop his mother's headdress decorating the center. The final part of his appearance were the Egyptian Hieroglyphs that were tattooed down his arms, reminiscent of his Uncle Odion's own face tattoo. All in all his appearance screamed his connection with his family and made him, dare he say it, decently intimidating.

"M-may I s-see some form of ID Mr. Ishtar?" the woman asked wide eyed as he nodded and pulled out his driver's license, his mother and godfather having pulled a few strings to get him dual citizenship in both Egypt and Japan.

"I-I'll have to go talk to Dr. Crowler to have your duel scheduled," the woman said before quickly rushing off as the other employees at the registrations desk sighed in exasperation.

"Sorry about her," the man who seemed to be in charge apologized with a small chuckle "she's rather new and I guess your name got her star struck. A quick question though, are you related to the Ishtar's from the Duelist Kingdom tournament? Ishizu, Marik, and Odion?".

"Ishizu is my mother while Marik and Odion are my uncles," he explained with a smile as he pulled a family photo out of his wallet "they taught me everything I know about life and about dueling.".

"I can see the resemblances," the other woman who remained at the desk said with a grin "you all seem really close.".

"We are," he said with an easy going grin as he leaned against the wall, having to wait to be let inside when the other women returned and actually gave him an entrance pass "you can probably tell that I've tried to emulate a bit of each of them in myself.".

"We can tell," the friendly man said with a grin "so tell me, what kind of deck do you run?".

"Where's the fun in just telling you?" he asked with a grin as the man shot him a smirk.

Before any of them could continue the first woman returned and looked at him nervously, "Dr. Crowler has demanded that you leave," she said with a wince "he says that the Ishtar family doesn't have any children as duelists of their caliber becoming parents would be public knowledge.".

"He will let me in or my family will sue the school for refusing to allow me to take the entrance tests due to one man's arrogance," he said with a scowl, his friendly air gone as his more warrior like state showed itself "the only person who would even have a small chance of being able to deny a student the right to take the tests would be Seto Kaiba or Chancellor Sheppard and even then they would need a very good reason.".

"I'll take you to him myself." The man he had been conversing with said with a scowl "It seems that Crowler is getting a little full of himself…again.". Nodding he followed the man inside as he was led over to a man in what was either the most flamboyantly eccentric outfit imaginable or the idiot was some sort of clown…he wasn't sure which to be honest. "Crowler!" the man said angrily as they approached "What the hell is wrong with you?! You know you don't have the authority to deny an applicant the right to take the exams.".

"He's lying about his identity," the cross dresser said with a dismissive wave "and I happen to be vice chancellor.".

"But you aren't the full Chancellor," he said with a scowl as he stepped forward "and that power only lies with him or Seto Kaiba. Added to that where's your proof that I'm 'lying' like you claim? I've given proof of my identity but all you've done is blow out hot air."

For the next several minutes he was forced to listen to the irritating man rant and scream about his 'prestige' and 'status' at the Academy before another Aide walked up. "Excuse me sir," the man said apologetically "it seems one last applicant has arrived to take the entrance Duel test.".

"We aren't doing any more tests." Crowler snarled, "And I happen to have earned a PHD in Dueling, my title is 'Doctor' thank you very much.".

"You still have to do my duel you pathetic excuse for a clown," he growled "and if you refuse I can and will sue the school.".

At the threat of being sued the apparent 'Doctor' Crowler paled, or as much as the man could pale with all the make up before he could almost see the little gears turning in the man's head. "Fine," Crowler said after a minute "since we're running low on time you will duel this new applicant. Whoever wins will be allowed into the academy.".

"Can he do that?" he asked the man who got him and got an irritated nod in response.

"Very well," he said with a nod "just tell me which duel arena I'm supposed to go to.".

"Four." Crowler said with a smirk as he spun around and walked towards the platforms as he saw the center duel arena, which was also the largest, and leapt over the railing, using the parkour lessons he got from his Uncle Marik to land safely and walk over to his starting point as everyone else in the stands grew silent, his 'entrance' drawing a good bit of attention.

"Will Jaden Yuki please report to Duel Arena Four." a voice called out over the PA a moment later "I repeat, Jaden Yuki to duel arena four.".

About five minutes later his opponent rose up from one of the floor elevators as he stopped idly shuffling his cards and put them in his duel disk, activating the auto shuffle, "So you're my proctor?" his opponent, Jaden, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," he said "I'm another applicant. The Vice Chancellor mistakenly believed that I was lying about my name and tried to deny me entry, he tried to do the same to you for being late as well. When it was pointed out that he didn't have that authority, and I threatened to sue the school, he relented and made it so that whoever wins our duel gets into the academy.".

"So all I have to do is beat you?" Jaden asked with a grin "Sweet!".

"I'd hold off on the celebration," he said with a gleam in his eye as he hoped for a good duel "you have no idea what you're up against.".

