Chapter 7: The Truth

"The King of Games is in there?!" Hermione squealed. There was a loud groan from the mind link.

/Oh for the love of Ra! I'm gone for sixteen years and I STILL have a fan club?! Get over yourselves people!/ Harry couldn't help but chuckle. /It's not funny./ Yugi grumbled. Harry just chuckled more.

"Yes it is. It's funny that you would get this worked up over it. So you've been in there for sixteen years?" Yugi chuckled. "What is it?"

/You do realize that you said that out loud don't you?/ Harry looked over to his friends. Hermione was looking at him with a slightly offended look. Ron was staring at him as f he had grown a second head. Harry groaned.

"Did I say that out loud?" He asked. They both nodded. Harry groaned again. //Couldn't you have warned me ahead of time?//

"How? I couldn't have told you anything until after you had said it. And then it would have already happened." Harry whirled around. Yugi was standing behind him as if he had been there the entire time. He smirked. "Just because I'm using the mind link, doesn't mean I'm in my soul room." Harry shook his head.

"Harry. Are you telling me that the king of games was magical?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

//King of games// He asked. Yugi snorted.

"Later. Right now we need to talk to your friends." Harry frowned.

"No. Now. You've been pushing all my questions to the side. I want to know who you are. I don't like being kept in the dark." Hermione gazed at him and looked around the room.

"He's really here isn't he? Oh Harry what does he look like?! I've never seen him personally!"

"Well…..he's very……short." Yugi glared at him.

"Must you mention my height first? Ra! Even Kaiba was more considerate." Hermione stared at him.

"Short?" She asked.

"Am I the only one concerned about this guy being able to take over Harry at will?!" Both Harry and Hermione turned to stare at Ron. He was as white as a sheet and was gripping the bedposts. Hermione looked at him wide eyed.

"Can he really do that?" A trace amount of fear crept into her voice. Harry felt a tugging at his mind. He pulled against it, wanting to know what he wanted to do first.

"Tell her yes, but only with your permission. I don't take over forcefully unless I have to." Harry nodded.

"He said yes, but only with my permission. Yugi doesn't like taking over unless he has to." He looked at Yugi. "Can't you……I don't know….make yourself visible to everyone else? I mean, you are a ghost aren't you?" Yugi snorted.

"I most certainly am not. I am a spirit. Not a ghost. Spirits can only be seen by the one who has been chosen or someone else with a spirit inside them." Harry shrugged. It was worth a try.

"So are you going to bother explaining the shadow realm?" Yugi smiled ruefully.

"Sit down. You're in for a long story." Harry told the others to sit. Yugi took a deep breath and began. He spoke slowly, with the same hesitation he had felt when relating the events of the triwizard tournament. He told them about how he was always picked on in school, about how little friends he had, and how he believed desperately in the puzzle. He began crying when he first mentioned Yami, or as he was properly known, Atem. Harry was glad that Yugi had not ended up going psychotic while trapped in the puzzle, but that might have been because he had not been in the puzzle for as long. Hermione had freaked when she realized that Yugi had housed a five thousand year old spirit, and it had been very hard to get her back to the present subject. Even now she kept asking random questions about Ancient Egyptian life. Yugi found the distractions both annoying, and a perfect detour when he got too emotional. He explained the duties of the millennium item holders and what they had done. Harry was also glad that they did not have to deal with the spirit of the ring. He sounded a bit too much like a sadist, Harry felt a little sorry for Pegasus. The man had only wanted the comfort of his family. He sympathized with Marik. He knew exactly how he felt with fate, destiny and all of that other rubbish. Dartz was a sad story, but he didn't really feel for him. When they got to the memory world Yugi broke down. It had taken a few minutes of calming and coaxing before he was able to talk about it. Finally he explained finding his others body in a museum and being trapped in the puzzle. Harry laid against the head board. Yugi had given them a lot of information. Now that Harry knew about Yugi….it was time for him to share. He sat up to start his own story when Yugi waved him down.

"You're tired. Get some sleep. There's plenty of time tomorrow." Harry nodded and went to put on his pajamas. Ron came with him.

"Kind of cool isn't it? I mean, he gets to live forever. Who wouldn't want that?" He heard a very loud snort from outside the bathroom. Hermione bustled in and began brushing her teeth.

"Honestly Ron. Why? After living that long, past the lives of your friends, your family, I'd expect you'd be tired." A warm feeling permeated his chest. He could feel pride and respect for Hermione swelling within Yugi.

/She understands./ A content smile graced his features. /She truly understands. Stick close to her Harry. She is a valuable ally./ With a huge yawn the spirit of the millennium puzzle curled up in his soul room and went to sleep. Harry thought about what he had said. Did Yugi feel tired? Had Yami felt tired? Would he be glad to depart on to the next life? Shaking these thoughts from his head Harry got in bed and pulled the covers over his head. He was tired. He just…needed……sleep.


