Hi! Hey, look. *Points to title chapter* It's the Millennium Belt!
Aziza/Ginny
*Bakura/Ryo*
Yami/Yugi
Harry threw a curse at the advancing tiger. The big cat sidestepped the jet of light and leaped toward him, claws out and mouth gaping. He sent a spell straight into its mouth. The tiger dropped like a stone and started hacking, trying to cough up something. Harry started sending a myriad of hexes, curses, anything he could think of at the tiger. Soon he realized something was happening, and he didn't think it was good. The spells seemed to…absorb into the tiger's white fur.
Great. Magic apparently didn't work on these creatures. Harry looked over his shoulder to see Padfoot snarling and snapping at a hunched over gray monster with an eye patch over its left eye. The creature cackled, a high pitched grating sound that sent chills up Harry's spine and caused Padfoot's fur to stand on end. Harry took his eyes off the tiger for a second too long; by the time he registered the silence in front of him and turned his head, the tiger was on top of him. Harry grunted as the behemoth crushed his shoulders beneath its paws, his wand flying from his hand. It snarled in his face, teeth bared. This tiger's teeth weren't as big as he thought a tiger's should be. Its scarred eye was closed, but its second eye glared down at Harry. Its breath reeked. Harry grimaced.
He was going to die. Not at the hands of Voldemort, not during a war, but eaten by a tiger that was virtually indestructible—which was totally stupid, because the Death Eaters had been able to hurt the Monsters during the Shadow Game back at the museum. Harry growled, and the tiger growled back. If they were having a growling and staring contest, the tiger won hands down.
A roar split the air and Harry's eardrums. Something rammed the tiger from the side. The tiger went flying, relieving Harry of the weight. He sucked in a breath and grabbed his wand before scrambling up to see the giant red dragon pull the tiger into the air and squeeze its claws into the tiger's side. The tiger screamed sharply before disappearing. Padfoot nudged his leg. Harry looked down, and the dog grinned at him. Harry sighed, glad that his godfather was alright.
"Harry!" a female voice called from above him. Harry looked up and saw Ginny on the back of the fierce looking dragon. The wind from its wings buffeted Harry, even though he wasn't directly underneath it. He backed up a bit more where the force wasn't so bad. Ginny grinned in relief. "You okay?"
Harry nodded. "You?"
She shrugged. "I wasn't fighting. Genesis Dragon was." She patted the dragon's neck. The dragon seemed to preen at the attention. The dragon landed and Ginny slid down its neck right in front of Harry. If only all dragons were as well-behaved. Harry wished this dragon was used at the Tournament instead of the Hungarian Horntail.
Harry looked around. He saw a pale wolf with a red aura surrounding it sitting nearby. "What's with all the monsters?"
"Well, I summoned Genesis Dragon and Silver Fang to protect you and Padfoot. I equipped Silver Fang with the Spell Card, United We Stand, just in case."
"You can do that?"
Ginny nodded. "As for the rogue monsters, who knows. We should go. We're meeting up with everyone at the shop."
"What about Hermione and Ron?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. " 'Thank you Ginny, for saving me from the creepy Coach Goblin and the nasty All-Seeing White Tiger. You know, the one that was going to eat me.' " She stressed the last two words. "Hermione and Ron can look after themselves for a little bit. The Pharaoh and Joey are with them. They'll be fine."
Meanwhile, over at another section of the park, Ron was complaining that he hadn't even in forever. Actually, he had last eaten at dinner. They hadn't had breakfast this morning, and he was caught up in all the excitement. Had it really been less than a day since they came to Japan?
"What time is it?" he asked.
Téa glanced at a rectangular device with a bunch of numbers on it. It looked like a small telephone. Weird! "Almost two."
Hermione rolled her eyes and started walking. Yugi chuckled and followed her, and soon they were all headed back to the Game Shop. Ron trailed behind, wondering what they were going to eat. He could hear Joey and Tristan debating that very subject, and Yugi laughing. They sounded farther away than they should be. He blinked and saw that the others were not that far in front of him. Ron started looking around warily and reached into his pocket for his wand. He saw something glint in the bushes.
It could be a trap. After spending so long with Harry, one tended to get suspicious. Hermione might call him paranoid, but he was a wizard in a city full of Muggles. He was best friends with the Boy Who Lived, the number one enemy of You Know Who. No, number two—Dumbledore topped the list; he was just harder to trap—and he was finding out that there was very old magic at work here. He had every right to be circumspect. As he got closer, he saw that the glint was in fact a solid gold belt just lying next to a bush. There was an eye on it, like on the other Items. Ron heard Bill call it either the Eye of Anubis or the Eye of Wdjat. Honestly, he thought the terms were exactly the same.
