Chapter 4: - Awakening
"Do you two have to be here?" Molly asked, exasperated as the two spirits Daniel and Nathaniel, who made up the Double Costan that answered to her twin sons darted around the kitchen for the third day since the Attack, causing almost as much mischief as their summoners as she tried to cook breakfast.
Unless our Duellists say otherwise... Daniel started.
Here we will stay. Nathaniel finished.
"Fred! George!"
The twins popped into the kitchen, literally, having passed their apparition tests just last week long ago, and made their mother jump a mile.
"Will you stop that!" Molly stormed at them, "You're as bad as your... your pets!"
We are not pets!
"They're not pets mum." Both sets of twins spoke at the same time, thoroughly creeping Molly out. She was used to twins syncing up or finishing each other's sentences, after all Fred and George weren't the only twins that did it, but this odd synchronisation of 'Duelist' and Monster was weird even for wizards.
However, Arthur bustled into the room before she could say anything else, reading the newspaper and looking a combination of concerned, angry and confused.
"Arthur?"
"Skeeter's up to her old tricks." He grimaced, "Listen to this...
Shadowmorn, Preventable?
Our intrepid reporter has uncovered startling information that indicates that proud leader of the Wizarding community, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, not only knew that the terrible tragedy that struck worldwide two days ago was a possibility, but took steps to ensure its passing.
Your faithful investigator's source, who wishes to remain anonymous for their own protection against these dangerous individuals was able to reveal details of the attack. Forced to turn to forbidden magics by the rogue Mutou clan ("Clan or Cult? Mutous revealed" Daily Prophet 27/02/94), adopted child of the ancient and noble Malfoy family Bakura (14) unwittingly released a spirit of unimaginable power: Shadow-Pharaoh Zorc.
Mutou, our source reveals, was responsible for maintaining the magic that stopped the Shadow-Pharaoh from escaping. Undoubtedly, it is through the influence of known malcontent, Harry Potter (16), that these seals were allowed to weaken to the point where a poor, misguided boy taken in by a struggling, yet generous Pureblood family ("Malfoy: Ruined" Daily Prophet 25/10/91) was able to bring them down.
As if these facts were not enough, it can be revealed that the Mutou clan have enslaved magical creatures to protect them from reprisals while they recover from their struggle to avoid the backlash from the Shadow Pharaoh's rampage. Pureblood scion Yugi Mutou (16), along with his Muggleborn serf Hermione Granger (14) remain comatose. It seems likely that soft-hearted Yugi stepped in to protect his loyal servant when Harry Potter and Yami Mutou (17) attempted to sacrifice her as part of the ritual that finally returned the Shadow Pharaoh to its seal. Concerns run high among the Japanese ministry that these two young heroes remain in the custody of these dangerous individuals.
- Rita Skeeter, your faithful newshound
Read more:
Best of Friends? Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black: The true story, page 16.
Tragic death of rival newspaper: The secrets of Xenophilius Lovegood, page 12.
Teenage Seer, discovered: Grieving Daughter forges on, page 6."
Arthur had barely finished speaking before the kitchen exploded with enough noise to set the portrait in the hall off and by the time they'd managed to get the curtain across it, silencing the huge portrait of Sirius's mother, the entire house was awake and had either read the article for themselves or were wondering what had exploded and why.
"Skeeter's a bi... g elephant," Fred quickly changed what he was going to say when he saw the look his mother was giving him, "None of that is true, well besides the fact that it was Yugi and Yami preventing the seal being broken..."
"She even got everyone's ages wrong!" George added.
"Plus we're the Domino Clan, not the Mutou Clan." Ginny growled.
"It's Rita Skeeter." Lupin sighed explosively as he flicked to page 6, "Over eighty percent of what she comes out with are lies, plus that quick-quotes quill of hers is preprogrammed to take everything out of context." He frowned for a moment as he started reading, "No one ever mentioned that Luna's a Seer..."
Before he could say anything else Ginny had snatched the paper away from him and started reading, a sickly look on her face that gave the impression of a weird combination of 'uh oh', 'bloody hell' and 'oops' before flicking through a diary she pulled out of her pocket and scowling when she realised she'd missed a slew of updates.
"Ginny?"
"Why is it all the interesting stuff happens while they're abroad?" She grumbled, ignoring the adults as she quickly scrawled something in the diary and shoved the book back into her pocket.
"Children." At her mother's warning tone the girl paid more attention and her brothers froze, having been midway out of the door when Molly had spoken. "What else haven't you told us?"
Ginny tried to remember exactly what she and her brothers had told the adults involved in the Order of the Phoenix during the debriefing they'd had just after the battle in the Great Hall during Shadowmorn. Her brothers, very helpfully, settled at the table and tucked into the breakfast that had been laid out in order to avoid talking.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked her mother, hoping that pulling off an innocent look would allow her to get away without spilling any other secrets that weren't really hers to spill.
No such luck.
"What else are you hiding? What other powers do your friends have that you haven't told us? How long have you known Luna was a Seer?"
"Uhhh..." Ginny looked to her brothers for assistance... "I don't know how much I can tell you..."
"Ginny. Tell us now or you'll be spending the rest of eternity cleaning the house from top to bottom and working for the House Elf..." Molly growled at her daughter.
"They're not my secrets to share..."
"Then share what you're allowed to share and we'll get the rest from the others when we see them." Lupin nudged the girl, noting that Molly's head on approach didn't appear to be working and rather impressed at the bravery the girl showed standing up to her mother to protect her friends.
Ginny hesitated a moment longer, biting her lower lip as she did so, then nodded, "Well... I suppose there's a few things that they wouldn't mind me sharing... I mean pretty much everyone at school knows about things like the Shadow Realm. The Malfoys kept spreading horror stories about it..."
"Then start there."
"Alright..."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
"Atem, you awake?" Joey asked, poking his head in the door to the room the Mutou 'twins' were sharing.
"No." The Pharaoh grouched at him, rolling over as he did so and pulling a pillow over his head, "Come back in an hour."
Joey chuckled as he slipped inside the room. He was tempted to send Akane in when she started work at ten to wake him up via four feet and 60 pounds of cat to the face, but deciding against it, "The Speaker's here. I'm not sure I can tell him to wait another hour."
