November 12th: - 1712 Words
Hermione and Aylth had been rather lost in the notes for the last few hours, sorting out some method of filing for the papers that were strewn everywhere that wasn’t ‘d for desk, f for floor, s for shelves’, slowly managing to compile certain sections together and beginning to see a pattern, so when there was a knock on the door, the pair jumped a mile.
Aylth had moved between her human partner and the door, and Hermione had started to draw her wand before either of them had actually registered who was at the door.
“Sorry.” The red Dark Magician Girl squeaked, taking a step back as she did so, half afraid that they were going to attack her, since she was in almost everyone’s bad books at the moment, though what was going on wasn’t her fault.
“Easy Aylth.” Hermione sighed, putting her wand back and resting her hand on the Millennium Witch’s arm as she stepped past one Spellcaster in order to speak to the other. “Hi, you’re the Dark Magician Girl from Yugi’s deck, right?”
The red Dark Magician Girl nodded, warily watching the Millennium Witch, who, while she looked almost as unimposing as she did, in a white Lolita dress and hat, which had pink ribbons weaving through the bodice, down the sleeves and the side of the hat, along with pale blue hair, was stronger than her by some way, even without her special power and was giving her a thoughtful look.
She knew of Aylth; the Millennium Witch was an outcast in the Dark Palace almost as much as she was, but the Light Spellcaster, whose effect made people nervous considering how powerful she could help other Spellcasters become, had the full backing of the Lady of the Light Kingdom, the first Dark Magician Girl, who was one of a very small amount of Duel Monsters who could answer to more then one card.
It didn’t help her nerves that she’d been summoned against the Light Spellcaster’s human partner on multiple occasions in holoduels by her card’s master, though she hadn’t ever had a chance to interact with the small group of Shadow Duellists properly before the tournament at the Kaiba Corp amusement park just outside of Domino, and she didn’t know if the pair considered her friend or foe.
“You’re Hermione?” She asked, trying to remember the name of the human witch in front of her.
“That’s right.” Hermione nodded encouragingly, smiling at the brunette Spellcaster, whose clothes were so much like Mana’s but red and black. “You don’t have to knock, you know. This was your study after all.”
She stepped into the study semi-nervously, trying not to feel like an intruder in the study that had once been her favourite haunt, only to become surprised when the Millennium Witch, Aylth she thought her name was, turned back to the notes and Hermione asked her for her name.
“I can’t just call you the red Dark Magician Girl.” The human said, curious, “So what is your name?”
“Soraya.” She answered, pausing when Hermione suddenly scooped up a sheet of paper she’d spotted behind the door and grinned. “Hermione?”
“Sorry, I’ve been looking for this page everywhere.” Hermione said, putting it on a pile on the desk and looking around briefly, pursing her lips.
“Something wrong?” Soraya asked, confused by Hermione’s sudden shifts in mood.
“No offence Soraya, but your Master had no clue about filing.” Hermione grouched, having spent the last couple of hours sorting through the mess.
The red Dark Magician just blushed slightly, having been the one who had kept her Master’s desk clear, and she’d tried to keep the notes together, even when she hadn’t agreed with what he’d been researching. She thought she’d tidied up before the room had been sealed but apparently not. “I know how my former teacher worked, if you need a hand…”
“We could use one.” Aylth said, leaning back in her chair so far that the front legs left the floor. “Atem’s gone somewhere with Mahado and Joey went back to the human world for a while so…”
Soraya blinked, confused. “Joey left? I wouldn’t have thought…”
“Joey’s pigheaded, but he’s not as bad as Atem.” Hermione snorted, still irritated with the guys for not thinking.
“Joey has a sister in the human world.” Aylth said, giving her partner a bemused look as the witch started picking up another set of notes and Soraya tried to work out where she was needed. “He didn’t want to get stuck here because of her, so he went back to help fix up the Game Shop until we find something, then Tobias is going to go get him.”
“I... see.” Soraya was surprised that Tobias was willing to risk his partner by bringing him back through the Shadow Realm.
