Chapter 19: - Setting Sun
They were two days away from the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament and the Finals of the Interschool Wizard Duel Monsters Tournament and Kari had slipped into the Monster's Wing to check the papers that should, in theory, be done with the processing of the bonds.
If she and Robyn, who would be here in a few minutes, could confirm that the papers were done, the others were going to join her, and they would work out what was to be done about those who were Clan Members that were on the list and weren't supposed to be.
She ignored the founder's list, since she knew who was on that one and browsed down the member list, pleasantly surprised to find the birth years of the members printed alongside their names.
There were a few unexpected names, Isuzu, Odeon, Marik, Draco and his Mother… and how they got on the list was beyond her, it had to be because Bakura was on the list, dependants maybe… Yami was not going to be pleased that Pegasus was on the list, but then they had kind of thought that he would be, since he'd saved Ombre and Mokuba during that Anubis thing…
Rai… was on the list, but he had a deceased date too, while Bakura had two birth dates, one from his first life and… if she was calculating properly, then he had a second birth year at the time they had gotten their own bodies.
She scanned the founder's list, pleased to find that this suspicion was borne out when Yami and Ombre had the same, but… "Gods of Egypt…" She hissed.
She checked another sheet, there had to be a problem… because the dates on her name were wrong. She shouldn't have a death date yet…
She checked the other eight sheets, her frown increasing as she noted that all of them had her year of death at two years ago, 1993.
That wasn't right, she hadn't died two years ago… she thought back to the Summer of that year… no, she hadn't died during the battle with Anubis, Yugi and Yami had come pretty damn close, but she hadn't died…
She'd been petrified during the second school year, but again, she hadn't been killed…
That only left the Autumn term of… no… oh no… No! It was still wrong, she wasn't dead, she hadn't died during her fight against Bakura, she hadn't! If she had done, she would have never left the Shadow Realm, Ombre wouldn't have been able to save her…
But it was the only thing she could think of that fit… collapsing in the Shadow Realm… her soul should have been shredded, lost to the Shadow Realm for all eternity… but Ombre had saved her… how?
Kari stared at the papers.
She was alive… she breathed, she could use magic, she still acted like a living human female… she needed Robyn to tell her if it was possible for the paper to have gotten this wrong… it was just paper and potions after all, it was possible there was a mistake… right?
Right?
"Kari?" The young woman didn't turn around to face the door, where Robyn had just entered from, not really hearing the question. "It should be complete by now."
Kari sat down and waved the papers at Robyn, who frowned and took them.
"Morgana!" Robyn exclaimed.
"I'm… Am I…" Kari stared at the floor, trying to work out something, anything, that could make sense, "I don't know how I can be dead, I mean I know how it might have happened… but I'm still breathing… so it has to be wrong, doesn't it?" Kari asked.
Robyn shook her head lightly. "It is possible to die, then come back. Muggles do it with their machines, magic can do it, you have no second birth date. It is possible you only died for a moment."
"What if I died in the Shadow Realm?"
"I know little of the shadows. I have told you this before."
"When I collapsed in my game against Bakura last school year, my soul should have been shredded and lost to the Shadow Realm for the rest of eternity. Somehow Ombre pulled me back, but no one knows how she did it. As far as I can work out, that's the only time that year that I could possibly have died." Kari looked at her friend, "I don't understand it myself, but..." Kari shook her head and looked away again, not really wanting to ask Ombre for fear that she'd get an answer she didn't want.
"Maybe they accepted a bargain. It is said the old gods liked bargains. Maybe you did die. But there are many stories of brave souls who retrieved their loved ones from the jaws of death."
"So… I died… but Ombre managed to reason with the Shadows to let her have me back?" Kari asked, "The Shadows do like to bargain…" She shuddered, remembering the deal Yugi had had to agree to, to make them let Yami go, "And it makes more sense then the thought that maybe my soul didn't shred, because if that had been the case, then Yugi would have a death date too, because he should have died against Pegasus, but didn't…"
"You are here. You breathe. You feel. You live. Does anything else matter? Is Ombre any less alive?"
"No… I suppose not… but…" Kari blinked and properly looked at her best friend, "Ombre is alive, she has a birth date…two in fact."
"If the memory lives, then so do you."
Kari thought about it, and accepted it, sighing, "I don't know whether I should show this to the others now though, Yami might go and kill Bakura and Ombre might help…"
"In a few days it might not matter."
Kari frowned and looked at Robyn, "Someone's going to kill Bakura?"
Robyn glared the glare of the absolutely furious. "Have you not been listening all this time!" Before half storming out the room, only hesitating to pick up the various sheets. "Now it's out of your hands." Robyn hissed.
"Robyn!" Kari called, chasing her, Robyn was gone already. "What did I do?" Kari shook her head, still trying to chase the last remnants of fear and confusion from her mind and finding that they were being replaced by tears. She'd done it again… she was good at pushing people away… she had been doing nothing but that since the Shadow Game… except with Seto… Seto knew the signs… knew how to handle her at her worst… "I'm sorry."
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"So Golden took the sheets?" Yami asked as they sat in the Monster's Wing.
"Uh huh." Kari was sat on the window ledge, looking out at the sunset, "I dunno if she'll hand them back, but we have to worry about other things. We have a few unexpected Clan Members. Pegasus, Marik, Isuzu, Odeon, Bakura, Draco, Draco's Mother…" Kari paused to try to remember, holding up her hand as the others started talking, "Duke, Tea, Tristan, Serenity, Mai, oh, here's one you're just going to love Yami, Shadi is a Clan Member."
"Shadi?"
"Shadi." Kari said firmly, "Some of the Duel Monsters too."
"Why Shadi?"
"Anyone who has protected the Clan in the past and would do so again." Kari shrugged.
"Anyone else?" Yugi asked quietly, his voice only just heard in the noise the others were making.
"Not that I can think of right now." Kari shook her head, "It's not too bad, it's only really Bakura and Draco who cause trouble now."
"I wanted to invite Serenity myself." Joey hissed, leaning back and thinking, "And Mai, if we see her again." He sighed, "They're going to be pretty pissed that they've become family without being asked."
"I'm sure we will see Mai. We're going to be competing more often after all." Yami attempted to reassure Joey.
"So what do we do?" Harry asked.
"Nothing we can do." Hermione shrugged, "We'll just have to focus on the task and hope that it doesn't come up."
Silence fell and Kari sighed heavily. She wanted to be alone. To think without interruption. She didn't want to be surrounded by people… She'd worked out what Robyn had meant earlier.
She needed to speak to Ombre.
The sun set behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest and Kari turned to look at the others, who were all thinking… or at least some of them were, she glanced at Yugi, Yami and Harry, who as far as she could tell, were all conversing over the mind link.