Atem scowled as he sat up and glowered at the clock on his bedside table, "The Speaker's here at half past seven in the morning why?"
"Something about needing to know how Shadow Touched were policed back in your time..." Just Joey's words were enough to have Atem groaning.
"Fine, fine. I'll be down in a minute..." Joey turned to leave and closed the door behind him just as Atem asked the world in general where he'd put his bag with his spare clothes in.
The blonde grinned, well aware that Atem hadn't been a morning person since long before he'd gotten his body back. He'd asked the Pharaoh about it one cold winter morning while they'd been at Hogwarts and Atem had merely replied that it was "no longer necessary to rise with the sun and he was more than happy to stay curled up in his nice warm bed, thank you, and yes he would be up in time for class. Now go away."
A highly disgruntled looking Atem exited the bedroom not more than five minutes later, ordering Joey to stay with Yugi in case he woke up. He stalked downstairs, leaving Joey very glad that he wasn't the Minister. A newly woken Yami had never been particularly fun to deal with and he could imagine that now he had his memories and royal attitude back, dealing with a barely awake Atem would be even worse.
It wasn't long before Joey had company. Atem's foul mood had woken Harry, who had brought his spare cards through in order to work on his deck while Luna popped down to the kitchens to get breakfast.
"You're in an exhibition match today, aren't you?" Joey asked as Harry considered his cards carefully.
"The Wolf Prince against the Harpie Queen," The teenager nodded semi distractedly. "Mai and I have been duelling against each other so I need to change my deck, otherwise she'll know everything in it. You've got Seto tomorrow, haven't you?"
"Uh huh. Time to beat him on a much more public scale." Joey smirked, then he paused, "Sorry about the party, by the way..."
Harry blinked at him, confusion obvious. He hadn't really thought about his birthday bar a passing thought when he'd woken up first thing on Monday and realised that he was, in fact, fifteen years old now. With everything that had happened over the last few days he hadn't expected his friends to bring it up.
"It doesn't matter..." Harry shrugged. He'd known his friends had had a party planned for this evening, back when they'd thought they'd be gathering at the hotel in Kaibaland ready to fight in the finals the following morning. After everything that had happened over the last couple of days Harry would have been surprised if anyone remembered those plans, especially with the mood Atem was in. He could hardly blame them.
"You know what I'd like to know?" Harry asked, garnering an apologetic look from the other duellist as he frowned at the pair of cards in his hand. "What's Seto doing about the Duellists who booked spaces in the hotels in Kaibaland? I mean we're lucky. We have places to stay locally, but some of the others..."
"You'd have to ask Mokuba. He's got more idea of what his brother's doing than I do." Joey shrugged, wondering how long Kaiba would suffer having them living in his house before they were evicted and had to find somewhere else to sleep. "I'd have thought he was trying to sort it out. After all, he really wants this tournament to go without a hitch."
"Maybe we shouldn't compete then." A third voice spoke up. Harry's eyes shot towards the bed, but Joey just continued talking.
"Na, at this point it doesn't really..." The blonde trailed off as he realised who had spoken and he turned towards the bed to find amethyst eyes watching them as their owner slowly sat up, a small smile gracing his features.
"Hey guys."
"Yuge!" Joey's face lit up and he practically crushed his friend in a hug, pulling away quickly when Yugi gasped out something about needing to breathe. "You finally woke up!"
"Am I the last?" Yugi asked, biting his lower lip as he did so, looking concerned.
"Hermione's still out." Harry shook his head, wishing he had some better news for his friend. He reopened the link, noting the worry that spiked through Yugi at the news, "But the healers say she should be fine. Everyone else is up and about. All our friends survived the Attack too."
"What happened to Hermione? And what 'Attack'?" Yugi's asked, his words coming out as an irritated demand, throwing both of his friends, "What has been going on?"
"You've been unconscious for two and a half days, Yuge. There's a lot to tell you." Joey frowned. Harry gently nudged the link, something that he had been doing more and more recently to help Atem keep his mind in the present, causing Yugi to blink at him. Harry felt his friend's emotions shift, the irritation fading to be replaced by a much more Yugi like concern. "While we were fighting Zorc in the Memory World, the Shadows were swarming the real world..."
Yugi's face went as close to white as possible as shock and fear set in heavily. Harry found it unsurprising, considering how hard Yugi and his friends had fought over the years to prevent just that from happening.
'Yugi?' That Atem would respond to Yugi's surge of emotions was also unsurprising and the sheer relief and delight in the Pharaoh's tone and his emotions was obvious. 'Thank Ra you're awake.'
"Sorry to worry you..." Harry felt a little like an intruder as he felt Atem send reassurance over the link and felt Yugi's mind subconsciously respond to the self conditioning of almost a decade, causing Yugi's face to regain some of its colour and his emotions to unwind slightly.
"You alright Yuge?" Joey asked, concerned for his friend and wondering if there was something left over from the Shadow Game that he hadn't been aware of.
"Yes, I'm fine." Yugi nodded at him, promising the Pharaoh that he'd speak to him when Atem got out of his meeting, "But what happened? I thought the Shadows couldn't be released without Yami and I dying..."
Harry scowled slightly, "We thought you were dead. I don't know what happened in the Memory World to cause it, but Wolf told me you'd been killed."
Memories flickered across Yugi's mind, both from the ancient past and from much more recent history and Harry managed to catch some of them. One of those memories threw the teenager completely and he just stared at his friend, waiting for a moment to voice his question, "It's possible that the Shadows were freed either when Zorc was released in the Game, even if he couldn't escape without killing Atem, or before I got the chance to..."
Joey just nodded as Yugi trailed off, thinking either possibility valid but Harry just stared at his friend.
"You brought Yami back from the dead?" Harry stated in a shocked tone that made Yugi wince, "How?"
"It wasn't technically... Okay in the game world he was dead but..." Yugi sighed, trying to work out exactly what he had done for himself, "Basically since he and I are the same person, half of Atem's power was with me when Zorc killed the 'avatar' or game piece that represented Atem in the Game. I gave up my life points to restore that power to him and pull the 'real' Atem back from the Shadow Realm. I think it worked because it was still his power and with it restored to his avatar he still technically had Ba, so he hadn't technically lost, but..." Yugi shook his head, "You guys have about as much clue as I do."
