Wings of Time

Uncovering the Fled

Ms. Ishtar's blue eyes contrasted brightly against her cinnamon Egyptian skin. They were staring at the panting group of teenagers, bemused.

"You're lucky I'm here," she said, "I don't live in the museum, you know. What is so urgent?"

"White slave," panted Tea, "I need you to tell Yugi all you know about the white slave of the pharaoh's."

The Egyptian woman did not appear pleased. "What has that to do with you?"

"We think she's here!" protested Yugi. "The white girl—she time traveled!"

She pursed her lips in annoyance. "I never knew you to be the kind to make such farfetched assumptions, Yugi. You don't even know what she looks like."

"But the pharaoh remembers her!" cried Joey.

Now they had her attention.

"He remembers her?" she blinked. "And he says this girl you've met is her?"

"More or less." said Yugi.

She considered this for a moment, arms folded. Then, she finally shook her head.

"That's very strange. Does the pharaoh remember anything else?"

"No, miss. Just her name and age a few random bits about her."

She asked a few more well placed question before sadly shaking her head.

"I always was confused about the mentioning of time rather than her name, but even if it is her returned back to her home, I don't see what good it can do you. It is probably best that you do not pursue her. After all," she gave Yugi a pitying look. "The pharaoh is dead."

"That's not the point!" he said, and with that he delved into explaining about Shadi strange (or at least stranger), behavior and how he claimed that Aleah was never meant to be. He talked about the shifting items phenomenon and how Shadi sait it to be the young woman's fault messing up their timeline. Ms. Ishtar listened attentively. She too shared that some lights in her studio had randomly switched into wax candles and back, and agreed it was all very strange.

When the three of them had given all that they knew concerning Aleah, excluding Tea who hardly knew anything about the situation, Ms. Ishtar still shook her head.

"There's not much I have to tell about this girl, or her place in all this. She was very mysterious. The pharaoh made sure to keep her out of any spotlight and in the end she just...vanished, just as mysteriously as she came. I thought of her more of a myth than any real person."

Yugi visibly wilted. She smiled at him, however, and brushed her fingers against a display case as a few last visitors walked by.

"Have you even thought to ask the millennium necklace I gave to you? It is what can answer your questions."

"That thing is so fickle. It's only worked, what, once now? Twice? I don't really even think of it as an asset anymore."

"And it will always be that way to you until you understand time properly and the way it flows."

To this, he perked up once more. Joey gave her an incredulous look.

"This sounds like it's border'n the edges of something philosophical." he twisted a finger in his ear. "Let me know when you two are done, I'm gonna go check out some things."

"Oh no, you don't!" And Tea grabbed onto his retreating collar. "We are going to learn all we can so we can help out Yugi in this, aren't we?"

"But I don't even know what for!" protested Joey, "So the girl doesn't belong here. Not nothing I should mess with."