"I think that we should go to bed, give training a rest tomorrow and face the task fresh and ready to go." She said finally, "What do you think?"
Yami nodded his agreement. "It's a good idea. Shall we?" He asked, looking around. The others all stood up.
"Ombre, can I speak to you?" Kari asked, as the Princess headed out of the door. "Privately?" Ombre hung back as the others gave them interested looked as they left, the door swinging shut behind Ron.
"What's wrong?"
"What did you have to offer, to save me?" Kari asked.
"Kari?" Ombre had a horrible feeling that somehow Kari knew… but she couldn't know…could she?
"I know I died Ombre. What did you give up to save me?"
"I'd give up anything, you know that."
"That's not an answer, what did the Shadows force you to give up in order to have me back?"
"Kari…I…" Ombre hesitated, unwilling to tell her the truth.
"Forget it." Kari sighed, leaning back on the window sill. "In the end, it wasn't worth it."
"Kari?"
"What will you do, after the last task?"
"Finish the school year and go home with you, of course."
"And what if you can't?"
"Kari?"
"What if you can't come home with me?"
"What has that friend of yours been saying?"
"The same thing she's been saying all year." Kari shrugged, "I need you to promise me something."
"What?"
"If something happens to me, look after Hermione, please."
"Hermione's…"
"Not just Hermione, look after the others as well… but Hermione's like my little sister, if something happens to me, make sure she's alright, please."
"Kari, where did this come from?"
"Shut your eyes and dream your life away. I can not do more then I have done." Kari quoted, shaking her head. Silence fell.
"You're going to come back from the task." Ombre said with a lot more confidence then she felt, and she knew Kari could sense it.
"Am I?" Kari asked, looking at Ombre. "We don't know that."
"The future can be changed."
"I think… it's too late."
"Kari…"
"Just leave, please. I want to be alone."
"No."
"Go."
"I won't."
Kari left, needing to find solitude and knowing that she wouldn't find any here.
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Letters.
Simple but effective in saying everything that needed to be said.
To one friend, an apology for being stupid.
To another, a request for protection for her friends.
Another, 'don't blame yourself'.
Others were goodbyes, a 'see you later', or a 'Sorry I couldn't stick around'.
The simplest, 'Thank you for everything'.
All of them, bar the one letter that she'd slipped under the door of Miss Golden's office, left with her Head of House, she headed downstairs, touching the empty House Point hourglasses as she passed them, remembering with a small, sad smile, the crazy that had caused the House Cup to be suspended for this year… that had been Joey and Seto's fault…
Pausing just before she passed the doors into the grounds, for what would probably be the last time, she turned to look at the school.
Sure it hadn't been perfect… but for a while, it had been home.
She left.
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Down in the main arena, Joey and Astraea were just setting up for the finals of their Tournament.
The third task would start just after their duel finished, so the stands were packed. It was the biggest crowd Joey had had for a long time, and he was surprised to see that Kari had yet to join the Champions who were waiting patiently to one side.
Harry gave him a thumbs up, though Joey could see how nervous he was, just like the rest of the Clan, who were all worried and waiting. There was nothing they could do now, what would happen, would happen. All they could do was pray to the Gods that they had done enough.
"Ready?" Astraea asked.
Joey watched Kari join the other champions, smiling, though he could see it was forced and that she'd been crying and sighed, "Astraea, can I have a moment please?"
Astraea looked at Dumbledore, who nodded, "Two minutes."
Joey rushed over to the bench, where the Champions were sat. "Kari, you ok?"
"No." Kari laughed. Joey worried at the hint of hysteria in her tone.
"Do you need me to do anything?"
"Kick her butt." Kari smiled slightly.
"Easy as one two three." Joey nodded.
"Good." Kari pushed him towards his match.
Joey shook his head, wondering exactly what had happened, but knowing that Ombre wasn't talking and Kari had been avoiding everyone for the last couple of days, and turning to face Astraea. "Now I'm ready."
"Students of Hogwarts, Beuxbatons and Durmstrang, Teachers, Head Teachers, and Judges, welcome to the final task of the Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore said, using a charm that increased the volume of his voice.
Joey scanned the crowd for the group… there, the Clan, together. Grandpa, Sirius and Dudley were sat with the group, Yugi and Ombre looked worried, Yami didn't do the looking worried thing, but he had that air to him that Joey recognised as Yami being worried… just as they all were…
"Before the final task begins, we have one more pleasant duty to fulfil. The interschool Duel Monsters Tournament has reached its final stage and I am pleased to announce that it is a all Hogwarts final… to my right, is Miss Astraea Torrent, of Slytherin House, and to my left is Mr Joseph Wheeler, of Gryffindor House."
There were cheers from the surrounding crowd.
"Let the match begin."
"May I?"
"Ladies first."
"In that case," Astraea drew, "I set a card in defence mode and play one card face down. Your move White Knight."
Joey drew, "What is it with you Slytherins and the White Knight thing?" He asked, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode and play two cards face down. Gearfried, attack her face down card!"
The card exploded and took 1000 of Joey's life points with it.
"Well we could call you Red Knight, but you don't really fit the image of the Black Knight. Oh by the way, you can blame Kari for that loss of life points, I traded with her for one of her Princess of Tsurugi."
"I end my turn. Do the others have nicknames within your house?" Joey asked, curious as Astraea drew.
"Another card in face down defence mode." Astraea called, "And I end my turn." She grinned at him, "Why do you want to know?"
"Just interested." Joey drew, "Well, that and I wondered if we were all chess pieces…" He considered the field. He didn't want to attack that face down card, since he had no idea how many of her Princess of Tsurugi Kari had traded away, "I sacrifice Gearfried for Jinzo!" The creepy machine monster appeared on the field. "Do your thing Jinzo."
The humanoid mech blasted away both of Astraea's face down cards, making her scowl since one of them had been her Crush Card Virus.
"Jinzo destroys all traps on the field." Joey grinned, "So you can't get me with that Crush Card of yours. I end my turn, by the way."
Astraea drew, reformulating a strategy on the fly in her head, playing Magical Mallet, returning her entire hand to the deck in order to draw the same amount of cards, before smirking, "You don't want to know."
Joey, who was always wary when his opponent smirked, was unsure if she was smirking about the nicknames or the duel, "Why?"
"I set another card in defence mode." Astraea sounded a little too amused for Joey's liking, "Your move."
Joey considered the field as he drew his Red Eyes Black Dragon, "I summon Sasuke Samurai in attack mode. He can destroy your face down defence cards without activating their special abilities. Samurai, attack!"
Astraea's Mask of Darkness exploded.
"I end my turn."
"Well," Astraea continued to smirk as she drew, "You and Harry are the knights, Hermione and Kari are the bishops and Ron and Ombre are the Rooks."