"So could you do that any other time?" Harry asked, wondering if Ombre could have saved Kari if they had truly been a yami and hikari pair.
"I don't know and no offence but I'd rather not try it." Yugi shook his head as he spoke, "I mean it might be possible, we've saved each other's lives before, but that was the first time one of us has ever tried bringing the other back from the dead and to be honest I wasn't sure it was going to work. It was more an act of desperation than anything. I'm just glad it worked."
"You're not the only one." Joey snorted. "I like living, thanks."
Guilt crossed Yugi's features, making Harry wonder what exactly had happened while they were inside the game. If Harry asked, Yugi would share the memories with him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to take the risk. If Yugi's memories were as disorganised as Atem's it was possible that Harry would get the ancient memories of the fight with Zorc rather than the modern ones. Somehow he didn't think that anyone needed three versions of the same ancient Pharaoh wandering around. One was bad enough and Harry had a feeling that unless someone helped Yugi keep on track, there would be two of them on occasion...
Yugi went to get out of bed and found himself blocked by Joey, causing confusion to cross his features. "What...?"
"Kaiba called in Dr. Hoshigawa, Yuge." Joey warned, in the same sort of tone that the gang often used when talking about Madam Pomfrey, one of fearful respect, "And you know he's going to want to see you before you get out of bed."
"But I'm hungry..." Harry stared at his friend whose complaint had been punctuated by his stomach rumbling, pretty certain that was as close to whiny brat mode as he had ever heard from the twenty three year old who he'd shared a dorm room with for the last four years.
Joey just chuckled however. "Tell you what, you stay here and I'll get the Healers and go get you something to..."
"No need to get us, Wheeler-San." Healer Akata spoke as she walked into the room, followed by Dr. Hoshigawa and Serenity, who waved cheekily at Yugi, "We were just about to start our rounds anyway."
Joey blinked at the clock, becoming surprised when he realised that it was eight already, before his mood shifted towards amusement at the look of surprise on Yugi's face that had dawned when Serenity had appeared with the healers.
"I would recommend that you and Potter-San go and get him something to eat though." Dr. Hoshigawa basically dismissed them from the room, "After all you lot eat like horses when you first wake up after these things."
Joey chuckled nervously, making Yugi wonder how much Joey had cost Seto on food already, before leaving with Harry, abandoning him to the three healers' tender mercies.
"Good morning Mutou-San." Akata spoke, bowing to Yugi, who bowed back as best he could from his bed, "Now your friends are out of the room, how are you feeling?"
Yugi had learned better than to lie to the Doctors over the years and considered himself carefully before he answered. "My Ba's almost fully restored and I feel fine in myself, no headaches or exhaustion, unlike the last time, but..." A look of confusion crossed Yugi's features, "I feel weird, drained somehow..."
"I have a couple of tests I'd like to go through with you, Mutou-San." The Doctor told his patient as Serenity started casting diagnostic spells, "Then I think my colleague has a couple..."
"If I might ask," Yugi spoke, looking to the unknown healer when Akata nodded, "Who are you? And where am I?"
"You're in the Kaiba Mansion." Yugi's regular doctor explained, amused by his colleagues' surprise that Yugi hadn't asked anyone before now considering that Yugi had probably been more concerned with the health and safety of his friends than his surroundings, "Kaiba-San visited the Game Shop Tuesday afternoon and noted the complete lack of space available. So he had you all moved here for treatment."
"I'll have to thank him later." Yugi nodded.
"And this is my colleague, Healer Akata Yuna. I believe you already know her apprentice." Hoshigawa continued, "They've been assigned to your cases by the Ministry."
"Uh oh." Yugi face palmed. "We're in trouble, aren't we?"
"No, not with everything the Ministry, Kaiba-San and your brother have been up to. There aren't many who blame you lot for what happened. Malfoy Bakura on the other hand..." Hoshigawa scowled.
"What happened to Bakura?" Yugi asked, fully aware that Bakura would never have been allowed to stay within a hundred foot of them, but able to sense the Millennium Ring nearby. "Is he under arrest or..."
"You don't know?" Akata asked as she cast her spells and Serenity took notes, "Malfoy Bakura is dead. Killed by his own actions."
Yugi's shoulders sank, though he'd half suspected that that would be the case as Hoshigawa took his blood pressure.
"Yami?" He felt the Pharaoh stiffen slightly at Yugi's call, "Sorry but what happened to Shadi and the Millennium Ring?"
'I haven't seen Shadi in years, but the Key and the Scales are in Seto's private vault along with the Ring.' Atem sent back, 'Seto found them by the tablet.'
"Shadi was the one who helped us get into the Puzzle when you were sucked into the Memory World." Yugi informed the Pharaoh, "We lost track of him once we split up. Joey and I headed for your tomb, Seto and Hermione went to the palace and Shadi disappeared completely. I figured he went to find you..."
Yugi trailed off when the Healer gave him a funny look. "Are you sure there's nothing else wrong, Mutou-San?"
"No, no." Yugi hastily reassured her as Hoshigawa undid the arm cuff and took a blood sample, "I was just thinking." At someone else, but she didn't need to know that.
"Well everything seems to be fine." Akata nodded with a slight frown, "But I've one concern..." She passed him his wand, "Cast a basic levitation spell please."
Yugi nodded, though a frown graced his features as he took the golden stick from the Healer. It didn't feel the same in his hand. It felt almost lifeless... He pointed his wand at the cup on his bedside table, "Wingardium Leviosa."
It didn't move.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Once again the cup stayed exactly where it was.
Yugi frowned and tried to draw from the well of magic that was inside him only to find that it was almost dry. There was almost nothing there for him to call on. "Uh..."
"I was afraid of this." Akata sighed, "We were able to restore your life energy but your magic's another matter."
"It's not the first time I've used up almost my entire store." Yugi murmured, "It always comes back before I wake up though..."
"Ah but normally I don't have magic to aid the healing process." Hoshigawa spoke up, frowning, "Akata-Sensei's potions woke you up much faster than anything I've managed to come up with so far."
"It's possible that when he recovers the Muggle way, his magic regenerates at the same rate as his... you call Ki 'Ba', don't you?" Yugi nodded at Serenity's question, "Ba. However our potions topped up his Ba without touching his magical reserves..."