“If you could start on the sheets on the floor.” Hermione pointed at a pile of them just inside the door, “I’d be grateful.”
“What’re we looking for?” Soraya nodded as she started looking through the pile, sorting through, separating different sections of research into different, much smaller, piles.
“Anything that could tell us what Medan’s got planned.” Hermione answered, frowning at a sheet in her hand, “Especially anything about his studies on the Reaper of the Cards. If anything’s going to give him an advantage over Mahado when we finally track him down, it’s going to be that.”
“You won’t find the Reaper notes out here.” Soraya moved towards the bookcase, pulling on one of the books, only for the bookcase to slide across, revealing a whole section of books and notes that hadn’t been available before. “Mahado would never have found them if I hadn’t said anything and even then he only found the notes that were lying on the desk and the floor and I tidied those away while gathering up what little I was allowed to take to Subhan’s room. Force of habit.” She looked slightly guilty at that.
Aylth snorted, having kept her own study back home impeccable and having wondered how anyone could work in this mess. “Why didn’t you tell Joey and the Pharaoh about these notes?”
“I’m the red Dark Magician Girl.” Soraya pointed out, “The Dark Pharaoh’s paranoid when it comes to his light counterpart. Do you honestly think he’d trust me considering who my former Master is?”
Aylth had to admit that Soraya had a point, though she doubted that not telling them about the hiding place would score her any points with the two who had been searching through the study for the last few hours.
Hermione was thinking carefully though. “How much of this did you tidy up before you moved into Subhan’s study?” She asked, considering the mess around her and getting a rather unpleasant thought coming to mind.
“I thought I’d left it a lot tidier then this when I moved out. Mahado said that he was going to deal with it sooner or later, so I didn’t leave it spotless, but I don’t remember there being this much paperwork around.” Soraya said with a frown, as she began to twig what Hermione was getting at.
Aylth scowled. “You think someone’s been in here.” She said, looking at her partner, who nodded, turning to Soraya, whose eyes widened.
“It’s not me!” The red Dark Magician Girl yelped, afraid that she was going to be accused. “I haven’t...”
“Not you.” Hermione interrupted, waving Soraya’s protest away, “I don’t mean to sound rude but you’re Yugi’s Dark Magician Girl. The day any of Yugi’s monsters betray him is the day I eat my wand.” Aylth snorted in amusement at the mental image that provided, while Soraya looked like she wasn’t sure how to handle the trust that the Duellist was offering her. “No, I meant someone who’d be more than willing to take the notes to Medan and didn’t know where to look for them properly.”
“But Mahado sealed the door.” Soraya protested.
“It’s highly possible that whoever broke in resealed the door once they were done.” Aylth scowled, “Give me a minute and I’ll get Mahado. He needs to know about this.” The Millennium Witch darted out of the door and vanished down the corridor.
“Could you go through the notes in the cupboard and see if there’s any missing?” Hermione asked Soraya, half wondering why the Dark Magician Girl hadn’t said anything to Yami and Joey when they’d been in here before.
The Dark Magician Girl, who was uncomfortable enough in the palace since Mahado had banished her former Master from the kingdom as it was and hadn’t wanted to approach the Pharaoh, quickly shifted through, her expression darkening as she realised that there was something missing, something rather important.
“Soraya?” Hermione asked, warily, noting the look on the magician’s face.
“I only ever went along with Medan’s plans because he told me we were doing it to protect others from the Graveyard.” She said, ashamed at how foolish she’d been, “But just before Mahado came back I found Medan’s notes on a specific ritual, one that would turn Medan into a creature called the Reaper of Magic and that it required the sacrifice of two Spellcasters, one Light and one Dark.” Soraya examined the papers in her hands, “Those notes are gone.”
“Gone?”
“What’s gone?” Mahado asked as he entered the room, preceded by Atem and followed by Aylth.
“The ritual I told you about.” Soraya squeaked, turning to look at Mahado and trying to avoid looking at the Pharaoh who was giving the hidden cupboard a glare that, if possible, would have set the notes inside on fire. “All the notes on it are gone.”
