Chapter 6: - A Relatively Quiet Morning
"Why are we waiting here?" Ombre asked quietly, as she and Sirius sat in a backroom at the Leaky Cauldron, eating dinner.
"We can't just walk into the headquarters of the Order," Sirius explained, feeling much more relaxed now they were finally somewhere he considered 'safe' and out of the view of the Muggles. "It's under a rather powerful secrecy charm. I know where it is, but now it's protected by this spell, I could be stood directly opposite and never see it. It's the most powerful charm of its kind and practically impossible to break."
"So why weren't Harry's parents put under this so say unbreakable ward?" Ombre asked, picking at her food. It may have been tea time Friday in Britain but in Japan, where she'd been living for the past few weeks, it was ridiculously early Saturday morning. Sleep, rather than food, was on her list of 'most wanted' right now.
"They were," Sirius growled, "but we trusted the wrong man."
"Wormtail," Ombre seethed, her tone low and dangerous. "Why you thought someone whose animagus form was a rat would be trustworthy is beyond me."
"Lily and James were desperate and I thought..." Sirius sighed, "if I wasn't the Secret Keeper, they couldn't find out where James and Lily were hiding and no one would think that 'poor, pathetic, Peter' would be entrusted with the secret. I hoped that they would target me and leave my friends alone. You can understand that right?"
Ombre nodded. She had seen similar ploys played by the others of her Clan many times. Yugi would hand himself over to prevent many others being injured, Atem would surrender, provided it wasn't a game, to protect those he cared about, Joey would back down to stop harm befalling his friends and family. The idea was universal among close friends.
"What about you?" Sirius asked her. "Haven't you had moments you regretted?"
Ombre froze up for a moment, then looked away. "Of course I have," she replied softly. She didn't have to think about it, the many occasions she'd failed Kari, or hurt her friends accidentally, or worse, the two occasions when she'd done it deliberately.
"Then maybe you shouldn't be so..." Sirius trailed off as the door opened, and before he could say or do anything, Ombre had scrambled to her feet and drawn her wand, pointing it at the door.
"Yet another member of the Pharaoh's guard," Moody spoke as he entered the room, followed closely by Arthur. His tone was laced with amusement. "Problem, girl?" Moody asked as Arthur confirmed who he was to Sirius, noting that Ombre looked uncomfortable.
"I have left the Pharaoh's court," Ombre informed him, "and I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as a member of it."
Moody nodded. "Still, you trained with the Guard, did you not?" he asked, though it was less a question and more a statement. Ombre nodded as she picked up her suitcase. "Good. Means you're well trained for combat. Not as well as any Auror but still much better than most. You'd be surprised how many wizards don't know basic combat spells, even after the last war."
Ombre just shrugged as Moody confirmed his identity with Sirius. She knew from the memories embedded in the Orb that people tended to avoid fighting whenever they could help it, not out of a love of pacifism, but because they were afraid to lose their life, or worse their families and livelihoods.
"Right, Ironhide," Moody said, as he pulled two pieces of paper out of his pocket and Sirius convinced Arthur he was who he said he was, "what're the names of Kari's best friends from before she went to Japan?"
"Robyn Golden, Ash Roberts and his little sister Lillian," Ombre stated, having to pause and think for a moment about the latter two. Kari hadn't spoken to them in years, she only knew them through stories. It was a good question to ask someone who could be posing as her, she just wondered how the Order of the Phoenix had found out about them.
Moody handed the pieces of paper to both her and Sirius. "Read it, then destroy it."
Ombre nodded and unfolded her piece. "The Order of the Phoenix is based at..." she read the address silently, then tossed the piece into the fire.
Moody nodded approvingly as Sirius copied her. "Right, then. Gather your bags, Ironhide. We need to move quickly. Professor Dumbledore wants to speak to you before you get settled. You can drop off your stuff first though."
"Yes, sir," Ombre nodded, grabbing her luggage.
Moody examined her for a moment, then let out a soft snort and turned to Sirius. "Black, don't go anywhere once we arrive. Dumbledore wants to speak with you too."
Sirius just scoffed. "Has anyone done anything about that horrendous painting of my mother in the lobby?"
"It's fixed there with a permanent sticking charm and resists magic," Arthur complained. "The best we can go is cover it with a thick curtain with a silencing charm on."
"Sounds like something my mother would do," Sirius sighed in response. "Fine, as long as I don't have to spend any time around it." He picked up his own bags, visibly not looking forward to his 'talk' with Dumbledore. He had a funny feeling that a lot of what Harry had shared with him to try and make him understand, hadn't been shared with Professor Dumbledore and he wasn't sure if he should give the headmaster the information he wanted.
"Shall we, then?" Arthur asked, opening the door and gesturing for them to precede him. "Dumbledore's waiting."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
The sound of a pile of books falling to the floor made Yako jump out of his skin and shoot to his feet, his Material Lion appearing in milliseconds, the summoning made easier because of the tricks Mutou-Shacho had shown him earlier.