"So he's still running on empty magically speaking," Akata sounded thoughtful as she spoke, "But has enough life energy to be awake and coherent... huh...interesting..." Yugi sighed lightly at being spoken about as if he wasn't there and got a small, amused smile from the Muggle Doctor who was packing up his equipment.
The doctors continued to talk as they left the room after ordering Yugi to stay in bed unless he wanted them to set Atem on him. Joey slipped in behind them with a huge tray of food.
"Feeling hungry, Yuge?" Joey grinned at him, the smile fading slightly when he saw the look on Yugi's face. "What'd the doctors say?"
Yugi, whose face lit up with relief when he managed to summon a tiny orb of light which hovered just above his palm only for his expression to dim when it went out by itself within seconds, let out a heavy sigh, "I'll be fine." He started tucking into his food, "You said you had a lot to tell me?"
Joey nodded as he stole food from Yugi's plate, frowning slightly but willing to let it go for now. "I'm just trying to work out where to start..."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
"Atem, can I have a word?"
The Pharaoh paused, frustrated at being prevented from reaching his hikari's side yet again, having not yet had the chance to speak face to face with Yugi since the hikari had woken up. He quickly hid the irritation away, trying to ignore the amusement sent his way by both of his link partners, one of whom was still in bed at the orders of the Doctors, the other just stepping into a limo bound for Kaibaland Asia and his exhibition match with Mai.
Turning to face the speaker he found himself face to face with a wary Sirius Black, who bowed respectfully to the powerful wizard before him. Atem bowed back not quite as deeply, taking the moment to urge Harry to get going before he was late over the link before straightening and asking, "Of course."
"Privately."
Atem blinked at him but nodded, wondering what Sirius could possibly have to talk to him about that required privacy. He apologised to both his link partners and closed his end of the link before stepping into one of the small, intimate sitting rooms that seemed to take up most of the mansion.
"How can I help?" Atem asked as he settled on the arm of the sofa.
"I'm taking Dudley and heading back to England." Sirius replied, leaning against the door.
Atem blinked at him, a little surprised by this sudden turn around considering that Sirius had, only days ago, been talking about making the move to Japan a permanent one. "May I ask why?"
"I don't know if I should tell..." Sirius sighed when he caught the look on Yami's face, "It's better that you know now, rather than later. There's a prophecy."
"We know." Atem growled.
Sirius snorted, "Harry said that too. I don't mean the one Luna spouted the other day."
"You don't?" Atem instantly went on high alert, "There's another new prophecy?"
Sirius nearly asked about the derogatory and slightly frustrated way Atem said 'another' but he had much more important things to worry about.
"It's not really new. It's been around since before Harry was born. It's why Harry's parents were killed."
"And what does this prophecy say?" Atem asked in a low growl, wondering why such important information had been withheld from them. While Harry, Ron and Hermione were still underage, the others in the 'Gryffindor Seven' were not and Harry had proved himself to be capable of handling anything that was thrown against him...
"I'm not sure of the full details, but it's why Voldemort wants to kill Harry so badly." Sirius happened to agree with the Pharaoh's tone, "And it was important enough for Dumbledore to send Lily and James into hiding. That's why I'm going back. I want to see if I can find out what it is."
"You're leaving Harry behind?" Atem asked curiously, "Because of the ICoW?"
"Partly." Sirius allowed, "Partly because he's safer with you than he is with the Order right now."
"Order? What Order?"
"All I can tell you is that Dumbledore has brought the Order of the Phoenix together and they're working against Voldemort." The dog animagus informed him, "Even if they don't seem like it on occasion, they are on your side. Don't Shadow Game them."
"I wouldn't Shadow Ga..."
"You would if you thought they were a threat." Sirius interrupted him with an amused look that clearly stated he knew otherwise, "That's why I have a request for you..."
"Go on." Atem encouraged when Sirius trailed off.
"Guard Harry."
"Of course I'll..."
"I don't mean like you have been, like he's just another one of your friends. Guard him like you'd guard Yugi. Like he really is another piece of your soul, like the link you share pretends he is."
Atem watched Sirius carefully as the dog animagus continued.
"Dumbledore doesn't trust you. He never did. He only allowed you in the school because he thought he could manipulate Yugi into giving up the Puzzle and the power over the Shadows but apparently even his spells couldn't break the link between your souls. If you give him a chance, he'll try and talk Harry into going back to England, alone, for the Greater Good. You can't allow that to happen."
The Pharaoh scowled. "I won't. We caught onto the fact that Dumbledore was manipulating us a while ago, but it was necessary to return to Hogwarts, both because of our friends and because we didn't know anywhere else where we could get training in wand magic, since the Japanese Ministry didn't see fit to announce their presence to us before the Attack." Atem's scowl deepened as he spoke, "However I didn't realise that he'd spent the last four years trying to separate light and dark. He couldn't have known that doing so would have sent Yugi insane until after I was petrified during second year... Oh no..."
Sirius blinked as Atem's mood shifted completely. "Separate light and dark? What do you mean?"
"Remember what I explained the other day? About Pharaoh Atem's soul being split into two, leaving Yugi and I in his place?"
Sirius nodded.
"Well when our soul was split, it was divided into light, Yugi, and dark, me and before you say it dark doesn't mean evil." Atem growled irritably, having had quiet enough of that from various other sources. "But we weren't the only soul split into two, the Thief King that caused Zorc to rise during my reign in Egypt was also split in two. Those parts became Ryou Bakura, the light, and..."
"Bakura Malfoy." Sirius finished. "So what happens to Ryou now? I thought you said Yugi would go insane if he lost you."
"He would. He has, temporarily, before now." Atem grimaced, "Just as I did on the occasions I lost him."
"Then Ryou..."
"While you're in England, if you could keep an eye out for him, I would appreciate it. I'm hoping that the Tomb Robber set something up to support his hikari in the off chance he lost, but..." Atem sighed, "If he hasn't, Ryou's magic will become erratic, his mental state will slowly degenerate and eventually he'll burn himself out."
"I will do and if there's anything I can do to help him... wait..." Sirius paused and stared at Atem, "I thought you said you were planning on heading to the afterlife soon."
"I am." Atem nodded.
Sirius growled. If he'd been in dog form his hackles would have risen, "How can you even think about leaving when you know what it'll do to Yugi?"