Mahado let out a curse in Egyptian that made Atem give him a frustrated look. “I take it,” The Pharaoh said, “We could have done with knowing this yesterday?”
“I had no clue that he’d taken the notes with him.” Mahado replied, more angry with himself then with anyone else. “As far as I was aware, he was escorted straight out of the palace. I didn’t think he’d had a chance to come back here before all the guards were told that he wasn’t allowed back.”
“I don’t think he did.” Hermione spoke up, causing Mahado and Atem to look at her, “Soraya says that she didn’t leave the room in this much of a mess before you sealed it.” She looked at Mahado, “Is it possible that someone could have gotten in here afterwards and taken the notes to him?”
Mahado scowled, “I thought there was something wrong with the seal I removed.” He admitted, “But I assumed that it was off because I was furious when I cast it.”
“You know what they say about assuming.” Aylth muttered quietly to Hermione who shot her a semi-amused, semi-frustrated look.
She wasn’t the only one who’d heard her. Mahado, who had been used to listening out for small sounds that the smaller, less powerful Duel Monsters let out when they were up to something behind the backs of those more powerful, lest he end up on the receiving end of one prank or another, heard her and turned to scowl at the Light Spellcaster, “I did have other duties at the…”
“Lord Mahado.” The Lord of the Dark Kingdom was interrupted by the arrival of Breaker, the Magical Warrior, “The Winged Wolf Pack you had us on the lookout for just landed in the courtyard. Their pack leader wants to talk with you, urgently.”
‘Wolf?’ Atem sent instantly, glad for the fact that he could communicate with the Duel Monsters telepathically linked to his link partners, just as they could talk to Mahado.
Pharaoh. Wolf sent back almost instantly, having never liked that the Pharaoh and the heir could contact him over the link he shared with the human he’d taken under his wing, occasionally literally, but thankful for the moment as it allowed him to pass on his message much faster then if he’d had to wait for someone to come down to see him, I know where Medan is holding my Cub and your Heir.
“Wolf knows where Medan’s keeping Yugi and Harry.” Atem said out loud.
Almost immediately there was an exodus for the courtyard.
Aylth had moved between her human partner and the door, and Hermione had started to draw her wand before either of them had actually registered who was at the door.
“Sorry.” The red Dark Magician Girl squeaked, taking a step back as she did so, half afraid that they were going to attack her, since she was in almost everyone’s bad books at the moment, though what was going on wasn’t her fault.
“Easy Aylth.” Hermione sighed, putting her wand back and resting her hand on the Millennium Witch’s arm as she stepped past one Spellcaster in order to speak to the other. “Hi, you’re the Dark Magician Girl from Yugi’s deck, right?”
The red Dark Magician Girl nodded, warily watching the Millennium Witch, who, while she looked almost as unimposing as she did, in a white Lolita dress and hat, which had pink ribbons weaving through the bodice, down the sleeves and the side of the hat, along with pale blue hair, was stronger than her by some way, even without her special power and was giving her a thoughtful look.
She knew of Aylth; the Millennium Witch was an outcast in the Dark Palace almost as much as she was, but the Light Spellcaster, whose effect made people nervous considering how powerful she could help other Spellcasters become, had the full backing of the Lady of the Light Kingdom, the first Dark Magician Girl, who was one of a very small amount of Duel Monsters who could answer to more then one card.
It didn’t help her nerves that she’d been summoned against the Light Spellcaster’s human partner on multiple occasions in holoduels by her card’s master, though she hadn’t ever had a chance to interact with the small group of Shadow Duellists properly before the tournament at the Kaiba Corp amusement park just outside of Domino, and she didn’t know if the pair considered her friend or foe.
“You’re Hermione?” She asked, trying to remember the name of the human witch in front of her.
“That’s right.” Hermione nodded encouragingly, smiling at the brunette Spellcaster, whose clothes were so much like Mana’s but red and black. “You don’t have to knock, you know. This was your study after all.”