He glanced at his brother, who hadn't really slept since the death of their adopted father and who had been teaching the new president of Industrial Illusions as much as he could in the time he had available. Gekko, who had fallen asleep in one of the ridiculously comfortable chairs at the edge of the room, was still out like a light.
He gestured for his Material Lion to stand guard over his brother and headed for the source of the noise, moving past the bookcases that bisected the room and towards the second set of tables and chairs. There in one of the chairs, fast asleep with one arm tucked between her head and the desk she'd been sat at, was the Granger girl that Mutou-Shacho had called in when he'd realised that he was going to need help revising and researching what he was going to need to do in his new position as CEO of a major corporation.
It had seemed odd for a twenty-three year old to call in a fifteen year old girl for help until he had seen her in action, recognising her as more efficient and far more effective than any secretary or researcher he had had under his command in the years since leaving university. He'd recommended that if Mutou-Shacho was going to keep her in his employ, he should probably put her on the payroll and continued where Gekko had left off.
"Miss Granger?" he shook the girl gently, noting that it had been her pile of books that had hit the deck and startled him so badly. "Miss Granger."
The girl opened her eyes slowly, confusion obvious for a moment, then she sat upright, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, was I snoring?"
"No, but I don't believe Mutou-Shacho would be happy if he knew you were neglecting yourself," Yako commented, finding amusment in her sudden look of embarrassment as she started picking up her books. "Perhaps you should go to bed?"
"I..." Hermione paused, glanced at the clock on the wall, then turned back to him. "I'm not the only one," she pointed out politely but with the same sort of tone she had used on the Mutou twins earlier that evening when Yugi had started falling asleep at the dinner table.
"Time zones," Yako shrugged, smirking inwardly at her audacity. "It's still eleven o'clock yesterday morning back home."
Hermione nodded her understanding. "I'm about nine hour ahead of home but..." she paused to let out a yawn, "I'll just tidy up here and then I'll head up."
"Let me give you a hand," said Yako, glancing over some of the books briefly, noting the titles embossed on their spines. One jumped out at him. "Liar's Poker?" he asked, holding up an almost brand new copy of the book, as Hermione placed the last of them back on the table. "I'm surprised to find this in your pile."
"It was on Seto's shelves," Hermione commented, holding out her hand for it, planning on taking it up to her room. "It's not exactly what I need to help Yugi, but there are things in it he can use if I'm reading it correctly."
Yako considered the young Shadow-Touched witch for a moment, wondering how someone her age and with so few business skills had managed to get on a first name basis with the CEO of Kaiba Corp and make herself indispensible to the Pharaoh of the Shadows. He handed the book over with a smile. "When you've finished reading this one and made notes for your boss," he said, "I have several in my personal collection from when I was studying Business Law that you might find interesting. I would recommend them to Mutou-Shacho directly, but it would seem like I was trying to bribe him."
Hermione chuckled, knowing that Yugi wouldn't look at it like that, but Atem might. "He told you to call him Yugi, remember?" she said.
"He needs to get used to people referring to him by title," Yako shook his head, "especially when he's dealing with other businessmen." He wouldn't tell the new CEO's friend his reasoning, but he didn't want to like Yugi. He and his brothers had trained to take over Industrial Illusions ever since their adoption. He felt a little bitter that the company had been left, not in their hands, but in the hands of an untrained novice who had about as much clue about running a company as Yako did about the Shadows.
"He's going to think you don't like him," Hermione sighed, "but I understand." She bowed to him. "Goodnight, Mr Tenma."
"Goodnight, Miss Granger." Yako returned the gesture. He watched her leave, that bubble of intrigue caused by her demeanour still swollen inside him, then he dismissed his Duel Monster and poked his brother awake. "Gekko, bed. Now."
Gekko yawned and stretched, catching the book that fell off of his lap before it could hit the floor. "Where're our rooms again?"
"This way," Yako rolled his eyes as he led his brother out of the library and up the stairs. He couldn't help but wonder how his other brothers, Depre and Richie would react when they arrived for the reading of the will tomorrow and found out that Mutou-Shacho had no clue about what he was getting himself into.
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
Ombre barely had time to settle her bags in the bedroom next door to Ginny's when she was called away to the kitchen where Professor Dumbledore was waiting for her.
"Mr Dumbledore," Ombre sighed slightly as she took a seat opposite the man, "excuse me but it's early in the morning where I'm from, so I'm a little overtired."
"I understand, Miss Ironhide," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling and a smile on his face, "I was just hoping that you would answer a few questions for me before you turned in for the night."
"Oh?" Ombre asked, less than pleased that he wanted to do this now and with Snape in the room. "And Snape has to be here why?"
"That's Profes..."
"We're not in school right now," Ombre pointed out, interrupting the surely fast oncoming lecture, "and I won't trust your spy with the information I have."
"Professor Snape..." Dumbledore started.
"Has nothing to do with the Court that's currently setting itself back up, nor is he ever likely to be invited to its ranks. Are you Shadow-Touched, Mr Snape?"