"Do I want to know which way around Yugi and Yami are?" Joey asked, as Astraea summoned her Plague Wolf.
"Which is the most important piece, in a chess game?" Astraea grinned, "I use my Plague Wolf's effect this turn, doubling its attack, but it's destroyed at the end of the turn. This means that my Plague Wolf has an attack of 2000, while your Samurai has an attack of 500…"
Joey winced as his samurai was eaten, and his points dropped to 1500. "The king, obviously."
"And who is the more important out of Yugi and Yami?" Astraea asked, "I end my turn." Her wolf exploded, sent to the graveyard.
Joey drew and thought about his answer, it was Yugi obviously. It was Yugi who had completed the Puzzle, Yugi that was the glue that bound the group together… "Does that mean you're dating a queen?" Joey asked slyly, trying not to laugh.
Astraea just shrugged.
"So are there Slytherins who are chess pieces too?" Joey asked as he summoned his Blue Flame Swordsman and considered the field… "I activate Salamandra, equipping it to the Swordsman." The Blue Flame Swordsman grew to 2500, and the fiery creature that surrounded his sword turned into a bluey white creature, instead of a redish yellow… "Now, Swordsman, attack her face down card."
It was Astraea's Spirit Reaper, which sat there and pulled silly faces at Joey's irritated Swordsman, since it couldn't be destroyed by battle.
"I guess I have to end my turn then, since I can't get past that thing at the moment."
"For that, you'll need your trap cards, which means that you'll have to get rid of your Jinzo." Astraea grinned, "I play a card in defence mode and end my turn."
Joey was aware of that little fact, "I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode and…" He paused to consider… "I attack your face down card with my Swordsman!"
Astraea's Mystic Tomato exploded as it burned to a crisp…
"Lovely." Joey groaned… "What are you doing?"
"I can summon a dark creature from my deck with 1500 attack or less, due to my splattered tomato's effect, and I pick this one, my Dark Effigy." The floating set of cubes appeared on the field. "It's got exactly the same attack points as your Rocket Warrior."
"True, but my Rocket Warrior has a special ability, I activate invincible mode, which blows away half of Dark Effigy's attack points!" Joey crowed as Rocket Warrior turned into his rocket mode and blasted away 750 attack points, "Allowing my Jinzo to do more damage to your life points!"
Jinzo blasted Dar Effigy, causing it to self destruct and costing Astraea 1650 life points. "Your move Astraea and you didn't answer my question."
"We Slytherins don't rank each other like that, only on how powerful we are, or how much influence we have. I play Monster Reborn, recovering my Mystic Tomato in order to sacrifice it and my Spirit Reaper for this, Diabolos, King of the Abyss!"
It was huge, a large grey dragon, with red and grey wings and glowing red eyes.
"And I think that I'll have him destroy your Rocket Warrior. It won't quite end the game, but it'll bring me close to victory."
Diabolos blasted Rocket Warrior, who exploded in the heat, and Joey hissed as his Duel Disk bleeped as it counted down.
"Just 200 points left, Knight, then it's all over."
"Two hundred points is more then enough to make a comeback." Joey drew.
"You have to show me that card and put it on the bottom of your deck, thanks to Diabolos."
"Damn." Joey showed her Roulette Spider and put it at the bottom of his deck; drawing a new card and playing it face down. "I activate Blue Flame Swordsman's effect, making him give up all bar one hundred of his attack points, to boost Jinzo's by 2400 and switch my swordsman into defence mode."
The Blue Flame Swordsman lowered his sword as he switched and Jinzo's attack rose from 2400 to 4800.
"That gives Jinzo more then enough points to wipe out your Diabolos and almost win the game for me." Joey grinned, "Jinzo, attack Diabolos!"
The dragon roared as Jinzo's attack hit, a final effort to stay on the field before it and 2000 of Astraea's life points vanished.
"Your move."
Astraea was in trouble and she knew it, Jinzo had pretty much shut down her deck, since she relied on the trap cards in it to force the opponent to damage his own life points… she drew, "I activate Nightmare's Steelcage!" She called. The spiky cage closed in around Joey, who looked quickly behind him, half expecting Lava Golem to be there… he hadn't forgotten his last experience inside one of these. "But that's all I can do."
"I set a card in defence mode and end my turn."
"I also set a card in defence mode and end my turn."
"I tribute my face down card and my swordsman, for Red Eyes Black Dragon."
Red Eyes roared, and though he was smaller, he somehow, even imprisoned in the cage, which was looking rather full now, managed to look more imposing the Diabolos had. "And that ends my second turn."
The cage faded away.
Jinzo smirked, something that looked incredibly wrong, considering it's face, and Red Eyes flapped his wings, taking off and hovering a few feet above the ground. He hated to be caged… "What're you going to do now?" Joey asked.
Astraea didn't know, if she was honest, there wasn't much she could do about a 4800 attack point monster that could cripple her trap cards and a huge 2400 dragon, without the aforementioned trap cards. But she couldn't give up, it wasn't in her vocabulary and it certainly wasn't something she could easily live down…
"I sacrifice my face down card for my Lich Lord!" It appeared on the field and smirked at Joey.
"If I'm going down, I'm taking your Dragon with me. Lich Lord, attack his Red Eyes Black Dragon!"
"No!" Joey yelped. He hated it when his Red Eyes went to the graveyard… but it exploded, as did the Lich, as both of them had 2400 attack points.
"And on that note, I end my turn."
Joey sighed as he drew, placing one card face down, "You're wide open, you know that right?"
"You shut down my deck with that Jinzo card." Astraea glared at him.
"Jinzo, end the duel, attack Astraea directly!"
And that was it.
Even if Astraea had been on full life points, she couldn't have survived the direct assault, all 4800 points of it.
The crowd roared, and Joey grinned. The winner… and though it felt a little cheap, what with no Yugi, no Yami and no Seto to fight, it was still a win for him, and no one else.
Seto glowered at him as Joey took the prize and agreed to speak with him after the task.
The champions stood up, and Joey's mood dropped.
From the entrance at the side, Robyn ran out and caught Kari in a tight surprise hug. "I'm sorry. So sorry." Robyn whispered.
"Hey." Kari hugged her friend back, "Me too, I'm sorry for everything."
"Miss Ironhide." Dumbledore called and Robyn backed off, as Kari took a deep breath, "Are you ready?"
"Almost."
"One minute."
Kari nodded. "That's all I need."
The other Champions took their places, at the other three entrances of the maze, leaving the one closest for Kari.
"You're going to be alright, right?" Kari asked Robyn. "I mean you have the Clan…"
"I won't have the one I want though."
"I know but I can't leave Harry to whatever it is now. I have to be there. I don't know why, but I do…" Kari looked down, "You understand, right?"