Yugi laid down on the bed in his soul room. That girl……Hermione, she understood. She was quite right. Even though he had been 'asleep' at the time, now that he was awake he was tired. He was ready for the next life. He didn't want to be on this earth anymore. He wanted to be with him, with…Atem. Sometimes it pained his heart to call him by his true name. It was as though it created a rift between them, pulled their essences apart. Yugi curled up around his favorite pillow, the walls pulsing a dark blue light. He nuzzled the sleek leather and smiled. The pillow smelled of honey and exotic spices with a touch of chocolate and red wine, the delicious scent of Yami that he had loved to get drunk on. A small smile curved on his lips as he hugged the pillow. Maybe, when this was over………he would be able to see him again. Unbeknownst to everyone, a pale white figure stood over them. He looked down at Harry with his pupiless eyes and gave a small smile.

"Take care of the pharaoh young one. He will need your help, and you will need his." With that he dissipated through the wall and out of mortal existence.


"Harry! Harry wake up! Wake up Harry! Mum says breakfast is ready!" Harry groaned and rolled out of bed stumbling into the bedside table while he fumbled for his glasses. He heard a moan from somewhere in his mind and jumped. What the……..?! Then he remembered. Yugi.

//Yugi? Yugi wake up. Breakfast is ready.// He heard another moan and had the distinct impression that the spirit had just rolled over in his sleep.

/Mmmm……………..Go away granpa…….I don' wanna go to school……/ Harry had a hard time containing his laughter. Ron looked at him funnily. Harry shook his head. You had to hear it for it to be funny. He went down the stairs into the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was dishing out eggs and bacon along with freshly buttered toast and hash browns. Harry happily dug into the meal and was soon having seconds. Afterwards he, Ron, and Hermione went into the library and cleaned up the dust that had gathered in the room, and made sure that nothing was hiding under anything. Several hours later Harry heard a yawn in his head and felt Yugi's thoughts begin to speed up. /…….nnnn……Wha' time is i'?/ Harry looked at a clock.

//About…..2 o' clock in the afternoon. What kept you in bed for so long?// He felt Yugi's shock at the time and watched him begin to dash around.

/2 o' clock?!?!?!?! Shit! My boss is gonna kill me!/ Harry was surprised as he began to feel Yugi take over in his rush.

//Woah Yugi!// He shoved him out of control. //Stop panicking. You're in the millennium puzzle now, remember?// It took a few minutes, but eventually he heard a groan. //You had a job?//

/Yes. Just because I was the game king didn't mean I didn't need a job./ Harry processed the information for a moment.

//But why were you freaking out? You've been in there for sixteen years. Wouldn't you be used to it by now?// he heard a grumble.

/Let's see you have your memories missing for sixteen years, wake up to find out you're a teenager again, have your thoughts squashed so flat they blend together and tell me if you have a little trouble remembering you're not alive anymore./ Harry backed off feeling a little angry.

//No need to snap.// He grumbled. Yugi sighed.

/Sorry. I'm just not a morning person./ Harry snickered.

//I can tell.// He teased. Yugi flipped him off and collapsed back onto his bed and was soon asleep again. Harry shook his head. Did Yugi do anything other than sleep?

/It's a side effect of being asleep for so long. Have you ever slept longer than you needed or wanted to and noticed how tired your body felt? How you just wanted to crawl back into the sheets and go to sleep again?/ Harry nodded. /Same principle. I've been asleep so long my bod...mind/ Here he felt a tinge of sadness, probably from the loss of his humanity. /Isn't used to doing anything else yet. Just give me some time. I won't be like the pharaoh. Ra, he slept so long I sometimes wondered if he was even there./ He heard a dry chuckle come from him. /If you need anything just shout. I'll try to stay up longer next time./ With that Yugi was back asleep and faintly snoring. Not loud enough to be annoying, just enough to be there. It sent small vibrations through his mind, providing a constant background noise. Harry shook his head and picked up a dusty book. The cover was black and seemed to be embossed with gold. Strange symbols were barely discernable through the grime, yet somehow it felt special. Harry brushed it off and slid it into his and Ron's room during one of their breaks. He wanted to get a closer look at it. After patching up the library they went on to the dining room and the sitting room. Yugi came out at the end of cleaning the latter and offered to let Harry rest while he tackled what was left. Harry gladly handed over control and flopped onto his soul room bed. He felt a smile tug at his lips as he gazed at the ceiling. Yugi began a cheery conversation with Hermione and Ron, who were both shocked to see the spirit. Hermione however, quickly became excited and plagued him with questions. Yugi answered them while scrubbing the table and chatting with Ron about strategy games. He seemed delighted when he realized how good Ron was at chess and immediately challenged him to a game as soon as they were done. Ron liked this idea and accepted. Hermione for once, seemed interested. With the awaiting game as motivation the three finished the table, along with the rest of the room in less than an hour. They hurried upstairs and pulled out the chessboard. Ron got his pieces out and laid them on the board. Yugi got white, Ron had red.