Atem's shoulders sank. He'd thought about it many times. What his departure could do to his light. It was once of the reasons that Atem had hesitated so long to get his memories back. "We've been informed that there's one last task we need to perform before we can split. The Rite of the Duel. I phoned Ishizu to ask about it. Apparently the successor to the throne fights the current Pharaoh in a duel. I've been informed that when I can accept defeat gracefully and Yugi can defeat me at my most powerful, that is when we'll be able to split without either of us going crazy."
Sirius didn't say anything for a moment, but Atem watched as the dog animagus processed his words and then, finally, nodded, "Alright. But you and Yugi aren't allowed to do this 'Rite of the Duel' thing until I come back. Got it?"
"Even if you hadn't entrusted Harry's care to me, I wouldn't leave until after Voldemort was dealt with anyway." Yami promised.
"Good. " Sirius looked relieved, "Now, I should get my stuff up together. I plan on leaving before Harry gets back from his match."
"You're just going to leave without any explanation?" Now it was Atem's turn to show his anger at the other.
"Harry would understand..."
"Harry would look like he understood and Yugi and I would be the one who had to pick up the pieces." The Pharaoh snapped, "Have you even mentioned to Harry in passing that you were considering heading back to England? Or was he under the same impression I was. That you were planning on settling down here?"
"He knows someone has to go and find out the Prophecy, but he was talking about getting Dumbledore to come here rather than anyone going there."
"Do. Not. Leave. Before. Tonight." Atem growled at him.
"Why?" Sirius demanded, angry that Atem appeared to think he had the right to demand things of him as if he was one of his subjects.
"Because we've got something planned and you'll wreck it if you leave now..."
LINE_REOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
Harry drew, glanced at the card and then turned his attention back to the playing field, trying to ignore the roar of the crowds, wondering how long it would take for him to get as used to the crowds that surrounded any duel where there were big names competing.
Of course it didn't help his disconcert that half of the people here weren't here to cheer for Mai, who had been in the circuit much longer than Yugi and the others, but for the new guy. The up and coming Duellist that had been picked as the next major contender to go up against the past and present Kings of Games.
"Oi, Domino." Mai called across the space, startling Harry, who still wasn't used to people referring to him as 'Harry Domino', which was what it said on his Duellist ID as part of the disguise he used when Duelling in public, along with his bandana, his Muggle clothes and his contact lenses, oh how he loved contact lenses, minus the poking himself in the eye problem even if he couldn't seem to get them via Owl Post during term time... "Are you going to make a move or not?"
Harry considered the field carefully. He wasn't stupid. His Winged Wolf Pack, their attack points boosted by having others on the field with 'Wolf' in their name, should have been a match for Mai's Harpie's Pet Dragon, but he had a bad feeling about Mai's face down card. He'd hesitated to attack last turn because of it and it had cost him his Gold Winged Wolf and nearly cost him the last of his life points.
Having fought Mai multiple times over the last couple of months, he was pretty certain that the card Mai had face down was Harpy Lady Phoenix Formation, but then he'd thought that the last two times and he'd used up his spell and trap destroying cards destroying an inactivated Harpie's Hunting Ground and Mai's Mirror Wall trap.
He couldn't keep being cautious though. Not if he wanted to win and he did. Mai was the only one he'd ever gone up against in a tournament that had been able to defeat him on multiple occasions and though the pair of them were neck a neck now on wins and losses, here, when he knew that his friends would be watching online, he didn't want to lose.
"Alright Mai!" Harry called, throwing his arm forward and trying not to giggle at the thought that he'd picked up Atem's dramatic tendencies when it came to Duelling. "My Wolf Pack are going to tear your dragon apart!"
"Are you sure you want to be doing that?" Mai asked smugly.
Harry hesitated momentarily then nodded, "Winged Wolf Pack! Attack!"
The pack leapt at the dragon, whose 2700 attack points were no match for their 3100. The dragon exploded as Harry's wolves bit down on its neck and tail, taking out the rest of Mai's life points.
The crowd exploded with noise, both cheers and groans, a marked difference from how they had been at the start of the duel, when they'd been half afraid that the monsters being summoned would turn on them, just like the Zorc possessed Duel Monsters who had attacked after Yami's fall had.
"Well played, Harry." Mai shook his hand. "Of course you realise that during the tournament it's going to be a different matter, right?"
"We'll see." Harry had just enough time to smirk back before they were descended upon by the masses. Harry wriggled his way through, glad that he was only a couple of inches taller than Yugi, allowing him to slip through the crowds just as easily, leaving the much more experienced Mai to deal with the adoring fans while he used the loo.
He narrowly dodged the press, who had had a brief talk with both Duellists before their match started but hadn't seemed too interested in them after they'd basically told them the same thing as everyone else they'd asked about the fighting at Kaibaland and darted around the back of a ride, taking a short cut he'd noticed only to crash into someone. Literally.
He bounced back and landed on his butt, letting out a yelp that was more shock than pain, only to get an amused chuckle back in return, "Need a hand, Domino?"
Harry blinked and looked up at the sound of an American accent to find himself looking up at a tall woman with long black hair and brown eyes, who was offering him a hand up. He took it with a smile.
"Thank you." Harry nodded, "Are you here for the tournament?"
"That and a little bit more." She chuckled, "Mel Brown, a pleasure to meet the Winged Wolf Prince." She bowed jokingly, causing Harry to look embarrassed.
"No need to bow. I'm no one important." He informed her, unsure what to say now and trying not to think about his friends, who deserved this Duellist's respect far more than he did. "Wait, are you the Mel Brown who helped Tristan out during the Attack?"
"The Press are calling it Shadowmorn now." Mel informed him before pausing, "You know Tristan Taylor?"
"He's a friend of a friend." Harry explained, wary of telling any Duelist, no matter how nice they might seem, that he was friends with Yugi after all the tales he'd heard.
"Nice bloke, shame about who he's thrown his lot in with." Mel sighed wistfully.
"What?" Harry frowned, confused.
"Well, the King of Games presumes to make decisions for all of us without even asking anyone outside his group of friends. From what I hear he can't even be consulting with his brother, since Yugi's still comatose."
"No, he woke up today." Harry spoke before he thought then paused and looked at Mel properly, making a mental note to inform Atem that some Duellists objected to not being given a say in the rules being laid down, "Yami does have the most experience with the Shadows." He offered, frowning slightly.