"Unfortunately."
"So this is Goodbye?"
"I'll see you again soon enough."
"The next time around." Kari nodded, and caught her friend in a hug, "Until I see you again then."
"Until we meet again." Robyn nodded.
"Kari! Harry!" Their friends waved at them from the stands, "Good luck!"
Kari waved back, smiled at Robyn, and took her place.
"Mr Potter and Miss Ironhide will enter first, then Mr Krum and finally Miss Delacour." Dumbledore's voice rang out. "You will enter the maze to the sound of the…" The cannon went off with a loud boom and Harry and Kari looked at each other, nodded just once, and entered the maze.
All at once it was night time and silent. Which was weird considering that it had been sunset and the crowd had been really loud. It had to be something the teachers had done in order to throw off the champions even further…
Kari continued down the passage way, wondering if Krum had entered the… by the Gods she hated spiders! "Arania Exumai!" She squeaked, sending the enlarged spiders that were crawling towards her flying into the bushes.
"Concentrate Kari!" She growled at herself, as she rounded a corner… it looked safe, but then… it was clear, giving her a chance to use a spell, "Point me." She hissed, her wand span in her hand, pointing through a hedge, towards two o'clock if she'd been looking at a clock.
She needed to head towards the north-east… having no other route, she continued down the corridor until she reached a junction and took the one that headed east, figuring that at some point, there would be a junction that turned north before she got… that was a bloody big lizard thing… it could almost be called a dragon, but it wasn't a type she'd ever known, more like a wyvern then anything.
It stared at her, she stared back.
It stared at her, she stared back.
It lunged at her.
"Everte Statum!" Kari growled, "Petrificus Totalus!"
The body-bound wyvern did not look amused as she passed it.
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It had to be said that even with all the things they had prepared for; Harry was not prepared for when the sky and the floor decided that they were going to swap places. It was because of that gold mist, he knew it, but how was he going to make it swap back around again?
There was a feminine scream and for a horrifying moment, Harry thought that it was Kari. Then he relaxed slightly, only slightly, when he realised that it was only Fleur… and that was terrible, Harry realised, as he decided that the best course of action would be to just attempt to walk, Fleur being hurt wasn't any better then it being Kari… he took a step and the floor and sky went back to being where they were supposed to be.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and cast the four point spell, which told him, straight ahead. It wouldn't be that simple, but at least he knew he was going the right way.
For ten minutes there was nothing but the wrong routes, then Harry found a clear route and started jogging to try to make up the time lost.
"What in the name of the Gods do you think you're playing at?" Kari demanded loudly enough for Harry to hear. If Fleur was down, then Kari had to be talking too…
"Crucio!" Krum's voice was cold and clear.
Kari's screams filled the air and Harry snarled. Using Reducto on the hedge until enough of it was burned away that he could get through, stunning Krum before the wizard could work out that he was there. "Kari? Kari, are you alright?"
Kari shuddered, trapped in a memory.
"Kari!" Harry shook her, until she stopped shuddering and actually looked at him, "You ok?"
"Hurts a lot less then the last time." Kari staggered to her feet, "Send up sparks and let's leave him behind."
"Do you think he got Fleur?"
"No doubt about it." Kari kicked Krum and sent up sparks, "Let's go."
They reached a fork in the path and split up.
It was the two of them now, and if it wasn't for the rules stating that they couldn't help each other, they would have stuck together, but…
Harry turned a corner and came face to face with a sphinx.
"Wow, I have some friends who would love to meet you." He told her honestly.
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Kari could swear that something was following her… the bushes were shaking and there was this odd clicking noise… and she knew that it wasn't another Champion because it was only her and Harry left in the running.
Dead ends around every corner. The point me spell wasn't as useful when it kept pointing you towards dead ends… there was light down the end of that tunnel… she snorted at the thought… and raced down it…
She barely dodged the spider that attacked her from the bushes. "I knew there was more!" She snarled, "Arania Exumai!" This spider was much bigger and didn't go flying half as far, scuttling towards her again.
"Apparaître!" She bellowed, calling on the deck that she hoped could hear her, all the way out there, and tugging on the magic that connected her to it, "Apparaître Dark Magician!" Her Dark Magician, the one with the dark blue robes appeared and blasted the spider, which rolled over, twitching.
"Have I ever mentioned to anyone how much I love my deck?" She wondered. "Thank you!" She told the Dark Magician as she ran forward, nimbly avoiding the rest of the spiders, only to nearly get pounced on by a humongous one that attack the moment she reached the clearing that had the Triwizard Cup in it.
She narrowly dodged back, only to find that Harry had distracted the beast long enough for her Dark Magician to blast it.
"You okay, Harry?" Kari asked, as Harry winced as he put the leg down that the spider's pincers had connected with. "You're bleeding."
"We have a job to do."
Kari paused, "I hope you're proud of him Pharaoh!" She thought, and, with the Dark Magician supporting Harry, the pair touched the Triwizard Cup.
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They knew the instant that it happened.
Yami was already gone, Yugi close behind, vaulting the barrier at the bottom of the stands, and Ombre was close behind.
"Mr Muto!" Professor Dumbledore didn't look amused as he saw they were down in the starting ring.
"Professor, they're gone." Yami growled.
"You mean?"
"We lost the mind link with Harry, there's not even a trace of it. That has to mean he's out of range!"
"Kari's gone." Ombre snapped as she joined them, "The link's gone."
"Could there be any other reason?"
"Short of them both being killed at exactly the same moment…?"
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Kari's Dark Magician was gone.
They hadn't been in this strange graveyard more then a moment when someone had demanded that someone else 'kill the spare' and before they had known what was happening, the blue Dark Magician had thrown himself between the incoming killing curse and his Duellist and they had taken cover behind some of the headstones.
"Where's the cup?" Kari hissed, listening to the sound of approaching footsteps, pulling the Orb out from underneath her robes.
"Dunno, I dropped it when we landed." Harry told her.
"Harry, if something happens to me, make sure this gets back. Nothing else is important but the Orb has to go back to Ombre." She stood up and wheeled around, blasting the approaching Death Eater, for that was what she recognised him as, backwards with a wave of telekinesis.
"Lucius Malfoy," she snarled, "Expelliarmus!" The slimy git's wand went flying into Kari's hand. "You're behind this?" She demanded, holding him at wand point.
Lucius didn't say anything, watching the Orb swinging on its chain. "Malfoy!"
"Kari watch out!" Harry wheeled around, pushing himself, with difficulty, to his feet as he saw Wormtail approach, too slow to stop him.
"Avada Kedava!"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry bellowed.
Time slowed down, the spell left Wormtail's wand, a fraction before Harry's hit it, sending it flying, the green spell seemed to snake through the air, striking Kari in the back.
