Crystal: First and foremost I would like to thank Princess of Thieves for helping me get out of my slump. It was mostly her ideas that got this chapter rolling.

Kris: Yes, thanks for helping my aibou. She had really been struggling on how to make this chapter work.

Crystal: Now, on with Secrets Within the Past. Oh yeah It's also a bit shorter than usual because there really was no good place to stop other than where I did.

"Blah" speaking

Blah thoughts

))Blah(( yami to hikari

)Blah( hikari to yami

Blah Ancient Egyptian

Chapter Seventeen: Truths and Lies

Shaking her head groggily, Crystal peered abut the darkened room, trying to figure out where she was. Her head ached for some reason, which made it hard for her to concentrate on what had happened before she fell asleep. Noa had spoken to her in a corridor from her dreams and visions of Sanura's death, and then he vanished. Crystal had cried herself to sleep after Noa had left, but she remembered being in the hallway, not in a bed. She had no idea where she was, or how she even came to be there for that matter; what was going on?

"So, you are awake." A cold male voice said, causing Crystal's eyes to go wide.

"Noa." Crystal said with a slight growl, "Where am I? Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Because you need protection." Noa replied, "The Big 5 have already tried my patience with their rule breaking when it came to Yugi's friend Jonouchi Katsuya."

"Seto would be able to protect me." Crystal snorted, glaring at the aqua-haired young man, "He cares about me as much as he cares for Mokuba."

"Really?" Noa asked, "Then why did he not protect you from my holographic Tyrannosaurus?"

"It wasn't real." Crystal protested, "Like you said it was a hologram."

"He would have at least told Mokuba not to be afraid." Noa stated firmly, "He didn't even give you that much support."

"Stop talking about ani-san like that!" Crystal shouted, jumping down from the bed, "He would never let anyone hurt me."

"From what I've seen, he's been trying to keep you out of his way." Noa said, ignoring the younger girl's shout, "He wouldn't let you participate in his tournament, even though he knew that you could beat him."

"He wanted to protect me from a madman that was after one of his cards." Crystal protested, "If I had stayed home, that man wouldn't have found me."

"And what would have happened if he had captured you at home?" Noa asked, "Would your Dear Brother have traded that card for your life?"

"Yes." Crystal answered without hesitation.

"You feel that so strongly. Perhaps you should see something that I found while searching the surveillance tapes on your little blimp." Noa said, snapping his fingers.

An image appeared on the wall, one of Mokuba and Seto poring over information on the three God Cards. Seto was talking about how the three cards were the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters and that once he had them, he would finally be able to defeat Yugi. Mokuba agreed that they were strong cards, but asked if it was worth all the risks that they were taking. Ryou and the strange Egyptian that was pretending to be Malik were both unconscious and the real Malik was stalking Crystal. Seto was silent for a deep moment, looking at the computer screen and then back to Mokuba with a slight smirk.

"Malik's concentration is split." Seto replied, "Crystal's presence makes him act rashly out of emotion. I don't have to worry about that problem when I'm dueling."

"What do you mean, ani-san?" Mokuba asked in confusion, "How can you not worry about Crystal's safety?"

"Why should I?" Seto asked, "She has Mutou and his friends to worry about her. Now, go to sleep, Mokuba."

The image faded away and Noa was pleased to hear the sniffing that came from Crystal's direction. The brunette had tears streaming down from her sapphire eyes, as hurt and disbelief shone brightly. Putting on a sympathetic face Noa turned to face the younger girl, only to have her back away from him, withdrawing into her sadness. Then she bolted, from the room and found herself in a hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. Not caring or even thinking, Crystal started running down the hallway, unable to believe what Noa had shown her.

"It's not true." She chanted as she ran, "It can't be. It just can't be."

Not paying attention to anything around her, Crystal continued to sprint down the hallway, her Locket and Ryou's Ring jingling about her neck. The scene replayed from the surveillance video, Seto saying that she was not worth worrying over in a duel. To make matters worse Crystal realized with a start that Seto hadn't even cared if he was breaking her down emotionally. He didn't even consider stopping the blimp so that Ryou could receive medical help, and now Ryou was trapped in the Shadow Realm, as the others had called it. Then when Marik tried to take her, the only thing that stopped him was the duel he had against Mai. Seto had only changed the password to Ryou's suite and put a guard at her door, and only came when the others were with her.

"I'm sorry, Hikari-san." Noa's voice said after she stopped, practically collapsing on the floor in tears.

"He wouldn't even stop so that Ryou could go to the hospital." Crystal sobbed, clutching the Millennium Ring, "Now, Ryou and Bakura-san are gone."

"Ryou and Bakura?" Noa asked, intrigued, "I thought that white-haired boy's name was Bakura Ryou."

"You wouldn't understand." Crystal whimpered, curling away from Noa's voice, "Seto never took anything like this seriously."

"Please, tell me." Noa offered, kneeling down to her level and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Keep in mind, I've lived here for the past six years of my life. I don't think anything would be too surprising for me."

"Do you believe in magic?" Crystal asked softly.

"I believe there are things in life that we cannot explain." Noa replied in a comforting tone, "What does magic have to do with this?"

Looking up at the older boy with teary eyes, Crystal replied, "Everything."

"Tell me your story." Noa prompted, "As much as you can."

Crystal nodded and began her tale of the strange things that had happened since her first day of school at Domino High. Noa listened to the smaller girl with genuine interest, trying to piece together the puzzle that was forming before him. Crystal continued her explanation as far as she could, her voice breaking when she reached the finally seconds of Ryou and Bakura's joint life. Her story of how the boy protected her made it understandable as to why she gripped the large golden Ring that hung about her neck. The boy Ryou and his alter-ego Bakura both cared deeply for her, both in the past and once again in the present.