"Still..." She sighed at him, "It doesn't seem fair to me. We should give him a piece of our mind. After all, he might listen to a powerful Shadow Touched like yourself, where those with weaker powers might fail..."
"Yami Mutou is a good person. What he's doing protects all of us from governments seeking vengeance for what happened on Tuesday." The scowl Harry gained seemed to frighten the woman, "Now if you don't mind, I'm leaving."
Harry turned to leave but the woman caught his arm. Almost instantly Wolf was at his side, snarling and baring his teeth at Mel.
"Just a warning Domino." Mel said as she let go of Harry's arm and backed off, "I've heard rumours that the Mutou dynasty might not last much longer."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
Are you sure about this Yugi?" Atem asked, worried as Yugi ran his hand over the Millennium Key, which had been removed from the vault by Mokuba at Yugi's request, "I mean this could be dangerous. You should let me do it."
Yugi shook his head, "No, you need to be out here and aware, just in case someone comes calling. Besides, this was my daft idea and with Aylth's help I'll be perfectly fine."
Atem didn't like it. Though he agreed that Hermione should have woken before Yugi considering that Yugi had been draining himself to boost the strength of his link partners, he didn't think that letting Yugi do this was the best idea... "Yugi, you have no magic. If something happens..."
"Yami, Hermione's soul is in her body which means I should be entering her Soul Room and it's not like I'm going alone. Aylth's coming with me, she'll look after me, right Aylth?"
I'll protect Yugi from harm. I promise you that, my Pharaoh. Aylth, the Millennium Witch who was captain of the forces within Hermione's deck, bowed to Atem.
It didn't ease the Pharaoh's concerns any. "I know one of us needs to stay out here to anchor the other but why does it have to be me."
"Because I can sense your soul easily and you can follow me using your magic. I'm going to have to borrow magic from you either way otherwise I'm basically a Muggle. It's better that you stay out here for now, in case something goes wrong while I'm gone, than I stay and you or Hermione get hurt. I can borrow just enough of your magic to use the Key and enter Hermione's Soul Room."
"I don't like it."
"I know you don't, Yami." The Pharaoh's scowl softened at Yugi's soft, almost pleading, tone, "But Hermione could be lost or trapped or hurt..."
"Alright, alright." Atem sighed, "I understand..." The Pharaoh pushed some of his magic over the link to his hikari, who accepted it with practised ease before picking up the Millennium Key.
Ready, Prince Yugi? Aylth asked, just as concerned as the Pharaoh.
"I'm ready." Yugi nodded, touching the tip of the Millennium Key to Hermione's forehead.
'Be careful, Yugi...'
Yugi turned the key.
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
"Black, we need to talk."
Sirius blinked and turned to look at Ombre, giving the young woman a soft smile as he spoke, "Ombre, hi. How can I help?"
"I'm coming with you."
"What?" Sirius practically barked, "You can't be serious."
"No, I believe that's your job."
Sirius paused at her dead pan tone and then couldn't help the snigger that escaped. "Hey, I'm glad to see your sense of humour's returning."
Ombre shot him a sharp look back, "I'm serious about going back to England with you though."
"Why? Why would you come back?" Sirius wanted to know, unwilling to take her into danger if it was for no good reason.
"Unlike the others, I wish to return to England. I'm going to leave the Orb here, but I can fulfil the duty bestowed upon me by my sister by going back and helping deal with Voldemort there, rather than hang back here with the others."
"Your duty?"
"Her last wishes." Ombre explained, pain entering her tone, "Protect her friends and look after Hermione. Hermione has plenty of guardians here and I, obviously, cannot protect her as I should have protected Kari, but there are many other ways of looking after people, and helping get rid of some of their more dangerous foes will go a long way towards that goal."
"You want to join the Order of the Phoenix." Sirius realised with a sharp intake of breath.
"Before you get the wrong idea, it's not that the others wouldn't fight. It's that they currently can't." Ombre defended her friends, "They can't afford to be away from reality for nine months of the year any more. Everyone is going to be looking to them for answers and stability. Nor can they return to England at the moment even if they were free to do so, not with the ICoW demanding blood. Since the death of my light, I appear to have slipped under their radar, so I should be fine re-entering the country."
Sirius nodded slightly though he took offence at the Wizarding World being classed as outside of reality, "And you know how to handle anything involving the Shadows that Voldemort might throw at us."
"I'm not as proficient as Yugi or Atem, but I have the knowledge and I have other skills. Plus the Shadows are frightened of me because I'm not one of theirs. I can be useful to the Order, either at school age or my 'true' age. On top of that, getting into the Order allows me a chance to get to know the people behind my friends and keep an eye on Dumbledore."
"You don't trust him."
Ombre snorted her amusement at the comment, "Of course not. Not after everything I've seen over the last four years. However he does hold a lot of sway and he is a danger to my friends if pushed the wrong way."
"You can't Shadow Game Dumbledore if he irritates you."
She just smirked. "Who said anything about Shadow Games, Black? My magic isn't of that type. I have a little of course, given to me by the Clan ritual, but my magic is of light."
"Okay, you can't 'Light' Game Dumbledore either."
"You have no idea what we're really capable of do you?" Ombre asked, sniggering at the idea of a 'Light Game'.
Sirius just shrugged. "I pick things up quickly enough."
"True." The Princess sighed.
"Going back to our previous topic, I'd be worried about your safety if you came back." Sirius brought the conversation back around and noticed Ombre's face grow guarded.
"Black..."
"Call me Sirius."
"Sirius, there's something you have to understand. My light is dead. This is as much about fulfilling her last wish as it is wanting to do something that can really help my friends before I go insane and fade away." Ombre sighed, "I've lasted longer than most because we were not a true hikari-yami pair, but the Orb gave Kari what she wanted, a dark to protect her from the world, and it made her my counterbalance. I may not truly be a split soul, but my mind, body and magic react as if I were. That was how I was created. So, just like any dark that's neglectful or idiotic enough to let their light die, I have a limited time left."
Sirius's mind couldn't get past one point, "You were created?"