And she fell.
Only once Kari had hit the grass, unmoving, did time speed up again.
If she and Robyn, who would be here in a few minutes, could confirm that the papers were done, the others were going to join her, and they would work out what was to be done about those who were Clan Members that were on the list and weren't supposed to be.
She ignored the founder's list, since she knew who was on that one and browsed down the member list, pleasantly surprised to find the birth years of the members printed alongside their names.
There were a few unexpected names, Isuzu, Odeon, Marik, Draco and his Mother… and how they got on the list was beyond her, it had to be because Bakura was on the list, dependants maybe… Yami was not going to be pleased that Pegasus was on the list, but then they had kind of thought that he would be, since he'd saved Ombre and Mokuba during that Anubis thing…
Rai… was on the list, but he had a deceased date too, while Bakura had two birth dates, one from his first life and… if she was calculating properly, then he had a second birth year at the time they had gotten their own bodies.
She scanned the founder's list, pleased to find that this suspicion was borne out when Yami and Ombre had the same, but… "Gods of Egypt…" She hissed.
She checked another sheet, there had to be a problem… because the dates on her name were wrong. She shouldn't have a death date yet…
She checked the other eight sheets, her frown increasing as she noted that all of them had her year of death at two years ago, 1993.
That wasn't right, she hadn't died two years ago… she thought back to the Summer of that year… no, she hadn't died during the battle with Anubis, Yugi and Yami had come pretty damn close, but she hadn't died…
She'd been petrified during the second school year, but again, she hadn't been killed…
That only left the Autumn term of… no… oh no… No! It was still wrong, she wasn't dead, she hadn't died during her fight against Bakura, she hadn't! If she had done, she would have never left the Shadow Realm, Ombre wouldn't have been able to save her…
But it was the only thing she could think of that fit… collapsing in the Shadow Realm… her soul should have been shredded, lost to the Shadow Realm for all eternity… but Ombre had saved her… how?
Kari stared at the papers.
She was alive… she breathed, she could use magic, she still acted like a living human female… she needed Robyn to tell her if it was possible for the paper to have gotten this wrong… it was just paper and potions after all, it was possible there was a mistake… right?
Right?
"Kari?" The young woman didn't turn around to face the door, where Robyn had just entered from, not really hearing the question. "It should be complete by now."
Kari sat down and waved the papers at Robyn, who frowned and took them.
"Morgana!" Robyn exclaimed.
"I'm… Am I…" Kari stared at the floor, trying to work out something, anything, that could make sense, "I don't know how I can be dead, I mean I know how it might have happened… but I'm still breathing… so it has to be wrong, doesn't it?" Kari asked.
Robyn shook her head lightly. "It is possible to die, then come back. Muggles do it with their machines, magic can do it, you have no second birth date. It is possible you only died for a moment."
"What if I died in the Shadow Realm?"
"I know little of the shadows. I have told you this before."
"When I collapsed in my game against Bakura last school year, my soul should have been shredded and lost to the Shadow Realm for the rest of eternity. Somehow Ombre pulled me back, but no one knows how she did it. As far as I can work out, that's the only time that year that I could possibly have died." Kari looked at her friend, "I don't understand it myself, but..." Kari shook her head and looked away again, not really wanting to ask Ombre for fear that she'd get an answer she didn't want.
"Maybe they accepted a bargain. It is said the old gods liked bargains. Maybe you did die. But there are many stories of brave souls who retrieved their loved ones from the jaws of death."
"So… I died… but Ombre managed to reason with the Shadows to let her have me back?" Kari asked, "The Shadows do like to bargain…" She shuddered, remembering the deal Yugi had had to agree to, to make them let Yami go, "And it makes more sense then the thought that maybe my soul didn't shred, because if that had been the case, then Yugi would have a death date too, because he should have died against Pegasus, but didn't…"
"You are here. You breathe. You feel. You live. Does anything else matter? Is Ombre any less alive?"
"No… I suppose not… but…" Kari blinked and properly looked at her best friend, "Ombre is alive, she has a birth date…two in fact."
"If the memory lives, then so do you."
Kari thought about it, and accepted it, sighing, "I don't know whether I should show this to the others now though, Yami might go and kill Bakura and Ombre might help…"
"In a few days it might not matter."
Kari frowned and looked at Robyn, "Someone's going to kill Bakura?"
Robyn glared the glare of the absolutely furious. "Have you not been listening all this time!" Before half storming out the room, only hesitating to pick up the various sheets. "Now it's out of your hands." Robyn hissed.
"Robyn!" Kari called, chasing her, Robyn was gone already. "What did I do?" Kari shook her head, still trying to chase the last remnants of fear and confusion from her mind and finding that they were being replaced by tears. She'd done it again… she was good at pushing people away… she had been doing nothing but that since the Shadow Game… except with Seto… Seto knew the signs… knew how to handle her at her worst… "I'm sorry."
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"So Golden took the sheets?" Yami asked as they sat in the Monster's Wing.
"Uh huh." Kari was sat on the window ledge, looking out at the sunset, "I dunno if she'll hand them back, but we have to worry about other things. We have a few unexpected Clan Members. Pegasus, Marik, Isuzu, Odeon, Bakura, Draco, Draco's Mother…" Kari paused to try to remember, holding up her hand as the others started talking, "Duke, Tea, Tristan, Serenity, Mai, oh, here's one you're just going to love Yami, Shadi is a Clan Member."
"Shadi?"
"Shadi." Kari said firmly, "Some of the Duel Monsters too."
"Why Shadi?"
"Anyone who has protected the Clan in the past and would do so again." Kari shrugged.
"Anyone else?" Yugi asked quietly, his voice only just heard in the noise the others were making.
"Not that I can think of right now." Kari shook her head, "It's not too bad, it's only really Bakura and Draco who cause trouble now."
"I wanted to invite Serenity myself." Joey hissed, leaning back and thinking, "And Mai, if we see her again." He sighed, "They're going to be pretty pissed that they've become family without being asked."
"I'm sure we will see Mai. We're going to be competing more often after all." Yami attempted to reassure Joey.
"So what do we do?" Harry asked.
"Nothing we can do." Hermione shrugged, "We'll just have to focus on the task and hope that it doesn't come up."
Silence fell and Kari sighed heavily. She wanted to be alone. To think without interruption. She didn't want to be surrounded by people… She'd worked out what Robyn had meant earlier.
She needed to speak to Ombre.
The sun set behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest and Kari turned to look at the others, who were all thinking… or at least some of them were, she glanced at Yugi, Yami and Harry, who as far as she could tell, were all conversing over the mind link.
"I think that we should go to bed, give training a rest tomorrow and face the task fresh and ready to go." She said finally, "What do you think?"