She stepped into the study semi-nervously, trying not to feel like an intruder in the study that had once been her favourite haunt, only to become surprised when the Millennium Witch, Aylth she thought her name was, turned back to the notes and Hermione asked her for her name.
“I can’t just call you the red Dark Magician Girl.” The human said, curious, “So what is your name?”
“Soraya.” She answered, pausing when Hermione suddenly scooped up a sheet of paper she’d spotted behind the door and grinned. “Hermione?”
“Sorry, I’ve been looking for this page everywhere.” Hermione said, putting it on a pile on the desk and looking around briefly, pursing her lips.
“Something wrong?” Soraya asked, confused by Hermione’s sudden shifts in mood.
“No offence Soraya, but your Master had no clue about filing.” Hermione grouched, having spent the last couple of hours sorting through the mess.
The red Dark Magician just blushed slightly, having been the one who had kept her Master’s desk clear, and she’d tried to keep the notes together, even when she hadn’t agreed with what he’d been researching. She thought she’d tidied up before the room had been sealed but apparently not. “I know how my former teacher worked, if you need a hand…”
“We could use one.” Aylth said, leaning back in her chair so far that the front legs left the floor. “Atem’s gone somewhere with Mahado and Joey went back to the human world for a while so…”
Soraya blinked, confused. “Joey left? I wouldn’t have thought…”
“Joey’s pigheaded, but he’s not as bad as Atem.” Hermione snorted, still irritated with the guys for not thinking.
“Joey has a sister in the human world.” Aylth said, giving her partner a bemused look as the witch started picking up another set of notes and Soraya tried to work out where she was needed. “He didn’t want to get stuck here because of her, so he went back to help fix up the Game Shop until we find something, then Tobias is going to go get him.”
“I... see.” Soraya was surprised that Tobias was willing to risk his partner by bringing him back through the Shadow Realm.
“If you could start on the sheets on the floor.” Hermione pointed at a pile of them just inside the door, “I’d be grateful.”
“What’re we looking for?” Soraya nodded as she started looking through the pile, sorting through, separating different sections of research into different, much smaller, piles.
“Anything that could tell us what Medan’s got planned.” Hermione answered, frowning at a sheet in her hand, “Especially anything about his studies on the Reaper of the Cards. If anything’s going to give him an advantage over Mahado when we finally track him down, it’s going to be that.”
“You won’t find the Reaper notes out here.” Soraya moved towards the bookcase, pulling on one of the books, only for the bookcase to slide across, revealing a whole section of books and notes that hadn’t been available before. “Mahado would never have found them if I hadn’t said anything and even then he only found the notes that were lying on the desk and the floor and I tidied those away while gathering up what little I was allowed to take to Subhan’s room. Force of habit.” She looked slightly guilty at that.
Aylth snorted, having kept her own study back home impeccable and having wondered how anyone could work in this mess. “Why didn’t you tell Joey and the Pharaoh about these notes?”
“I’m the red Dark Magician Girl.” Soraya pointed out, “The Dark Pharaoh’s paranoid when it comes to his light counterpart. Do you honestly think he’d trust me considering who my former Master is?”
Aylth had to admit that Soraya had a point, though she doubted that not telling them about the hiding place would score her any points with the two who had been searching through the study for the last few hours.
Hermione was thinking carefully though. “How much of this did you tidy up before you moved into Subhan’s study?” She asked, considering the mess around her and getting a rather unpleasant thought coming to mind.
“I thought I’d left it a lot tidier then this when I moved out. Mahado said that he was going to deal with it sooner or later, so I didn’t leave it spotless, but I don’t remember there being this much paperwork around.” Soraya said with a frown, as she began to twig what Hermione was getting at.
Aylth scowled. “You think someone’s been in here.” She said, looking at her partner, who nodded, turning to Soraya, whose eyes widened.
“It’s not me!” The red Dark Magician Girl yelped, afraid that she was going to be accused. “I haven’t...”