"Technically, I suppose..." Ombre shrugged, "At the subconscious direction of the wielder of the Orb of Light a protector was created to guard she who wields the Orb's power. As she was subconsciously seeking a dark half, believing her soul to be torn in two due to the loss of her twin, the Orb reached into its memory banks and used, as its base, the wielder who looked closest to the holder at the time. A couple more subconsciously planted memories and here I am..."
"Can't you find another holder to sustain you?" Sirius asked, "Act as their yami, rather than fade away?"
"It doesn't work like that." Ombre shook her head. "For each yami and hikari there can be only one. Only one who balances them out. Only one who holds the key to their sanity. I wasn't created any differently." She paused, and then spoke thoughtfully, "Though Harry's recent addition to the Mutou twins leaves me with hope. After all, if someone can join the link, maybe I can forge a new one, but it would have to be with 'a half soul made whole'."
"Huh?"
"Only a twin who has lost their other half can use the Orb of Light." Ombre's face darkened, "And believe me you don't want to know about some of the rituals people used over the years in order to get access to the knowledge and power the Orb holds."
Even without the look on her face Sirius would have believed her. After all he knew plenty of people who would do insanely evil things just for a taste of the sort of power that Ombre and the others wielded so easily. "And you're leaving it behind?"
"It's safer with the Item holders then with me right now, especially after I return to England and I have other ways to defend myself. Using the Orb I can store memories and use telekinesis, using the powers the Orb gave me when I was formed, I can do so much more. Plus..." Suddenly her wand was in her hand and twirling between her fingers, "I can do plenty of damage with this."
"True." Sirius allowed. "Fine but I have one condition to you coming with me."
"Oh?" Ombre's left eyebrow raised, "What's that?"
"You have to tell the others." Sirius grinned at the look Ombre gained, "No sneaking out the door tomorrow morning."
"But..."
"No." Sirius's tone grew sharp, "I know you have no intention of returning to Japan until this is all over and if your Orb doesn't fall into the hands of another 'half made whole', you'll fade away before that happens and never see them again. Don't take away their only chance of saying goodbye."
Ombre turned her face away and let out a heavy sigh. "Do you practise guilt tripping or does it come naturally?" She asked, her voice thick with emotion.
"I don't have to practice any more. I'm a Master in Guilt Trip Fu." Sirius replied, "Now come on. I know neither of us feel like it, but there's something this evening we should both attend..."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
Harry was tired when he arrived back at the Kaiba Mansion. The Duel itself hadn't taken much out of him, but the whole set to with Mel and the press had made him fond of the idea of collapsing into bed. Unfortunately he was met at the door by a rather rushed looking Mokuba, who handed him an energy restorative and apologised, stating that he was needed in a meeting and would he please go down the hallway on the left, then take a right and then enter the main dining hall.
Even with those simple directions he got lost, eventually having to resort to attempting to sense Atem, who he knew would be in the meeting, only to find that both he and Yugi were blocking him for some unknown reason. This only served to irritate the teen further and when he finally reached the dining hall he was about ready to chew someone's head off.
Making a mental note to ask if they could have food brought into the meeting, Harry opened the door to find the room in pitch darkness.
"Hello?" Harry called, confused as to what was going on as he stepped into the room, drawing his wand with one hand and flipping the light switch with the other.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Harry jumped a mile and nearly dropped his wand at the wave of sound that hit him all at once as the lights came on and his friends all jumped out.
"W...What?" Harry demanded, heart hammering away in his chest as he looked around with zero comprehension at his friends, the gifts they held and the food on the table which included what looked like a large golden snitch made out of icing... there had to be something on the inside of all that icing, surely...
"He's forgotten what tonight was supposed to be." Joey chuckled. "Sorry Atem, I think we broke him."
"You like breaking my link partners." Atem grouched as Harry's mind caught up with events and he remembered the birthday party.
"But I thought..."
"Just because we couldn't have it where we originally planned to have it, doesn't mean we'd forgotten." Joey smirked.
"The first gift of the evening should be here in a moment or two." Atem said casually, enjoying seeing Harry's eyes light up much the same way they had that first Christmas at Hogwarts and silently damning the Dursley parents for the horrendous handling of his friend, "But it's fragile, so you'll have to be careful."
Harry nodded in bare comprehension and moved away from the doors, still taking in the sight of the balloons and the cake and the candles and the...
The doors opened again and a weary looking Yugi stepped through, supporting an awake but sleepy looking Hermione.
"Happy Birt..." That was as far as the pair got before Harry had crossed the gap and hugged them tightly.
"Sorry it's a bit late." Yugi apologised as Harry pulled away, opening the link with his friend and grinning slightly at the fact he had never sensed Harry as happy as he was in that moment. "But I hope you like your present. It was a pain to carry..." He gestured to Hermione, who swatted him.
Yugi just grinned at her as Harry took over supporting Hermione and led her over to the buffet table to get something to eat.
"I'm glad she woke up when she did, but how?" Sirius asked Atem as they watched the trio at the table. "The Healers didn't think she'd..."
"Yugi." Atem said with no small amount of pride, "He worked out that with the Puzzle's Unity, the Key's powers and a little help from both myself and Aylth, Hermione's partner monster, he could enter Hermione's mind and help her find her way back to her body."
Sirius's eyes widened, "Seriously? Wasn't that dangerous?"
"She's a member of his Court and much more importantly she's a friend. Yugi will always risk his own safety when his friends are involved." Atem shrugged, trying not to remember the emotions that had run rampant as he'd played anchor to ensure that Yugi could safely get back to his own body from wherever Hermione had gotten lost to.
"How can you be so calm when..."
"He's not," Joey put the Pharaoh in a headlock, attracting the attention of the three at the table, "But he's a good actor."
"Joey, put Yami down." Harry called across the room, "Or I won't let you have any of my cake."
Joey immediately released the Pharaoh who rubbed his neck and rolled his eyes, more than used to Joey's antics after almost a decade. Before he could say anything to the blonde, however, Joey had picked up the present he'd gotten and darted over to Harry, eager to be second before someone could hand Harry a gift that blew his out of the water.
"Why do you let them get away with so much?" Sirius asked Atem, amused by the Pharaoh's complete lack of concern.
"They're my friends." Atem replied as if it explained everything, watching as Harry unwrapped Joey's gift slowly, once again savouring the fact he had family and friends willing to give him presents and that, shockingly, Dudley wasn't going to take them away as he had in the past. Probably, Harry assumed, because his cousin was too frightened of his friends to try.