Yami nodded his agreement. "It's a good idea. Shall we?" He asked, looking around. The others all stood up.
"Ombre, can I speak to you?" Kari asked, as the Princess headed out of the door. "Privately?" Ombre hung back as the others gave them interested looked as they left, the door swinging shut behind Ron.
"What's wrong?"
"What did you have to offer, to save me?" Kari asked.
"Kari?" Ombre had a horrible feeling that somehow Kari knew… but she couldn't know…could she?
"I know I died Ombre. What did you give up to save me?"
"I'd give up anything, you know that."
"That's not an answer, what did the Shadows force you to give up in order to have me back?"
"Kari…I…" Ombre hesitated, unwilling to tell her the truth.
"Forget it." Kari sighed, leaning back on the window sill. "In the end, it wasn't worth it."
"Kari?"
"What will you do, after the last task?"
"Finish the school year and go home with you, of course."
"And what if you can't?"
"Kari?"
"What if you can't come home with me?"
"What has that friend of yours been saying?"
"The same thing she's been saying all year." Kari shrugged, "I need you to promise me something."
"What?"
"If something happens to me, look after Hermione, please."
"Hermione's…"
"Not just Hermione, look after the others as well… but Hermione's like my little sister, if something happens to me, make sure she's alright, please."
"Kari, where did this come from?"
"Shut your eyes and dream your life away. I can not do more then I have done." Kari quoted, shaking her head. Silence fell.
"You're going to come back from the task." Ombre said with a lot more confidence then she felt, and she knew Kari could sense it.
"Am I?" Kari asked, looking at Ombre. "We don't know that."
"The future can be changed."
"I think… it's too late."
"Kari…"
"Just leave, please. I want to be alone."
"No."
"Go."
"I won't."
Kari left, needing to find solitude and knowing that she wouldn't find any here.
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Letters.
Simple but effective in saying everything that needed to be said.
To one friend, an apology for being stupid.
To another, a request for protection for her friends.
Another, 'don't blame yourself'.
Others were goodbyes, a 'see you later', or a 'Sorry I couldn't stick around'.
The simplest, 'Thank you for everything'.
All of them, bar the one letter that she'd slipped under the door of Miss Golden's office, left with her Head of House, she headed downstairs, touching the empty House Point hourglasses as she passed them, remembering with a small, sad smile, the crazy that had caused the House Cup to be suspended for this year… that had been Joey and Seto's fault…
Pausing just before she passed the doors into the grounds, for what would probably be the last time, she turned to look at the school.
Sure it hadn't been perfect… but for a while, it had been home.
She left.
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Down in the main arena, Joey and Astraea were just setting up for the finals of their Tournament.
The third task would start just after their duel finished, so the stands were packed. It was the biggest crowd Joey had had for a long time, and he was surprised to see that Kari had yet to join the Champions who were waiting patiently to one side.
Harry gave him a thumbs up, though Joey could see how nervous he was, just like the rest of the Clan, who were all worried and waiting. There was nothing they could do now, what would happen, would happen. All they could do was pray to the Gods that they had done enough.
"Ready?" Astraea asked.
Joey watched Kari join the other champions, smiling, though he could see it was forced and that she'd been crying and sighed, "Astraea, can I have a moment please?"
Astraea looked at Dumbledore, who nodded, "Two minutes."
Joey rushed over to the bench, where the Champions were sat. "Kari, you ok?"
"No." Kari laughed. Joey worried at the hint of hysteria in her tone.
"Do you need me to do anything?"
"Kick her butt." Kari smiled slightly.
"Easy as one two three." Joey nodded.
"Good." Kari pushed him towards his match.
Joey shook his head, wondering exactly what had happened, but knowing that Ombre wasn't talking and Kari had been avoiding everyone for the last couple of days, and turning to face Astraea. "Now I'm ready."
"Students of Hogwarts, Beuxbatons and Durmstrang, Teachers, Head Teachers, and Judges, welcome to the final task of the Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore said, using a charm that increased the volume of his voice.
Joey scanned the crowd for the group… there, the Clan, together. Grandpa, Sirius and Dudley were sat with the group, Yugi and Ombre looked worried, Yami didn't do the looking worried thing, but he had that air to him that Joey recognised as Yami being worried… just as they all were…
"Before the final task begins, we have one more pleasant duty to fulfil. The interschool Duel Monsters Tournament has reached its final stage and I am pleased to announce that it is a all Hogwarts final… to my right, is Miss Astraea Torrent, of Slytherin House, and to my left is Mr Joseph Wheeler, of Gryffindor House."
There were cheers from the surrounding crowd.
"Let the match begin."
"May I?"
"Ladies first."
"In that case," Astraea drew, "I set a card in defence mode and play one card face down. Your move White Knight."
Joey drew, "What is it with you Slytherins and the White Knight thing?" He asked, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode and play two cards face down. Gearfried, attack her face down card!"
The card exploded and took 1000 of Joey's life points with it.
"Well we could call you Red Knight, but you don't really fit the image of the Black Knight. Oh by the way, you can blame Kari for that loss of life points, I traded with her for one of her Princess of Tsurugi."
"I end my turn. Do the others have nicknames within your house?" Joey asked, curious as Astraea drew.
"Another card in face down defence mode." Astraea called, "And I end my turn." She grinned at him, "Why do you want to know?"
"Just interested." Joey drew, "Well, that and I wondered if we were all chess pieces…" He considered the field. He didn't want to attack that face down card, since he had no idea how many of her Princess of Tsurugi Kari had traded away, "I sacrifice Gearfried for Jinzo!" The creepy machine monster appeared on the field. "Do your thing Jinzo."
The humanoid mech blasted away both of Astraea's face down cards, making her scowl since one of them had been her Crush Card Virus.
"Jinzo destroys all traps on the field." Joey grinned, "So you can't get me with that Crush Card of yours. I end my turn, by the way."
Astraea drew, reformulating a strategy on the fly in her head, playing Magical Mallet, returning her entire hand to the deck in order to draw the same amount of cards, before smirking, "You don't want to know."
Joey, who was always wary when his opponent smirked, was unsure if she was smirking about the nicknames or the duel, "Why?"
"I set another card in defence mode." Astraea sounded a little too amused for Joey's liking, "Your move."
Joey considered the field as he drew his Red Eyes Black Dragon, "I summon Sasuke Samurai in attack mode. He can destroy your face down defence cards without activating their special abilities. Samurai, attack!"
Astraea's Mask of Darkness exploded.
"I end my turn."
"Well," Astraea continued to smirk as she drew, "You and Harry are the knights, Hermione and Kari are the bishops and Ron and Ombre are the Rooks."
"Do I want to know which way around Yugi and Yami are?" Joey asked, as Astraea summoned her Plague Wolf.