"Of course not. I've had nothing to do with that filthy Muggle..."
"Then I refuse to talk about the Shadow Court with you in the room." She didn't see what the problem was. The potions teacher was a spy for Dumbledore, Sirius had told her that was why he'd gotten off when he'd been arrested for being a Death Eater. That didn't mean that she had to trust him with any information. In fact it was safer not to, considering that anything she told Snape would probably reach the ears of Voldemort somehow.
Dumbledore mentally sighed, having hoped that Ombre would have acquiesced to his request this one time with everything that was going on. He hadn't had enough experience with the dark princess to really understand her motivations. Not that they were the same now that her lighter self was dead, but she had at least been a little more reasonable than the Pharaoh.
"You make a good point, Miss Ironhide," he nodded. "Severus, if you would?" He gestured towards the door and watched as Snape scowled but left them with a scowl pasted across his gaunt features before turning his full attention to the woman before him. "Now, Miss Ironhide, I assume you have questions."
"And you want to trade answers for answers?" Ombre asked sharply. "I may not belong to the upper echelon of the Court anymore, but I will not turn traitor."
"I wouldn't expect you to, but one nation cannot do business with another without them both knowing something of each other," Dumbledore pointed out. "All I ask is that you provide me with that."
Ombre considered the headmaster for a moment or two before speaking. "I can do that, but I want something in return."
Dumbledore shifted slightly. "Oh?" he asked. He was curious, but not so much as to commit himself to something he didn't want.
"I will be the one to Challenge, Game and end Wormtail. No one else. In exchange, I'll share what I can about the magic that's now loose again," Ombre was pleased to see Dumbledore freeze for a moment when she coldly demanded what equated to the right to murder another human being.
"Revenge won't bring your light back, Miss Ironhide," Dumbledore stated coolly, some of the twinkle gone from his eyes.
"No," Ombre agreed, "it won't, but justice won't be served by your courts and I have rights of retribution. As both Kari's sister and a member of the Domino Clan, the law is on my side. I'm going to kill him one way or another. I just want you to promise to stay out of the way." Ombre paused for a moment, considered Dumbledore carefully. "And before you get the ridiculous idea to throw away some of your people trying to stop me, remember this. I'm not like Atem and Yugi. They might balk at hurting others if there's another way, but I will take the shortest route from A to B. If that's through your people, so be it."
She knew he was in her head and scanning her memories even as they talked terms and conditions. Part of her wished that she had the Orb of Light on her so she could do to him what Yugi had done to Alexander the Great, redirecting the King's mind reading and getting the Roman's mental probe lost within the Shadow item he owned. She didn't think even Dumbledore would find escaping from over five thousand years of stored memories to be an easy task.
Still, she had her mental defences. The Pharaoh wasn't the only one that could deliberately lay a trap. Hers were less like the Mirror Force-styled trap Atem had set up in Harry's mind and more the insidious twisting, turning maze variety, complete with hundreds of traps, plus she'd used the Orb's powers to hide the memories he wanted so well that even she struggled to access them. It was harsh, barely remembering her friends and family besides the unwavering loyalty that everyone had to Yugi just because he was who he was, but it was necessary.
She would not give them up. She refused.
"You know that's considered a threat where I come from," Ombre commented, putting on a less than concerned tone as she felt him trying to shift through her memories, too used to her light doing the same to not notice. "Invading another's mind without their permission, I mean."
She felt the presence in her mind hesitate briefly before beating a hasty retreat. She fought to hide a smirk as Dumbledore's spectral presence withdraw completely.
"I..."
"There's no point apologising," Ombre held up a hand, interrupting what was certain to be an impressive piece of artistically weaved lies. "I know you're not sorry. Just don't do it again or I will retaliate."
Dumbledore watched the woman, finding himself unsurprised that he believed she would at least try to follow through with her threat. He nodded his understanding. "We were talking about a deal?"
Ombre chuckled slightly. "Changing topics, Dumbledore?" she sneered. "Fine, I suppose I can let it slide this time. Now, back to the deal. I give you information, you stay out of my way when I deal with Wormtail. Yes, no?"
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
"I must say, I didn't expect you to be up," Solomon chuckled at Joey as the pair of them waited on the doorstep for the delivery that was due in a matter of minutes. "Not after the last couple of days. I thought you'd be too tired."
"I promised didn't I?" Joey replied, nonchalantly waving off the man who'd taken him in when his real parents abandoned him. "Besides I needed to get out the house. I was going stir crazy."
Solomon just nodded. When Joey had arrived last night, the old man had feared something else had happened. Instead, Joey had asked the Game Store owner a big favour. If he agreed to work for nothing until it was paid off, he wanted one of the boxes of the new boosters that were coming in today. Solomon was personally of the opinion that it was a little late to be rearranging his deck for the tournament, which was due to start at midday, but knew that Joey needed the new cards as much as he needed the help.