It was quite a turn around...
A thought popped into Harry's head. "Hey Joey?"
"Yes Harry?" The blonde asked, pausing in what Harry was certain were his efforts to build the world's tallest tower of food to look at him.
"You apologised about the party earlier... I thought it wasn't going to happen." Harry gave Joey an amused look, trying to avoid giving away the fact that Yugi was in the process of stealing a sandwich off of Joey's plate, mostly because he couldn't avoid seeing whether he could play Jenga with Joey's food tower.
"Heh. We didn't think Kaiba's permission to hold it here, but someone whose name I won't mention..." Joey glanced across the room to where Atem was talking to Sirius, "Managed to get Rich Boy's permission to hold it here and managed to organise us well enough that we got everything set up without you having a clue. Hey!" Joey noticed what Yugi was up to and moved his plate away causing Yugi to give him a sheepish grin. "Get your own!"
"You sure you don't want to stick around for this?" Sirius nudged Ombre as Atem joined his friends at the table.
"It's to preserve moments like this that we must leave." Ombre replied, her tone low, not wanting to be overheard, "They're going to get fewer and further apart if this war drags on..."
"Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
While Harry was celebrating his fifteenth birthday with his friends, Maximillian Pegasus was sat in his office with his head in his hands.
His company was safe, the various press releases, the announcement of a real magical ministry in Japan, along with proof and the recent exhibition matches that both he and Kaiba had set up, had seen to that, but the last two days had been nothing but meeting after meeting after press conference after meeting. Even with the help of his children, the ones he'd adopted while he'd been married to his darling Cecelia and raised to take over his company once he was gone, the semi-retired head of Industrial Illusions was feeling the pressure.
Thinking about his children, Yako, Gekko, Depre and Richie, helped Pegasus unwind slightly and as he moved away from his desk and moved to stand over by the window, he thought once again about which one of them he was going to choose to take over from him when he finally stood down.
He'd kept them out of his less well known and more disreputable practises, the four of them had been in college or university studying business and law when he'd attempted to take over Kaiba Corp, and he'd worked hard over the years to make sure that they had the best of everything.
In exchange his four sons were incredibly loyal to him and the company, any one of them would make a fine CEO, but he had to consider their strengths and weaknesses, their talents and abilities, their personalities and preferences, and he had to keep in mind the thoughts and feelings of his other children. Whoever he put in charge of Industrial Illusions would be in charge of their brothers and that would cause bad feeling, it might even split the close band of brothers.
That was something that Pegasus didn't want and it was one of the myriad of reasons that he had yet to choose from among his heirs. When he did, he'd have his will rewritten and, when the time was right, he'd pass the reins of the company over to his heir, until that time...
"Are these them?"
Pegasus froze momentarily as he caught the reflection of someone in the night darkened window before wheeling around, hand reaching for his wand as he found himself face to face with a man in a black hooded robe and a white mask.
"Are these the Dark Gods?" The man asked again, examining the three cards in his hand. "Are these the cards said to be stronger than those held by the King of Games?"
Pegasus scowled at the question. The three cards, The Wicked Eraser, The Wicked Dreadroot and The Wicked Avatar were the creation of one of his sons and he had been trying to work out what to do with them.
Yako had been proud of the set of three, which had been completed just an hour before Shadowmorn had struck, had claimed that he'd inspired by a reoccurring dream, that he had worked on the three of them on his own. Pegasus wouldn't have been surprised if it was true. Yako and his twin brother Gekko had always been more sensitive to magic and the power behind the game of Duel Monsters than their brothers.
However those three cards were never going to be released to the public. Yako himself had told his father that they were twisted and that he wanted his father's opinion on what to do with them. That had been why they had been on Pegasus's desk in the first place.
"Of course they are." The man continued twirling a card in his other hand as Pegasus went to speak. A Battle Ox appeared out of nowhere before Pegasus could react and knocked the wizard down. The huge Beast-Warrior placed his foot on Pegasus's chest, pinning him to the floor. "After all," The man continued, "Who would have the only things stronger than the Gods than the one who created the Gods?"
"Reducto!" Pegasus blasted the Duel Monster holding him down, having no intention of letting the cards his son was so proud of into the hands of any Shadow-Touched Duellist, not even the Yugi-boys. The Battle Ox disintegrated and Pegasus shot to his feet, wand in hand. It had been a long time since he'd needed to duel the wizarding way. He had lived in the Muggle world for far too long and had had Croquet to do that for him for longer again but this man was no wizard.
Not that he needed his wand, within milliseconds of getting on his feet he was backed up by both his Toon Summoned Skull and his Toon Dark Magician Girl, and the two were attacking the man, dodging around the Warrior monsters the masked thug had summoned and going for the Shadow-Touched Duellist directly, only to bounce off of the wall of glittering mirrors that the man summoned.
Pegasus let out a pained hiss as his Toons lost attack points. While they were stunned from bouncing off of the Mirror Wall, the man's monsters attacked, destroying both of Pegasus's creatures and leaving the CEO of Industrial Illusions defenceless.
Before Pegasus could launch any sort of counter attack, the warrior monsters were on him and he let out an agonised scream as something stabbed into his back and ripped outwards.
Pegasus collapsed to the floor the moment the blade was free of his back, in too much pain to think clearly enough to summon in his defence or even think about apparating away as his blood gushed away...
"You know..." Pegasus had trouble focusing on the voice of the man and his hearing faded in and out as he struggled to stay alert and survive, well aware that if his security weren't here yet, they had probably already run into the robed man. "I thought ... would be harder... kill... Industrial Illusions... before long... I'll be King... Dark Gods... Mutous will die too..."
Before the man could say any more, someone burst into Pegasus's office and the man vanished from the room with the aid of one of his Duel Monsters.
"Father!" Yako and Gekko, Duel Monsters already chasing the attacker and his beasts through the Shadow Realm, seeking vengeance, knelt at their father's side, Gekko already calling for an ambulance as Yako tried to steam the bleeding.
"Please father. Hold on." Yako begged.
"B..." Pegasus spat out the blood that filled his mouth. "Boys..."
"Save your strength, Father, please." Gekko pleaded.
Pegasus never heard him.