"Which is the most important piece, in a chess game?" Astraea grinned, "I use my Plague Wolf's effect this turn, doubling its attack, but it's destroyed at the end of the turn. This means that my Plague Wolf has an attack of 2000, while your Samurai has an attack of 500…"
Joey winced as his samurai was eaten, and his points dropped to 1500. "The king, obviously."
"And who is the more important out of Yugi and Yami?" Astraea asked, "I end my turn." Her wolf exploded, sent to the graveyard.
Joey drew and thought about his answer, it was Yugi obviously. It was Yugi who had completed the Puzzle, Yugi that was the glue that bound the group together… "Does that mean you're dating a queen?" Joey asked slyly, trying not to laugh.
Astraea just shrugged.
"So are there Slytherins who are chess pieces too?" Joey asked as he summoned his Blue Flame Swordsman and considered the field… "I activate Salamandra, equipping it to the Swordsman." The Blue Flame Swordsman grew to 2500, and the fiery creature that surrounded his sword turned into a bluey white creature, instead of a redish yellow… "Now, Swordsman, attack her face down card."
It was Astraea's Spirit Reaper, which sat there and pulled silly faces at Joey's irritated Swordsman, since it couldn't be destroyed by battle.
"I guess I have to end my turn then, since I can't get past that thing at the moment."
"For that, you'll need your trap cards, which means that you'll have to get rid of your Jinzo." Astraea grinned, "I play a card in defence mode and end my turn."
Joey was aware of that little fact, "I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode and…" He paused to consider… "I attack your face down card with my Swordsman!"
Astraea's Mystic Tomato exploded as it burned to a crisp…
"Lovely." Joey groaned… "What are you doing?"
"I can summon a dark creature from my deck with 1500 attack or less, due to my splattered tomato's effect, and I pick this one, my Dark Effigy." The floating set of cubes appeared on the field. "It's got exactly the same attack points as your Rocket Warrior."
"True, but my Rocket Warrior has a special ability, I activate invincible mode, which blows away half of Dark Effigy's attack points!" Joey crowed as Rocket Warrior turned into his rocket mode and blasted away 750 attack points, "Allowing my Jinzo to do more damage to your life points!"
Jinzo blasted Dar Effigy, causing it to self destruct and costing Astraea 1650 life points. "Your move Astraea and you didn't answer my question."
"We Slytherins don't rank each other like that, only on how powerful we are, or how much influence we have. I play Monster Reborn, recovering my Mystic Tomato in order to sacrifice it and my Spirit Reaper for this, Diabolos, King of the Abyss!"
It was huge, a large grey dragon, with red and grey wings and glowing red eyes.
"And I think that I'll have him destroy your Rocket Warrior. It won't quite end the game, but it'll bring me close to victory."
Diabolos blasted Rocket Warrior, who exploded in the heat, and Joey hissed as his Duel Disk bleeped as it counted down.
"Just 200 points left, Knight, then it's all over."
"Two hundred points is more then enough to make a comeback." Joey drew.
"You have to show me that card and put it on the bottom of your deck, thanks to Diabolos."
"Damn." Joey showed her Roulette Spider and put it at the bottom of his deck; drawing a new card and playing it face down. "I activate Blue Flame Swordsman's effect, making him give up all bar one hundred of his attack points, to boost Jinzo's by 2400 and switch my swordsman into defence mode."
The Blue Flame Swordsman lowered his sword as he switched and Jinzo's attack rose from 2400 to 4800.
"That gives Jinzo more then enough points to wipe out your Diabolos and almost win the game for me." Joey grinned, "Jinzo, attack Diabolos!"
The dragon roared as Jinzo's attack hit, a final effort to stay on the field before it and 2000 of Astraea's life points vanished.
"Your move."
Astraea was in trouble and she knew it, Jinzo had pretty much shut down her deck, since she relied on the trap cards in it to force the opponent to damage his own life points… she drew, "I activate Nightmare's Steelcage!" She called. The spiky cage closed in around Joey, who looked quickly behind him, half expecting Lava Golem to be there… he hadn't forgotten his last experience inside one of these. "But that's all I can do."
"I set a card in defence mode and end my turn."
"I also set a card in defence mode and end my turn."
"I tribute my face down card and my swordsman, for Red Eyes Black Dragon."
Red Eyes roared, and though he was smaller, he somehow, even imprisoned in the cage, which was looking rather full now, managed to look more imposing the Diabolos had. "And that ends my second turn."
The cage faded away.
Jinzo smirked, something that looked incredibly wrong, considering it's face, and Red Eyes flapped his wings, taking off and hovering a few feet above the ground. He hated to be caged… "What're you going to do now?" Joey asked.
Astraea didn't know, if she was honest, there wasn't much she could do about a 4800 attack point monster that could cripple her trap cards and a huge 2400 dragon, without the aforementioned trap cards. But she couldn't give up, it wasn't in her vocabulary and it certainly wasn't something she could easily live down…
"I sacrifice my face down card for my Lich Lord!" It appeared on the field and smirked at Joey.
"If I'm going down, I'm taking your Dragon with me. Lich Lord, attack his Red Eyes Black Dragon!"
"No!" Joey yelped. He hated it when his Red Eyes went to the graveyard… but it exploded, as did the Lich, as both of them had 2400 attack points.
"And on that note, I end my turn."
Joey sighed as he drew, placing one card face down, "You're wide open, you know that right?"
"You shut down my deck with that Jinzo card." Astraea glared at him.
"Jinzo, end the duel, attack Astraea directly!"
And that was it.
Even if Astraea had been on full life points, she couldn't have survived the direct assault, all 4800 points of it.
The crowd roared, and Joey grinned. The winner… and though it felt a little cheap, what with no Yugi, no Yami and no Seto to fight, it was still a win for him, and no one else.
Seto glowered at him as Joey took the prize and agreed to speak with him after the task.
The champions stood up, and Joey's mood dropped.
From the entrance at the side, Robyn ran out and caught Kari in a tight surprise hug. "I'm sorry. So sorry." Robyn whispered.
"Hey." Kari hugged her friend back, "Me too, I'm sorry for everything."
"Miss Ironhide." Dumbledore called and Robyn backed off, as Kari took a deep breath, "Are you ready?"
"Almost."
"One minute."
Kari nodded. "That's all I need."
The other Champions took their places, at the other three entrances of the maze, leaving the one closest for Kari.
"You're going to be alright, right?" Kari asked Robyn. "I mean you have the Clan…"
"I won't have the one I want though."
"I know but I can't leave Harry to whatever it is now. I have to be there. I don't know why, but I do…" Kari looked down, "You understand, right?"
"Unfortunately."
"So this is Goodbye?"
"I'll see you again soon enough."