"White moves first." Yugi nodded. He looked at the board, contemplating his first move.

"Hmmm…….maybe……pawn C 5?" The pawn moved forward. Yugi jumped and stared at the piece as if it had grown an extra head. "……This isn't a shadow game is it?" He looked around the room to confirm that there was no black mist surrounding him. Slowly a grin spread on to his face. "Cool!" He leaned back and waited for Ron's move. Ron looked at the pieces before deciding.

"Knight D 3." The knight jumped over his pawns and settled into the square. Yugi grinned even more and commanded his next piece. He moved his own knight into the empty squares and passed his turn to Ron. The two continued on like this for a while, pulling their pieces out onto the board, analyzing each other's strategy before they began their assault. Ron was the first to draw blood. He ordered his queen to take out one of Yugi's castles. The woman glided forward and smashed the piece off the board with her chair. Yugi was so surprised by this he shouted out.

"Ra! You killed him!" Ron and Hermione were very surprised.

"It's wizard's chess, what did you expect?"

"Not this, though it does make the game rather interesting." Yugi was grinning like a little kid who had woken up on Christmas morning and realized all of the presents under the tree were for him. He eagerly jumped into the game and battled fiercely. Harry soon began to notice that Yugi's moves grew more and more calculated. An odd look of calm was set on his face as he commanded his pieces across the board. Ron was a great player, but even he couldn't beat the king of games. Yugi set up a complicated trap that involved every piece on the board, including Ron's. But once it was set it worked like a charm. Ron's pieces were soon gone and the king was captured. Yugi grinned in triumph and shook Ron's hand, who was very impressed.

"I haven't met someone this challenging since I played against my brother Charlie!" He seemed delighted. Yugi smiled and offered to play again, but Ron declined, saying he was tired from the match and hungry. Yugi gave control back to Harry and they left for the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was stirring a pot of some kind of stew when they came down. She looked up and immediately smiled.

"Harry! There you are dear! Come, come, sit down. I know you all must be hungry."

/I like her. She's nice./ Harry grinned.

//Watch out though. She can be rather sharp when you make her angry.// He heard a light chuckle from Yugi.

/I'll try to remember that./ Harry was handed a bowl of thick beef stew which he eagerly gulped down. He was surprised that he wasn't tired from all the work they had done. When Yugi had taken over he had felt ready to drop down to the floor from exhaustion. /It's a bonus of possession. If you're in control of the body, but tired. I can take over and work until you're rested. Then you take over and it's like you had a good night's sleep, though far more productive. Just be careful though./ He said, feeling where Harry's train of thought was going. /The body still needs sleep and WILL shut down on you if it doesn't get it./ In other words: Don't try it. You could cause yourself to pass out. Harry nodded and returned to his meal. /Well! Good night! Tell your friend Ron that that was an excellent game of chess and I hope to face off against him again./ Harry nodded. He felt Yugi retreat into his soul room and soon the tiny vibrations that signaled Yugi's light snoring started up. Harry smiled and finished the stew before going upstairs and changing into his pajamas. Ron seemed delighted that Yugi wanted to play again and offered to do it tomorrow. Harry nodded but didn't tell Yugi. The spirit was already asleep, why wake him when he was going to bed himself? Resolved to tell him tomorrow Harry slipped under the sheets and quickly fell asleep.


A dim shop bell clanged as a young man stepped into a dingy store. He looked around himself with distaste before heading for the counter. He stopped once to look at a curious item in one of the cases. After studying it for a few minutes he headed for the counter where he tapped the bell. The note hung hauntingly in the air for a moment before fading away. A man came out of the back of the store and gave the boy an oily smile.

"Good evening young master! What can I do for you?" The boy pulled back his left sleeve, exposing a mar which made the man pale and take several steps back.

"I need your assistance Mr. Burke. I am told you have a cabinet here in your shop, a cabinet that has never been sold, as most say it is broken." The man looked flustered but nodded his head. "I need you to fix it. I need it for a certain…….goal of mine. There is another copy exactly like it and can be used as a way to transport people from one place to another." Mr. Burke remained flustered for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yes, yes, of course, anything to help one of his supporters." He paused. "Anything else?" The young man smirked.

"As a matter of fact there is." He pointed to the object he had been observing earlier. "How much would it cost to buy that?" The millennium ring just glittered innocently as the soul inside despaired.

End Chapter

What do you think? And I know I'm evil. Deal with it! ;p !