So Joey had come over, accompanied by his Red Eyes Black Dragon who was, for the fourth day in a row, curled up on the roof of the Game Shop. Solomon couldn't help but wonder how the roof continued to support the dragon's weight, but Tobias had assured him that he wouldn't be on the roof if it would cause it to collapse. That reassurance, along with the fact that a dragon on the roof wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened in the last few days, let Solomon ignore the problem of dragon plus roof and get on with his job.
Dead on 6am, the delivery van pulled around the corner and puttered down the road.
Solomon was both looking forward to and dreading this delivery. The store was doing all right, its unique status as the home of the King of Games attracted the tourists while the regular tournaments, friendly advice and knowledgeable staff ensured regular patrons, however, custom had tapered off to almost nothing since Shadowmorn. This delivery was expensive and if the cards didn't sell it would be bad.
He knew there were a lot of people waiting for these cards though, not just Joey and the rest of the Clan. It was why he'd brought so many boxes in. Hopefully those customers would be by later on in the day.
"Hiya, Mutou-Sensei," the delivery driver grinned at him. He knew Solomon rather well. He'd been running the route for years after all and quite liked the elderly Doctor of Archaeology.
"Hi, Takata-San," Solomon returned the grin, and Joey helped him to his feet. "You should have quite a few boxes for me today."
"Indeed I do," Takata nodded. "I think these belong to you too..." With that, he opened the doors of the van and out shot a blonde woman.
"Hi, Uncle Solomon!" the woman said with a broad smile and hugged him.
"Uhhh, what?" he blinked, wondering if he should press his luck. What the hell, it wasn't everyday he was spontaneously hugged by a cute young woman. "Why don't you give your uncle a kiss?"
"Grandpa!" Joey complained, loudly.
"Little brother!" the young woman let go and glomped Joey.
"Ack!" Joey attempted to jump back, only to feel her grip on him tighten. "Golden, get off!"
"Good morning, sir," a somewhat familiar voice came from the van and Solomon turned away from the spectacle of Joey trying to escape the young woman to look at what else Takata had brought him.
"Bakura-San?" Solomon asked, amused by the sheepish look on the white haired young man's face as he tried to get a scandalised teen, who looked around Harry's age and was staring at the sight of Joey trying to escape the hug, to help unload some of the boxes out of the van.
"Hi, Mutou-Sensei," Ryou nodded, "Golden got us a lift with the deliveries, hope you don't mind."
"Golden?" Solomon asked, glancing at the woman, who was still winding Joey up.
"Robyn Golden," Ryou clarified flatly, "she basically kidnapped us Tuesday and has been dragging us across the continent since. I would suggest you never use the trans-Siberian line. Ever."
"I said I was sorry!" the teenager exclaimed.
The sound of the teen's voice made Joey stop for a moment before he managed to pull himself free and draw his wand, glowering at the pair by the van.
"Bakura! And Malfoy! Hey!" Joey protested as Robyn grabbed his wand arm.
"Ryou. Not Bakura," she scolded him. "You remember Ryou, right?"
"Yeah, sorry Ryou," Joey murmured an apology, "I thought Bakura had..."
"I understand," Ryou said with a dismissive gesture, wondering if he should even have bothered coming if Joey's reaction was going to be the typical one, "my Other was prone to coming back from impossible situations."
Joey nodded then glowered at Draco. "And you brought him, why?"
"Because someone has to keep an eye on him," Robyn tutted, "after all his father's a wanted criminal, his mother's not in any fit state to do it and his guardian was killed during Shadowmorn."
Joey was momentarily struck dumb with horror then his mouth caught up with his brain. "Wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwait! His guardian was killed during Shadowmorn?"
"Yep," Robyn chirped.
"And he was added to the Clan list by that blasted fine print?"
"Yep," Robyn looked worryingly happy.
"He is NOT staying at the mansion!" Joey growled. "No way, no how!"
"I think we have a lot to talk about," Solomon interrupted what was likely to blow up into an impressive row.
"Indeed," Robyn concurred, giving Joey a sharp look. "Will the Pharaoh immediately require the Millennium Items I've been holding for him?"
"N...No." The sudden change of subject threw the blonde Shadow-Touched Duellist and he shook his head, wondering which of the bags Golden was carrying contained the Millennium items that had been stolen from Yugi, and how she'd managed to get them back from the thief who'd taken them in the first place. "I don't believe so." He paused. "Hey, Golden, you know lots of weird stuff right?" he asked, earning himself a bemused look in response. "Any idea how to recover magic faster?"
"Cookie?" she offered, opening a small paper bag filled with them. "I picked up the recipe in Amsterdam."
Joey blinked at her for a moment, remembering all too well the bad reaction Atem had to the millipede Golden had fed him, then looked at Ryou.
"You might as well try one," was the reply, "she'll sulk if you don't."
"She dragged us from place to place getting a cook book together," Draco grouched, "then decided the best recipe was the first one she picked up."
"Hey!" Robyn protested. "Only the best for my sickly little brothers."
Joey glowered at Robyn, not really trusting her but aware that she had been a close friend of Kari's and that Kari had often mentioned how much Robyn had looked after her. If she'd decided to transfer that onto them, it had to be a good thing, right?