"The next time around." Kari nodded, and caught her friend in a hug, "Until I see you again then."
"Until we meet again." Robyn nodded.
"Kari! Harry!" Their friends waved at them from the stands, "Good luck!"
Kari waved back, smiled at Robyn, and took her place.
"Mr Potter and Miss Ironhide will enter first, then Mr Krum and finally Miss Delacour." Dumbledore's voice rang out. "You will enter the maze to the sound of the…" The cannon went off with a loud boom and Harry and Kari looked at each other, nodded just once, and entered the maze.
All at once it was night time and silent. Which was weird considering that it had been sunset and the crowd had been really loud. It had to be something the teachers had done in order to throw off the champions even further…
Kari continued down the passage way, wondering if Krum had entered the… by the Gods she hated spiders! "Arania Exumai!" She squeaked, sending the enlarged spiders that were crawling towards her flying into the bushes.
"Concentrate Kari!" She growled at herself, as she rounded a corner… it looked safe, but then… it was clear, giving her a chance to use a spell, "Point me." She hissed, her wand span in her hand, pointing through a hedge, towards two o'clock if she'd been looking at a clock.
She needed to head towards the north-east… having no other route, she continued down the corridor until she reached a junction and took the one that headed east, figuring that at some point, there would be a junction that turned north before she got… that was a bloody big lizard thing… it could almost be called a dragon, but it wasn't a type she'd ever known, more like a wyvern then anything.
It stared at her, she stared back.
It stared at her, she stared back.
It lunged at her.
"Everte Statum!" Kari growled, "Petrificus Totalus!"
The body-bound wyvern did not look amused as she passed it.
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It had to be said that even with all the things they had prepared for; Harry was not prepared for when the sky and the floor decided that they were going to swap places. It was because of that gold mist, he knew it, but how was he going to make it swap back around again?
There was a feminine scream and for a horrifying moment, Harry thought that it was Kari. Then he relaxed slightly, only slightly, when he realised that it was only Fleur… and that was terrible, Harry realised, as he decided that the best course of action would be to just attempt to walk, Fleur being hurt wasn't any better then it being Kari… he took a step and the floor and sky went back to being where they were supposed to be.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and cast the four point spell, which told him, straight ahead. It wouldn't be that simple, but at least he knew he was going the right way.
For ten minutes there was nothing but the wrong routes, then Harry found a clear route and started jogging to try to make up the time lost.
"What in the name of the Gods do you think you're playing at?" Kari demanded loudly enough for Harry to hear. If Fleur was down, then Kari had to be talking too…
"Crucio!" Krum's voice was cold and clear.
Kari's screams filled the air and Harry snarled. Using Reducto on the hedge until enough of it was burned away that he could get through, stunning Krum before the wizard could work out that he was there. "Kari? Kari, are you alright?"
Kari shuddered, trapped in a memory.
"Kari!" Harry shook her, until she stopped shuddering and actually looked at him, "You ok?"
"Hurts a lot less then the last time." Kari staggered to her feet, "Send up sparks and let's leave him behind."
"Do you think he got Fleur?"
"No doubt about it." Kari kicked Krum and sent up sparks, "Let's go."
They reached a fork in the path and split up.
It was the two of them now, and if it wasn't for the rules stating that they couldn't help each other, they would have stuck together, but…
Harry turned a corner and came face to face with a sphinx.
"Wow, I have some friends who would love to meet you." He told her honestly.
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Kari could swear that something was following her… the bushes were shaking and there was this odd clicking noise… and she knew that it wasn't another Champion because it was only her and Harry left in the running.
Dead ends around every corner. The point me spell wasn't as useful when it kept pointing you towards dead ends… there was light down the end of that tunnel… she snorted at the thought… and raced down it…
She barely dodged the spider that attacked her from the bushes. "I knew there was more!" She snarled, "Arania Exumai!" This spider was much bigger and didn't go flying half as far, scuttling towards her again.
"Apparaître!" She bellowed, calling on the deck that she hoped could hear her, all the way out there, and tugging on the magic that connected her to it, "Apparaître Dark Magician!" Her Dark Magician, the one with the dark blue robes appeared and blasted the spider, which rolled over, twitching.
"Have I ever mentioned to anyone how much I love my deck?" She wondered. "Thank you!" She told the Dark Magician as she ran forward, nimbly avoiding the rest of the spiders, only to nearly get pounced on by a humongous one that attack the moment she reached the clearing that had the Triwizard Cup in it.
She narrowly dodged back, only to find that Harry had distracted the beast long enough for her Dark Magician to blast it.
"You okay, Harry?" Kari asked, as Harry winced as he put the leg down that the spider's pincers had connected with. "You're bleeding."
"We have a job to do."
Kari paused, "I hope you're proud of him Pharaoh!" She thought, and, with the Dark Magician supporting Harry, the pair touched the Triwizard Cup.
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They knew the instant that it happened.
Yami was already gone, Yugi close behind, vaulting the barrier at the bottom of the stands, and Ombre was close behind.
"Mr Muto!" Professor Dumbledore didn't look amused as he saw they were down in the starting ring.
"Professor, they're gone." Yami growled.
"You mean?"
"We lost the mind link with Harry, there's not even a trace of it. That has to mean he's out of range!"
"Kari's gone." Ombre snapped as she joined them, "The link's gone."
"Could there be any other reason?"
"Short of them both being killed at exactly the same moment…?"
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Kari's Dark Magician was gone.
They hadn't been in this strange graveyard more then a moment when someone had demanded that someone else 'kill the spare' and before they had known what was happening, the blue Dark Magician had thrown himself between the incoming killing curse and his Duellist and they had taken cover behind some of the headstones.
"Where's the cup?" Kari hissed, listening to the sound of approaching footsteps, pulling the Orb out from underneath her robes.
"Dunno, I dropped it when we landed." Harry told her.
"Harry, if something happens to me, make sure this gets back. Nothing else is important but the Orb has to go back to Ombre." She stood up and wheeled around, blasting the approaching Death Eater, for that was what she recognised him as, backwards with a wave of telekinesis.
"Lucius Malfoy," she snarled, "Expelliarmus!" The slimy git's wand went flying into Kari's hand. "You're behind this?" She demanded, holding him at wand point.
Lucius didn't say anything, watching the Orb swinging on its chain. "Malfoy!"
"Kari watch out!" Harry wheeled around, pushing himself, with difficulty, to his feet as he saw Wormtail approach, too slow to stop him.
"Avada Kedava!"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry bellowed.
Time slowed down, the spell left Wormtail's wand, a fraction before Harry's hit it, sending it flying, the green spell seemed to snake through the air, striking Kari in the back.
And she fell.
Only once Kari had hit the grass, unmoving, did time speed up again.