Umbrae: I don't suppose begging for forgiveness would help? -.-'

I do apologize for having taken incredibly far too long in updating this fic. I promise you, I was not spending my time lazing around. I have, unfortunately, been incredibly busy working two jobs, going to school, and trying to finish my novel. That may not sound like much, but… it's incredibly stressful, especially since my boss at the one job is verbally and emotionally abusive. My mom is the owner of the second business and I'm trying to help her get word out so that I can work for her full-time and quit the other place before it literally kills me.

As is currently stated in my profile, I'm hoping to finish this fic up by the end of January, at the latest, and if things go well, I will manage it. We have reached a pinnacle, so if I'm not mistaken, some major action will be starting soon, so the chapters will hopefully flow faster. Please do bear with me, though. I'm having a bit of a rough time in the real world.

A very special thanks to Kagimine, who sent me a PM and kindly reminded me that people are still wanting to read this fic, and haven't run away completely for lack of updates. I decided that I really wanted to submit something and assure you all that I will continue to update, so here is the next chapter. I can't tell you when I will manage to have the next written, but I can promise that will come.

I thank you all for bearing with me and being patient. I hope you all have a lovely holiday, whatever you celebrate, and, as always…

Live long. Live well. Write.


Light Summons

VII

"We're running out of time."

"I know, love, I know, but they must all be protected."

"You don't have strength to protect them all, Sagira. Take which ones you need. Leave the rest. It will give them reason to fight."

"This is my brother. He needs no reason to fight other than that it is right."

"Your brother has changed. He is not the same as he was before. He followed your father's footsteps as king. He would kill us both if he knew."

"Not my brother."

"Yes, Sagira – even Atemu. We are dead to him, my love. Dead. Let us save the world, once last time, before we are permitted to die."

"… of course, love."


"I can't believe he doesn't remember us," Tristan said, glancing over at where Joey was keeping Yugi entertained while the two of them stood talking softly in a corner of the room. "Yami-"

"It was that or let him die," Yami said, interrupting whatever Tristan was about to say. "I couldn't let him destroy himself. I'm sorry, but… I was thinking she would take my memory, or even my life. Not his. Not Yugi's."

That had been ten minutes ago, and no Yami stood in the hallway outside of Ryou's bedroom, his crimson eyes focused on the floor. Ryou had dragged him out of the room the first moment that he had been able to without too much suspicion from anyone but Bakura, who of course understood Ryou's thoughts. The albino had shut the door to keep the others from overhearing what was being said, but now that the two of them were alone, Yami was unable to meet Ryou's stern, almost glaring, gaze.

Yugi had woken up only a few minutes after Yami, but the reaction he had to everyone's presence was… less than comforting. He had no idea who any of them was.

He had no recollection of who he even was. Joey had needed to tell the boy his name, so he knew what to call himself. The others had seemed equal parts unsure and over-ready to introduce themselves. They went around, each of them revealing who they were and what relationship they held with Yugi.

When it had come to Yami's turn, however, he had lied to the boy.

"Were you a human before, too?" Yugi asked. One of the things that had surprised but pleased the lot of them was how easily Yugi had accepted that magic existed, and that it had turned Joey into a dog and Bakura into a ferret, and now Yami into a lion.

"Yes," Yami had replied, his weariness and reluctance evident in his posture and his eyes. "I'm Atemu."

"Atemu," Yugi repeated, as he had done with all of their names, trying to commit it to memory. When he was satisfied, he met Yami's crimson gaze again, not at all wary of staring into the face of a lion large enough to take his whole head into his mouth at once. "And we're friends, too?"

"No," Yami replied, which was partially true, really. Yami and Yugi had been more than friends before Yami had screwed that all up. There was a way to fix that now, however. He knew his dull tone had alerted the ever-perceptive Bakura, but the tomb robber didn't say anything. That was for the best, of course. Perhaps Ryou knew that, and that was why he wasn't saying anything, either.

Yami wouldn't realize until later how the albino's eyes had been wide, his face a mask of dread at what Yami was doing, his irises dancing with the desire to keep him from saying anything, though something held him back.

"We hate each other," Yami continued, his tone miraculously emotionless despite the pain he felt inside with those words.

To his surprise, Yugi had smiled softly at this. Innocently. "If we hate each other, then why are you here?"

Yami, however, had questioned that himself, and he already had an answer. "I was bored," he said tonelessly, and gazed into the boy's eyes without care or concern evident in the crimson irises.

He saw a flicker of hesitation on the boy's face, and he turned away, satisfied. Yugi might have thought that he was lying, of course, but the doubt he had seen on the boy's face would fester and grow, until it overcame him. Then, when the boy knew without a doubt that they hated each other, Yugi wouldn't be in danger anymore.

It was better this way.

"You shouldn't have lied to him."

Yami sighed, glancing briefly at the albino. "It's for his own good."

"People say that a lot," Ryou said. "It's not a very good excuse."

"No. No, it's not. He's safer without me, though."

"Of course," Ryou said, nodding in consent. "You're more than right in that regard." Yami looked away, pained. "Safer is one thing, however, Yami, and happiness is quite another." He tilted his head to the side, thoughtfully. "I don't think you ever really realized just how much Yugi loved you."