Robyn's cheerful mood didn't falter under his gaze and she shook the bag at him.
"They restore magic?" he asked her directly as he picked one up and examined the chocolate chip cookie intently.
"Yeppers! I tested them and everything."
"On us!" Draco complained.
The thought of Draco being used as a guinea pig appealed to Joey and he glanced at Robyn, who looked really pleased with herself.
"Well, yes," her grin faded into a sly smile. "Control." She pointed at Draco. "Half." At Ryou. "Weird." At herself. "So nothing to worry about."
Joey took a bite of the cookie and beamed as he felt a sudden rush of energy, and the fatigue from the previous late night, early morning, not to mention his summoning vanished. "Golden, I think you might have just solved a huge problem."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
The Weasley horde was holed up in one of the bedrooms discussing their plans.
When they'd been hiding in the Room of Requirement they'd at least had their own space and plenty to do. Here at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix they were all crammed into the tiny rooms that made up the home of the 'Ancient and Noble Black Family'.
And that wasn't the only problem.
Their status as Shadow-Touched was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because they couldn't be left out of certain order meetings, since they were the experts on what the magic that was now loose among the populace could do. It was a curse, however, because they were being watched like hawks almost constantly.
"It's almost as if," Fred complained as he sprawled over the bed, "they think we're suddenly going to turn into Dark Lords and start going on a mass murder spree."
"Lords and Ladies," Ginny poked her brother, though she couldn't help but agree with his assessment of the situation.
"Of course they don't like us using it. It's dark magic," Ron grimaced. "As much as we've pretended otherwise for the last few years. I mean it steals souls and drives people insane. We all know this..."
"Dark isn't evil, brother dearest," George flicked his younger brother's ear and got glared at in response. "It's only evil if you use it for evil. Unless you want to believe Yugi and the others are evil."
Ron hesitated. He remembered some of the horror stories that he'd heard over the years of the sort of thing a fully trained Shadow Mage could do, the tales of what Yugi and his friends had been through over the years.
"Oh, come off it," Ginny swatted at him. "I'd like to point out that the only Shadow Game Yugi's activated since we've known him was against Malfoy, who had been asking for it for over a year by then. Is that evil?"
"No, but when the Shadows were slipping out of control they were attacking people. That's not something that 'good' magic does," Ron pointed out, "and you've heard the stories. How many times have people tried to use it to kill someone or worse? There is no 'good' use for something that steals souls."
"There's no good use for a spell that turns your bogeys into bats either, but Gin-Gin isn't evil..." George grinned at him.
"And that's her best spell," Fred finished.
Ginny glared at her brother. "Call me that again and prepare to be sneezing bats for longer than Yami was in the Puzzle."
"Five thousand years to perfect pranking in?" George asked with a sly smirk. "Awesome."
"Five thousand years sneezing bats," Ginny pointed out.
"Okay, less awesome," Fred allowed.
"How can you all be so relaxed?" Ron grouched. "There's a highly dangerous, out of control type of magic loose and we're getting blamed for letting it infect the Muggles!"
"Then we'll just have to take responsibility and teach them how to use it properly," Ginny announced primly, amused that her brothers had not thought of such a simple answer.
Fred went to open his mouth but was interrupted by the door opening and Ombre stumbling into the room, looking like she wanted nothing more than to blow up several people or objects and then sleep for a year.
Having seen an overly exhausted dark side explode before, the Weasleys fled.
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
Yugi was fully aware that Atem wasn't happy. While he munched away at a pile of cookies provided by a certain crazy Seer and waited for Pegasus's children to arrive, along with several others, Atem was trying to work out the best plan of action.
Both of the Mutous were aware that Seto needed the press coverage that would come with having the big names in his tournament, but there were hundreds of conflicting factors that needed to be thought about.
Yugi was certain that he was fine to compete, but Atem didn't feel comfortable with him going when he was only just allowed out of bed even if Serenity would be trailing him, along with a pair of bodyguards. That was if they got out of the reading of the will in time. He was supposed to be fighting in an exhibition duel with Atem before the big event kicked off but the tournament couldn't be delayed again.
If they were delayed for too long, Atem was going to leave and Harry had agreed to fight the Pharaoh instead, but it wasn't the duel that everyone was waiting for, nor would it be as effective. Atem never pulled his punches when he was duelling but there were only two people he could truly duel to his full potential against and one of those had already been in an exhibition match.
There was a knock on the door and then Akane, in human form, entered with another woman, a pretty brunette who didn't look to be more than twenty-five and had a very vulpine look to her. Yugi frowned slightly as he sensed something off about her, but couldn't tell what.
"Mutou Yugi-San," Akane bowed to him, "I thought you might like to meet your other bodyguard for this afternoon."
"Good morning, Akane-San," Yugi stood and returned the bow, the novelty of treating her as if she was an equal was apparent on the Nekomata's features. "You can just call me by my given name, it's easier that way."