"Yea, yeah," Jaden said, shrugging off his words as the brunette activated his duel disk "let's just duel.".

"Fine," he said with a scowl "don't say I didn't warn you. I'll go first though.". As he spoke he drew his cards and looked down at his hand before letting out a mental smirk and groan. His first hand alone almost guaranteed his victory if his opponent's dueling skills equaled the fool's humility. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn." He said simply as he set his monster face down.

"That's it?" Jaden asked with a grin as his cocky opponent drew "I have this duel in the bag! I'll play Polymerization and use it to fuse the Elemental HEROs Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to summon the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!". At those words the shades of those two monsters appeared and jumped into the air where they merged into a creature that looked half demon and half angel. "Now Flame Wingman, attack that face down!". With a roar the 'HERO' attacked his monster as the face down card was flipped up to reveal a young looking boy with blue hair holding a stone tablet who screamed before shattering. "And thanks to the Flame Wingman's Super Power," Jaden said with a grin "you'll take damage equal to your monster's attack points!".

As the pyrotechnic beast launched a stream of fire at him he stared calmly at his opponent, not even reacting when his life points dropped to three thousand. "The card you just destroyed was my Gravekeeper's Nobleman," he said calmly "and whenever he is destroyed by battle by my opponent's attacking monster and sent to the Graveyard I can special summon any Gravekeeper's monster from my deck in face down defense position as long as it isn't another Nobleman.".

"Say what?!" Jaden asked in shock as he selected his monster and set it face down. "Fine," Jaden grumbled "I end my turn.".

"I thought you might," he said with a smirk as he drew once again "I'll start by flipping my face down face up! Now this monster, Gravekeeper's Guard, has a Flip effect which says that whenever he's flipped face up I can select one monster you control and return it to your hand so say goodbye to your wingman.".

"Uh oh." Jaden said wide eyed as the, admittedly powerful, monster was returned to Jaden's extra deck.

"And now I'll sacrifice my guard to summon one of the Most powerful card's in my deck and the most powerful Gravekeeper card in existence! I summon the Gravekeeper's Visionary!". As he spoke his field glowed golden and a massive stone throne rose up, mist rolling of its surface while upon it sat a being wearing purple Anubis like armor and holding a golden serpent cane.

"It only has two thousand attack points!" Jaden laughed "You claim that's your most powerful monster?".

"Check again," he said darkly as the duel spirits of his monsters roared out in outrage from the slight "I think you'll find his stats…improved.".

"What the?!" Jaden gaped as the duel Disk now showed that his monster had twenty four hundred attack points and there were two ethereal ghostly orbs floating around his monster "How'd you raise its stats?!".

"Visionary gains two hundred attack points for every Gravekeeper in the Graveyard," he said with a grin "with the number of Gravekeeper monsters in my deck I can raise his attack points up to seven thousand through that method alone.".

A mass of whispers met his statement as everyone gaped at the thought of a monster that powerful. "Hey wait!" Jaden exclaimed, the brunette checking the stat readings on the duel disks "That's an eight star monster! You only sacrificed one card!".

"He has a second ability which allows him to be summoned by sacrificing only one Gravekeeper," he said with a grin "but for now I think you should be more worried about his attack points and what they're about to do to your life points! Visionary, attack!". With a battle cry his mighty ally rose up from the throne it sat upon and pointed the staff at Jaden, releasing two purple blasts of magic from the staff's 'eyes' as Jaden's life points dropped down to Sixteen hundred. "Your move." He said calmly as he smirked, hoping that his opponent would allow him to activate Visionary's third effect.

"Don't mind if I do!" Jaden panted before laughing happily "And I drew just the card I needed to change things around and put me back in the lead! I play the Polymerization I just drew to fuse the Elemental HEROs Sparkman and Clayman in my hand to summon Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!". With a roar the titanic beast of thunder appeared on the field, its attack points equal to Visionary's, "And that's not all," Jaden said eagerly "like Flame Wingman, my Thunder Giant has a Super Power! When I special summon him I can select one monster you control whose original attack points are lower than his own and destroy it!".

At those words the warrior of thunder roared as tendrils of lightning shot from its fingertips at his Visionary as he grinned widely "And I activate his third ability!" he called out as Jaden seemed to stumble while standing still.

"How many damn abilities does this thing have?!" Jaden ranted as he laughed.

"Just the three," he said with a grin "but that's more than enough as his third ability states that if he were to be destroyed I can discard one Gravekeeper from my hand to stop his destruction and keep him on the field.".

"But that would just make him stronger!" Jaden gaped as he discarded his Gravekeeper's cannonholder and a third little floating orb appeared.

"I know," he said widely "do you end?".

"Yes." Jaden gulped and he could see the nervousness in his opponent's eyes.