Yami looked away quickly, his expression pained. He heard Ryou sigh. "I won't say anything to him," the albino said assuredly. "I know that's what you're worried about, but I won't. This is your problem to deal with. The others and I are here for Yugi. But you better be, too."

Yami swiftly turned to look back at Ryou. "But-"

"But nothing!" Ryou snapped. "I'm not stupid, Atemu – I'm psychic. I know what you were planning, and I can promise you right now that as little as I will tell Yugi about the truth concerning his relationship with you, that is just how great an amount of effort I will place in making absolutely certain that you don't abandon that boy! And if you even consider running away, Yami, you can make sure to note that it would be incredibly foolhardy on your part. Not only will I hunt you down and find you, but I will handcuff you to Yugi, so I know you're there to protect him."

"I'm the reason he's always getting hurt," Yami argued.

"You're right," Ryou said, nodding, "because without you around, he'd already be dead! Face it, Yami – you're in it for the long haul." He crouched down suddenly, until he was eye level with the lion that the pharaoh had become. "Yami…" His voice had become softer, suddenly – more like the young boy that he was than the wizened sage he sometimes sounded like. Still, there was a way about him that seemed older – like he had been born long ago and lived through thousands of lives, retaining knowledge from every one. "You seem to think the opposite, so I must tell you – I don't think that Yugi's memories are indefinitely gone."

Yami stiffened, and then looked to the albino, his ears flattening against his head in wary hope. Ryou continued as though he had spoken for clarification – and perhaps the psychic had heard the need.

"You said that Sagira spoke to you while you were within the darkness – that she was the one who stole Yugi's memories, while saving his life. Yami, I have seen here. She was just outside of the window while you were searching for Yugi's soul. She spoke to me in my mind, though I don't know how. She explained that I would have the power to control my transformation."

He raised his left arm and concentrated on that golden aura of power that had settled now within his own mind. White fur sprouted across his arms, his trimmed fingernails extending into claws. He saw Yami's wide eyes staring at him, and he released the magic, letting the transformation fall away, until his arm had returned to normal.

"If I'm not mistaken, Yami, she's done more than take Yugi's memories. She's also the cause of these transformations into animals. First Joey turns into a Golden Retriever, then Bakura turns into a ferret, and now you're a lion. There's no mistaking, of course, that something is happening that concerns us."

"Does it ever not?"

"Oh, dear… Tea." Ryou had a sympathetic look on his face as he gazed down at the end of the hall. "I didn't hear you come in, though that makes sense, I suppose."

Tea sighed. "Yeah, well… this wasn't exactly on my list of things to do today." The brunette walked forward toward them, on four paws rather than two legs. Ryou and Yami watched her come closer, studying her form.

Small, sinewy, her body was lithe and muscular under a thin layer of brown fur. She had a long, thin tail tipped in black, which she held high as she walked, and her blue eyes seemed both annoyed and resigned.

"And Tea makes four."

"Five, if you count that I can control my transformation." Ryou smiled grimly. "It will be all of us, soon, if things continue this way."

"Do you think that's what she wants?" Yami asked, sitting down wearily and looking at the albino.

"One can assume," Ryou said, tipping his head in the affirmative.

"Who?" Tea asked, sitting down delicately and wrapping a sinewy tail around her paws. Yami took a moment to appreciate that she seemed completely balanced in her form, moving within it as though it were completely naturally and she hadn't just recently been turned into a cat.

"Sagira Larien," Ryou said helpfully, "Yami's sister. It seems that she is somehow still alive, despite there being no Millennium Items left for her to hold to have kept her spirit this long. I do believe that she is the cause of most of what we are suffering at the moment. Not the least of which is Yugi's memory loss." He glanced her way to see a reaction.

Tea shook her head. "Tristan called me," she said. "He explained what had happened over the phone, so I wouldn't come over and be shocked, or… break down." She sighed. "Why does this keep happening to us?"

"Normally, I think people just want to remove a threat, and we seem to be the greatest in this area. This time, however…" He shook his head slowly, an unsure expression on his face. "I think there's more to this than we understand of yet – a lot more, if I'm right. And the only way we're going to learn all that we need to know is to find Yami's sister."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?"

Ryou smiled at this, in a way that was almost a frightening replica of Bakura's victorious grin. "Who's the one person you know who can gain access to almost any information he needs, with just one click of a button?"

Tea tilted her head to the side in confusion, before her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh no, you have got to be kidding me," she said loudly, almost hissing in disbelief.

Ryou's grin widened. "Exactly. We need to find Sagira, and he's our best chance."

"Yes, but Kaiba?! He'll never agree!"

"Oh, I think he will. You see, I happen to know that we aren't the only ones who have been turned into animals. Mokuba Kaiba seems to be suffering from something more than just having been turned into a wolf."

"And what's that?" Yami asked, wary.

Ryou chuckled. "Fleas."


Umbrae: I don't have a whole lot to say here that I didn't say before the chapter. I also need to get up early tomorrow and work both jobs, so I am going to skip out on review responses this time, and simply post the chapter.

Thank you all for your wishes on my exams, and for the birthday wishes. I apologize for not updating sooner and hope that you will all still grace me with your reviews. I will try to update again soon.

Have a lovely holiday, and if you don't celebrate the holiday, then have a lovely day!

Live long. Live well. Write. Read. Dream.