“Not you.” Hermione interrupted, waving Soraya’s protest away, “I don’t mean to sound rude but you’re Yugi’s Dark Magician Girl. The day any of Yugi’s monsters betray him is the day I eat my wand.” Aylth snorted in amusement at the mental image that provided, while Soraya looked like she wasn’t sure how to handle the trust that the Duellist was offering her. “No, I meant someone who’d be more than willing to take the notes to Medan and didn’t know where to look for them properly.”
“But Mahado sealed the door.” Soraya protested.
“It’s highly possible that whoever broke in resealed the door once they were done.” Aylth scowled, “Give me a minute and I’ll get Mahado. He needs to know about this.” The Millennium Witch darted out of the door and vanished down the corridor.
“Could you go through the notes in the cupboard and see if there’s any missing?” Hermione asked Soraya, half wondering why the Dark Magician Girl hadn’t said anything to Yami and Joey when they’d been in here before.
The Dark Magician Girl, who was uncomfortable enough in the palace since Mahado had banished her former Master from the kingdom as it was and hadn’t wanted to approach the Pharaoh, quickly shifted through, her expression darkening as she realised that there was something missing, something rather important.
“Soraya?” Hermione asked, warily, noting the look on the magician’s face.
“I only ever went along with Medan’s plans because he told me we were doing it to protect others from the Graveyard.” She said, ashamed at how foolish she’d been, “But just before Mahado came back I found Medan’s notes on a specific ritual, one that would turn Medan into a creature called the Reaper of Magic and that it required the sacrifice of two Spellcasters, one Light and one Dark.” Soraya examined the papers in her hands, “Those notes are gone.”
“Gone?”
“What’s gone?” Mahado asked as he entered the room, preceded by Atem and followed by Aylth.
“The ritual I told you about.” Soraya squeaked, turning to look at Mahado and trying to avoid looking at the Pharaoh who was giving the hidden cupboard a glare that, if possible, would have set the notes inside on fire. “All the notes on it are gone.”
Mahado let out a curse in Egyptian that made Atem give him a frustrated look. “I take it,” The Pharaoh said, “We could have done with knowing this yesterday?”
“I had no clue that he’d taken the notes with him.” Mahado replied, more angry with himself then with anyone else. “As far as I was aware, he was escorted straight out of the palace. I didn’t think he’d had a chance to come back here before all the guards were told that he wasn’t allowed back.”
“I don’t think he did.” Hermione spoke up, causing Mahado and Atem to look at her, “Soraya says that she didn’t leave the room in this much of a mess before you sealed it.” She looked at Mahado, “Is it possible that someone could have gotten in here afterwards and taken the notes to him?”
Mahado scowled, “I thought there was something wrong with the seal I removed.” He admitted, “But I assumed that it was off because I was furious when I cast it.”
“You know what they say about assuming.” Aylth muttered quietly to Hermione who shot her a semi-amused, semi-frustrated look.
She wasn’t the only one who’d heard her. Mahado, who had been used to listening out for small sounds that the smaller, less powerful Duel Monsters let out when they were up to something behind the backs of those more powerful, lest he end up on the receiving end of one prank or another, heard her and turned to scowl at the Light Spellcaster, “I did have other duties at the…”
“Lord Mahado.” The Lord of the Dark Kingdom was interrupted by the arrival of Breaker, the Magical Warrior, “The Winged Wolf Pack you had us on the lookout for just landed in the courtyard. Their pack leader wants to talk with you, urgently.”
‘Wolf?’ Atem sent instantly, glad for the fact that he could communicate with the Duel Monsters telepathically linked to his link partners, just as they could talk to Mahado.
Pharaoh. Wolf sent back almost instantly, having never liked that the Pharaoh and the heir could contact him over the link he shared with the human he’d taken under his wing, occasionally literally, but thankful for the moment as it allowed him to pass on his message much faster then if he’d had to wait for someone to come down to see him, I know where Medan is holding my Cub and your Heir.
“Wolf knows where Medan’s keeping Yugi and Harry.” Atem said out loud.
Almost immediately there was an exodus for the courtyard.