Nodding he drew and grinned, "It looks like this duel is done Jaden, I'll start my turn by playing double summon so I get two normal summons this turn! Now I'll summon out my Gravekeeper's Heretic!" as he spoke an albino warriors with a staff and a ragged robe appeared, "But he won't be staying here for long as I sacrifice him to summon the very first card I ever received! I summon the End of Anubis!". As he slammed his card onto the duel disk a massive purple jackal like monster appeared with a roar, nodding in respect with Visionary who nodded back and gained a fourth floating spirit orb. "Now, Visionary, destroy the Thunder Giant!".

"No!" Jaden yelled out as Visionary blasted apart the giant armor covered Hero with beams of purple magic from the serpent like staff while Anubis chuckled darkly.

"And Anubis," he called out "attack him directly to end this duel!". With a roar Anubis charged forward and slashed at Jaden, lowering his opponent's life points to Zero as the holograms faded, his two beasts lingering a moment longer and roaring in joy at their victory while the four spirit orbs turned into translucent versions of his fallen Gravekeeper's as they celebrated as well.

"How could I lose?" he heard Jaden mumble to himself as he sighed and walked over.

"It was because you got too cocky," he said as he helped his opponent up "you thought you had the match won instantly and, as such, didn't take any precautions. You clearly trust your cards and that's good, from what I can tell you follow your heart and your gut in a duel as well and that's good too, but you have to use your head as well! Think, strategize, use your heart and head together to make yourself a stronger duelist and maybe you'll be let in next year.".

"Thanks." Jaden said softly, the brunette clearly contemplating his words "But one question though, you said that 'The End of Anubis' was your first card but where did you get a card that powerful, or your 'Gravekeeper's'? I've never even heard of them.".

"Well the Gravekeeper's were a gift from my godfather," he explained "but Anubis was a gift from a rather interesting man named Shadi.". As he spoke he never realized the effects that saying that one name would have while he simply said goodbye to Jaden and walked over to the other applicants who were cheering his victory as he thought back to his past with his family.

He hadn't been born an Ishtar, much to his sorrow, much like his Uncle Odion but he was treated as if Ishizu had given birth to him herself ever since she found him as a baby. He had grown up learning his academics and manners from his mother, his Uncle Marik had taught him how to relax and have fun as well as other things such as mechanics and driving, while his Uncle Odion had taught him the path of the warrior so he could protect himself and others he cared for. When he turned sixteen he had begun to have strange dreams that had seemed so realistic until he realized that they weren't just dreams but actual memories from, what he assumed, were a past life when he learned a bit of world history in his 'dreams' that he later learned was completely true. The final memory was of dying when the government he had saved from a psychotic nut job named Voldemort had sent him through the 'veil' as a means of execution.

Once through the veil he had met a being that called itself Death who agreed to let him live his life in a new universe if he gave the being the Deathly Hallows so that no other could become the 'Master of Death'. He had agreed but altered the deal so that he could keep his father's cloak but have it just be a regular invisibility cloak that simply wouldn't wear out or be destroyed which Death had agreed to. By going through he had his memories sealed away until he was older and they began to resurface as well as his age reduced to that of a baby and even his magic was gone, replaced with powerful Shadow Powers. As he reabsorbed his memories from his old life he had become slightly more sarcastic but his newer personality won out as that was the one that he had lived with for the past sixteen years before getting his new memories.

He had explained it all to his mother, uncles, and godfather and they had been extremely supportive of him as well as understanding of what he said. They're reasoning was that if a five thousand year old Pharaoh can be locked in a necklace and share a body with a high school midget than anything was possible. "That was an impressive duel." a new voice spoke up in a familiar British Accent as he turned to see another of the applicants staring at him with intrigue while Jaden moved to reassure a little blue haired guy standing behind the Brit that seemed depressed.

"Thanks," he said with a grin as he shook the guy's hand "I put a lot of pride in my deck.".

"I can tell," the Brit said with a smile "but I was wondering who your godfather was to get such rare cards as your 'Gravekeeper's'. Like Jaden I've never heard of them. I'm Bastion Misawa by the way.".

"Hadrian Ishtar," he said with as Bastian, Jaden, and the little guy with blue hair gaped at him when they heard his name "and as for my godfather…well…you've heard of Maximillian Pegasus right?".

AN: Just a few quick notes. I'm going to put up a list of Harry's complete deck next Chapter. Also, I haven't decided on who's going to be Harry's closest friend in this series but I was thinking of having it be Hassleberry introduced a year early who will take the place of Syrus like Harry does Jaden. I also haven't decided on a pairing yet so if you have a girl you want to put with Harry, or an OC in mind, put it in the Review. Also, pics of how I'm picturing Harry (or close to it) as well as Ishizu's main clothes which has the symbol on Harry's shirt can be found on my profile for those interested.