"Yes, Yugi-Denka," Akane nodded, earning herself the pleasure of seeing Yugi look horrendously embarrassed.
"N...no. It's Yugi. Just Yugi," Yugi stammered. "Seriously, it was bad enough when people I don't even know were calling me Shacho, without..." He paused, realised he was letting his emotions run away with him, and swiftly shut up.
Akane and the newcomer looked at each other, wondering if any of Yugi's friends were aware he was likely to have a minor meltdown if anything else happened before he had a chance to talk everything through with someone, then Akane got back to business.
"This is my colleague, Lotus," she informed him with a slightly sour look on her face, "the pair of us will be looking after you during the tournament and when you're away from the mansion."
"Lotus-San," Yugi bowed to the other woman, before pausing to take a better look at her, "you're like Akane."
"She most certainly is not!" Akane hissed. Yugi could easily imagine that had she been in cat form her fur would have been on end.
"Of course not," Lotus agreed smoothly. "We foxes are so much more dignified than you cats."
"Foxes?" Yugi wondered aloud, then his eyes widened. He stared at Lotus, freezing up as stories he'd heard in his childhood flooded back to him. "You're a kitsune?"
"Five tails," Lotus nodded before looking at Akane. "He's fast. Can I keep him?"
"He's not yours to keep, Lotus. You'd have to fight his family for him and you really shouldn't cross his brother," Akane pointed out with a growl.
The aforementioned brother made his presence known by coughing lightly. Yugi watched as both animal spirits jumped and turned to Atem, who had been sitting quietly in the corner. His presence had been requested by the lawyer who did all of Industrial Illusions' paperwork, but he'd planned on staying silent unless he had to. Less because he was trying to play the silent bodyguard and more because he was trying to bounce ideas between Yugi, Harry, Mahado and getting about thirty various responses in reply from various Duel Monsters on broadcast mode, some of which he'd never met face to face.
"Hello Mutou Yami-San," Lotus bowed to the Pharaoh, who waved her off, not really worried about her question about keeping Yugi. Yugi had shared the legends he'd been told as a kid with him a long time ago, and though he had no intention of enraging the kitsune (he did, after all like not being cursed), he didn't think she was serious in her intent, nor would he allow her to take Yugi from the mansion if she was.
Before the two animal spirits could say another word, the door opened again and the Tenmas walked in, followed by their brothers, the Kaiba brothers and three men Yugi had never met before. The two bodyguards reverted to their natural forms and stood either side of Yugi as the Mutou twins got to their feet.
"Mutou-Shacho," the three men bowed to Yugi, "it's an honour to meet you."
"I feel the same way," Yugi reciprocated, "I hope we can work together to get this sorted as fast as possible."
"On this we're agreed," one of the men said, running a hand through his short black hair before pausing and looking sheepish. "Depre Scott. I run Industrial Illusions Europe."
"Richie Merced," the other young man with him said. Yugi couldn't help but be impressed that the guy's spiky blonde hair was, quite possibly, more ridiculous than his own. "Russia's my lookout."
"Yugi Mutou," Yugi introduced himself, though he knew it was unnecessary, "and my brother Yami Mutou." He pointed to Atem. The pair bowed to the Pharaoh, but unlike Yugi, who had tried to give Pegasus's children a bow denoting that he didn't consider them below him, Atem had barely nodded to the pair, causing them to bristle slightly.
Any possible argument that might have arisen from Atem's lack of respect was cut short by the third man, an older gentleman whose brown hair had grey mingled in and whose green eyes took in the room around him quickly before nodding to Yugi and Atem. "The Mutou twins," he said. "Good. Sit. All of you. So you can see the screen. I'm fully aware that time wasted is money ill spent."
Atem looked a little taken aback by the man's abruptness but Yugi nodded before sitting down and gesturing for his dark to do the same. He'd wondered what the DVD player and huge TV was about, and as everyone else settled the man put a disk in the machine.
The TV flickered to life and Pegasus appeared on the screen.
"Welcome one and all," Pegasus's voice caused both Yugi and Atem to tense up as both remembered the last time the CEO of Industrial Illusions had spoken to them on a tape. Lotus nudged Yugi's knee reassuringly, mistaking resurgent fear and panic for grief. The heir patted her on the head absentmindedly as Pegasus continued. "If you're watching this, then obviously something unfortunate has happened and I can no longer grace you with my presence."
'Typical Pegasus type bluster,' Atem grouched over the link.
"I suppose some of you are wondering what you're doing here, especially you, Kaiba-boy," the ex-CEO of I2 was on a roll, it was obvious, "I would hope that my sons have already sought you out, Yugi-boy, and informed you of my wishes but still, I should get the most important part out of the way."
'Oh good. The sooner our part is over, the sooner we can get ready for our exhibition match.'
Yugi had to fight to keep a straight face at Atem's comment. Trust his dark to consider that much more important than the reading of the will.
"As you've probably been informed, Yugi-boy, I require someone to be the face and voice of my company until such time as one of my sons takes my place. You're probably wondering why I haven't asked Kaiba-boy to do it."