They stood by her side, even when all others had shied away from her after finding where she lived. Bakura had at first instilled fear in the girl, but as time continued a mutual respect formed. Then Bakura eventually grew to care for Crystal as he apparently cared for his past lover, Sanura. Crystal's tale of magic and reincarnation seemed to come out of a magical girl series, but seemed incredibly true from the way she told it. The sixteen-year-old girl was capturing Noa's interest, making him want to turn her to him more than ever. His agreement to listen to her story, rather than ignore it seemed to have won her over far easier than he would have thought.

"Will I ever see them again?" Crystal asked softly, her exhaustion starting to catch up to her again.

"I cannot say, Crystal-chan." Noa replied, "May I call you that?"

"If you want to…" Crystal replied wearily, "Noa-san."

"Call me oni-san." Noa offered, "Could you do that? I don't want to take Seto's place but I do want to be a brother to you."

"Okay, oni-san." Crystal murmured, before adding, "I'm sleepy."

"Rest would be a perfect idea." Noa replied, scooping up Crystal and taking her back to the bedroom, "Sleep well, Crystal-chan."

Watching over the sleeping girl, Noa smirked in satisfaction, knowing that she was already becoming attached to him. Maybe his father would change his mind about completely breaking the girl now that she had become attached to him. Now that he had actually met the girl, Noa realized why her presence made Seto so rebellious. She was truly a sister to them, whether or not she was related by blood, and that was proven by her constant efforts to remain in contact with the two brothers. However, now her emotions were stretched to the limits according to the story she had told him, mainly because of an Egyptian young man by the name of Marik.

"I wonder what life would have been like had I not died so close to the adoption's finalization." Noa mused, looking down at Crystal's sleeping form, "I wonder if I still would have met you."

"This Marik would be the perfect way to win her over." Gozaburo's voice snickered, "It seems that not even Seto could protect her from him."

"I know." Noa replied, with a nod, "If you want to play more mind games with her in her sleep be my guest."

"Just be ready to come when she calls for help." Gozaburo replied, "If we are to bring down the brothers we need her to completely trust you."

Dream: Crystal's PoV

"Crystal, get out of the way." Ryou's voice called, as someone shoved me.

As I fell out of the way, I saw a stream of golden fire strike Ryou's body while he collapsed to the ground. A strangled cry escaped my lips at the sight, Ryou's body fading away amidst the raging fire. Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm and started to pull sharply, making me look up and see Bakura. He growled at me to get moving or else, before starting to run as fast as he could while dragging me behind him. I scrambled to my feet and followed as Bakura raced through the darkness, his hand firmly grasped around my wrist. I was about to ask what was going on, but then I heard Marik's familiar insane chuckle all around us.

"You can't protect her forever, Tomb Raider." Marik's voice laughed, "She will be mine eventually."

"I won't lose you again, not to him." Bakura promised as we continued to run, "Nura, I will protect you with my life."

"Your life you say?" Marik chuckled, suddenly before us, "How fitting. I was going to kill you. You are quite the pest, Bakura."

"Stay behind me." Bakura hissed to me, keeping his eyes on Marik.

"Time to die, Tomb Raider." Marik smirked, charging Bakura with the dagger from the Millennium Rod.

Bakura fell and started to fade away leaving me alone with Marik, who smirked broadly at the sight of my trembling form. Then I saw Yami and Seto appeared behind Marik, both of them having determined expressions on their faces. Hope filled my eyes at the sight of the two of them, but then it fell when Seto refused to look at me, his gaze focusing on Marik. Marik grabbed me by the arm and yanked me to my feet, holding the now bloody dagger at my throat. He told Seto and Yami that if they did not relinquish their God Cards, he would slit my throat.

"You're bluffing." Seto said calmly, still glaring at Marik, "Besides, I came for your card, not her."

"Pharaoh, do you think I'm bluffing?" Marik asked, turning his wicked violet-lavender eyes on Yami, "You had better hand over your card."

"He lost it to me." Seto declared, holding out the two cards, "Now, duel me, winner takes all."

"Ani-san…" I whimpered, feeling the knife's blade start to pierce my skin, "Please, Seto-kun."

"Winner takes all?" Marik smirked wider, "Including the girl?"

"If it makes you happy." Seto growled, "Now duel me."

"As you wish, foolish boy." Marik snickered, releasing me and trapping against the same stone that Mai and Sanura had been on before, "The duel starts now."

"No!" I cried out struggling against my bonds, "No, this can't be happening!"

"Crystal-chan…" A voice called from far off, "Wake up, Crystal-chan…"

End Dream and Crystal's PoV

Crystal bolted straight up in the bed she had been lying in her eyes wide with fear and her entire body covered with a cold sweat as she trembled. Noa was sitting on the bed, a worried expression firmly planted on his face, which caused Crystal lunge for his waist. She started to cry fresh tears into Noa's white shirt, while the older boy held her and murmured comforting words. Crystal's grip loosened slightly as her tears faded, and she looked up at the aqua-haired young man. A mixture of fear and gratitude was shining brightly in her eyes as she continued to cling to Noa, pleading that he not leave her alone.

"I promise not to leave you, Crystal-chan." Noa murmured, "However that means you will have to come with me when I duel Seto."

"Okay." Crystal nodded, "Just don't leave me."

"I won't." Noa replied, "Come on. It's time."

Crystal: Yeah kinda short, but hey I updated. Anyway sorry again for the long wait Writer's Block is no fun.

Kris: Also aibou's busy with school now so be patient with her.

Crystal: And as always read and review.