The thought had crossed Yugi's mind multiple times in the last twenty four hours.
"You see, Yugi-boy, you understand the game in its entirety. Its past, its present and its future. The mundane and the magical. Kaiba-boy understands the business side of the company, yes, but you know the players, those who make the company as big a success as it is. Who make the game everything it is. Without someone in control who comprehends that, Industrial Illusions will never survive."
This admission shook Yugi slightly and he looked at each of Pegasus's children. He found grimaces, stunned expressions and a small, understanding smile.
"This doesn't mean, Yugi-boy, that my sons don't have the ability to learn all this, but quite obviously I no longer have the ability to teach them. That, I'm afraid, I'll have to leave to you."
"I'll try," Yugi promised.
"I know you'll try, Yugi-boy."
Yugi tensed up again, thinking for a moment that Pegasus was responding directly.
"However, until you've managed it, I must ask you to lead my company. Once my boys know what you've always known about the game, then you may pick one of them to take over from you," the deceased CEO laughed, "oh, don't get me wrong, Yugi-boy, I understand that this will take up a considerable amount of your time and I don't expect you to do this for nothing. My lawyer, Tony Strong, will have the full details down on paper for you, but I'm leaving you my vacation home and the island it's on. You'll remember it rather well. The island's name is Duellist Kingdom."
Atem let out a sharp hiss and Yugi winched when the name was spoken.
"And that's not all," Pegasus continued as Strong passed out the appropriate documentation, "as you're probably aware, I'm a multibillionaire. This means I have a lot of money to pass out to anyone I see fit. In exchange for your work with my company, I'm leaving you five hundred million dollars..."
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
"Harry?" Joey asked, worried when Harry's running commentary stopped dead in its tracks. "Harry?" He poked the black haired teen, who didn't respond, too busy trying to recover from the sudden shock of two of his link partners breaking in the same instant and his own reaction to the sum total of Yugi's inheritance. "You all right? How much was it?"
"Five..." Harry tried to pull himself together, "hundred..."
"That's it? Five hundred dollars for running his company?" Joey looked offended.
Harry shook his head.
"Then what?" Hermione asked, a bit more gently.
"Five hundred million."
Hermione, Joey and everyone else in the room with Harry broke too.
LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
It was quite something, Ginny mused as she explored the Black House, when it was easier to sneak around the headquarters of someone who was supposedly involved in a war than it was to sneak around your school.
Everyone else was asleep, but in school there was always someone awake and patrolling the corridors, no matter what time of day, whereas here there was no one doing the same. The adults might have thought they were safe under the Fidelius charm, but Ginny hadn't forgotten that Harry's parents had been under the same ward and they hadn't been protected from Voldemort.
Not that she expected Dumbledore, who was the Secret Keeper, would give them up like Wormtail had Harry's parents, but it only required one slip up and their hiding place would be revealed and then they'd all be in trouble and...
She paused as she realised she had hit Moody levels of paranoid. She could see where the train of thought had come from. Over the last few years she'd watched or heard of her friends getting hurt and worse because of careless errors, accidents that could have been avoided with enough foresight or sheer bloody mindedness on the part of whoever was attacking them at the time and had learnt certain lessons because of it.
She'd learnt discretion due to necessity. After all, when your 'on again, off again' boyfriend was the Vice-CEO of a major company and had as many secrets as Mokuba did it was necessary to learn when to talk about those secrets and when to keep your mouth shut.
Caution, too. When she'd first gotten herself involved with the Pharaoh's court she hadn't realised what she was getting herself into. She had, however, learned quickly, but that hadn't been what had taught her one of her most important lessons. No, that had come from her stupidity with Riddle's diary.
She felt a little better knowing that she hadn't been the only one who had been daft enough to put their trust in an object that talked back. Of course Riddle's diary and Yugi's Puzzle were rather different, after all Yugi had been able to see and interact with Yami long before the Pharaoh had gotten his own body. Riddle hadn't been able to take spirit form until the end, nor had she been able to talk with him soul to soul like Yugi had with the spirit of his Puzzle.
She just wondered what it would take for the adults to learn the lessons that the youngsters already knew. Be cautious, yes, even to the point of paranoia, but don't hide yourself away when trouble comes calling. It didn't help. If you were a target, even a safely squirreled away target, sooner or later you were going to need to fight. So many people seemed impressed that they'd taken to training themselves, no one seemed to realise that it was because they'd been learning to fight back.
Supposedly, the whole reason that they were training like they were was for self defence, but no one really thought of it that way. Harry was learning so he could protect his link partners. Mokuba wanted to be able to defend his big brother instead of having to rely on him the whole time. Even Yugi, who almost a decade after the threats to his life had started, hated fighting and had no malice in him, was learning to fight so he could preserve the lives of the ones he loved.
All so they could go on the offensive and not end up in hiding, depending on other people to do what they could have done if they'd just bothered to take the chance to learn, which was something that the adults belonging to the 'Order of the Phoenix' didn't seem to be able to understand.
From what she'd overheard, and using Fred and George's Extendable Ear, they'd overheard a lot. The Order, which was supposedly created to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters, did very little fighting and a lot more standing around talking about things that had already happened. There had been disappearances this summer, families vanishing, both magical and Muggle. Since Shadowmorn there had been a spate of murders as Death Eaters tried to suppress the Shadow-Touched that lived in England. The Order had a spy in Voldemort's ranks, why didn't they do anything about these things?
Were they waiting for some hero to come down from on high and save them? Well, they'd be waiting a long time. Dumbledore had ostracised the only people Ginny would consider heroes and without the war nipping at their heels she had a horrible feeling that it would be up to wizarding Britain to save itself.
"Can I move to Japan now please?" Ginny asked the dark corridor.
"Only if we can...hey!" George yelped as he dove to one side to avoid any possible hex that his sister could have sent his way. Ginny, who had jumped a mile and drawn her wand before she'd even registered who it was that was speaking, glared at the twins.
"What are you two up to?" she growled at him, having thought she was the only one awake.
"We should be asking you the same thing," Fred replied, not admitting to the fact that his partner monster, or rather the one he shared with his twin, had woken the pair of them up when Ginny had gone wandering past their door.
"After all," George continued as he waved at her from the floor, "isn't past your bed time?"
"George?"
"Yes, Gin-Gin?" George asked with a grin.
"That's it!"
Fred dissolved into laughter as his brother had to run for his life to avoid his sister's hexes.
LINE_RECOGNTION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Serenity fussed as she checked Yugi over one last time before he entered the arena, concerned about the bruising that still hadn't gone down.
"I'm fine, Serenity, honest," Yugi chuckled quietly, waving her off as his bodyguards, Akane the nekomata and Lotus the kitsune, checked out the area while in human form. He had wondered how the pair were going to do their jobs, considering that unless they wanted to pass for Duel Monsters they were going to freak people out, but the idea of having them take human form and wear security uniforms had been a smart one. No one had batted an eyelid at the fact that the Mutou twin who had been key to stopping Shadowmorn and was still recovering from an attempt on his life had two members of the security team following him around.
"There's an awful lot of people out there," Akane grouched after a quick peek outside. "Kaiba would pick the area he could pack with the biggest crowd, wouldn't he?"
"That would be typical Seto," Yugi agreed with a smile, actually looking forward to the upcoming match and finding the disgruntlement of his bodyguards over the sheer number of people who wanted to praise him, growl at him or just plain get his autograph rather amusing. It certainly helped to get his mind off of the fact he had suddenly become the new CEO of Industrial Illusions and a multi-millionaire.
"I get that this is an exhibition match," Akane grumbled, "but wouldn't it have been safer to have you and your brother duel somewhere secure and just broadcast it to the crowds in the arena?"
"Yes," Yugi sighed, "it would, but that isn't the point of the match. The exhibition match isn't about showing off our skills. It's about showing the public that even the most powerful Duel Monsters won't harm anyone if summoned using Kaiba Corp technology. We can't do that if we're kept away from the crowds."
"I still think it's a bad idea for you to let yourself get clobbered by a God Monster." Serenity grouched, "Holograms or not."
Yugi opened his mouth to protest that he didn't plan on getting clobbered, but quickly shut it again. He was, after all, the one who had insisted that Atem play the God Monsters during their duel. He did have a plan to beat them but that didn't mean he wasn't going to get hit by one if it didn't work.
"See, even he thinks it's a bad idea," Lotus sniggered, less than delighted by the crowds but enjoying the opportunity to tease her charge.
"Oh, I'm fully aware that it's probably a bad idea, but it's what everyone wants to see, someone getting squished by the God Monsters," Yugi shrugged. "I don't plan on being that person but..." He gave the others a sheepish grin.
Serenity sighed, "As your medical advisor I can categorically state that asking Yami to use the Gods against you was a bad idea." She paused. "Wait, isn't this going to be the first time Yami's used the God Monsters against you that you haven't had one or two in your deck?"
Yugi nodded.
"A hundred yen on Mutou Yami-San," Akane stated before the nod had even finished.
Lotus caught herself mid-breath. She had been about to say that she didn't take sucker bets, but she was aware of Yugi's reputation. If anyone could defeat the Gods, it would be him. "I'll take you up on that."
Yugi gave Akane a look of feigned disappointment as he heard the announcer winding up. The duel with Atem was just the beginning of the opening ceremony for the tournament and to be honest, though he was still a little tired, he was looking forward to the whole weekend.
"I'd better get out there," Yugi stated, giving the trio a reassuring look as he headed for the door.
Lotus beat him there. "Ladies first," she scolded him before darting out the door.
"She's a lady?" Akane muttered under her breath as she followed the kitsune out the door, which made Serenity chuckle.
"Shall we?" Yugi asked Serenity, offering the Apprentice Healer his arm.
Serenity blinked at Yugi, put her hand on his arm and exited the room with him, leaving the peaceful ready room behind and rejoining the insanity of the outside world.