"Pick it up, Ronald Weasley," a mystical voice said nearby.
Ron pointed his wand at the man that had suddenly appeared. He wore a turban and robes. His eyes were blank. A giant gold key hung around his neck, reminding Ron of the Millennium Items. "Who are you?"
"My name is Shadi, keeper of the Items." He gestured to the belt. "Pick it up."
Ron lowered his wand slightly. "Why?"
"A test. If you are truly destined to bear an Item, you must prove it."
Ron narrowed his eyes as he thought it over. Yes, he could think, contrary to what Hermione thought. He was more of a strategic thinker; he didn't know everything. He didn't want to. He could try to take the belt or walk away. But if the belt was an Item, he wondered what it did. Aziza's Bracelet was damn useful, and he remembered that the Bracelet went with the Earrings. He wondered what would happen if you took one Item out of the equation. On the other hand, the Items were dangerous. Yugi and Bakura said it themselves. He saw firsthand what the Necklace did to Hermione.
"Why me?" Ron asked finally. Shadi raised an eyebrow, so Ron elaborated. "Why am I destined to bear this Item?" He put a heap of scorn on the last three words. The way the man spoke kind of reminded him of Trelawney, but he didn't sound nearly as ridiculous saying it. Maybe it was his voice. He didn't sound as stupid as the Divination teacher. Trelawney could learn a few things from this guy. "Hermione I can understand, but…" He bit his lip and looked at his feet before continuing. After all, he would probably never see this guy again. "I'm nobody."
Shadi smiled. "Would you be willing to do anything for your friends?"
Ron's head snapped up. He glared. That was one of the stupidest questions in the world. "Of course."
"Yet you abandoned Harry Potter last year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament."
Ron's mouth fell open. "How do you know about that?" He shook his head. It wasn't important. "That was a mistake. I was jealous." Yes, Harry was the Boy Who Lived. He got all the attention and had a lot of money, while Ron and his family could barely get by. But he had also lost his parents, lived with a horrid aunt and uncle, and was being ridiculed and hunted.
"If you truly believe you would do anything for your friends, put on the Belt. Or walk away, back to the shop where you rely on a mere stick of wood for protection."
There was a dare in his voice, as if Shadi believed Ron would in fact turn and walk away. Ron's chin rose. He wouldn't back down from this. He put his wand in his pocket and, never taking his eye off of Shadi, picked up the Belt. He saw that he was mistaken—instead of just one eye, where the belt opened and closed, there were two. The second was smaller and directly opposite the first. Ron threaded the Belt through his belt loops. When he snapped it shut, he realized that it fit perfectly. Shadi nodded slightly.
"Well? Is that it?" Ron asked impatiently after a minute of silence.
Shadi inclined his head toward Ron. "Yes. Usually there are tests for an Item bearer. Yours is coming soon."
And between one blink and the next, while Ron was trying to figure out the cryptic message, Shadi disappeared.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked when they got back to the Game Shop. Harry, Ginny, and Padfoot were waiting for them at the door. The monsters were still wreaking havoc, but they seemed to be avoiding the block where they were. Bakura was nowhere to be seen.
"He was right behind us," Tristan said, looking over his shoulder. "He'll catch up."
Hermione shook her head. "Ron hasn't been here enough to know where he's going." She reached up to touch the Necklace that she somehow couldn't force herself to take off. "He could be lost, or a monster could get him, or—"
"Hermione," Aziza said, breaking through her worried rant. She blinked and saw the transparent princess in front of her. "Ron will be fine. He has his wand. If he's not here in ten minutes I'll go out and look for him."
Hermione looked at her hopefully before taking a breath. "Okay."
"Well, now that that's settled," Joey said, "Let's eat!"
Hermione smiled slightly. He reminded her so much of Ron. Téa muttered something under her breath as they went inside, Tristan and Joey making a beeline for the kitchen. Padfoot transformed fluidly into Sirius and followed them, while Yugi, Téa, Ginny, Hermione and Harry went to the sitting room. Crookshanks curled up on Yugi's lap immediately. Hedwig was asleep on top of the television.
"Where did Marik and Ishizu go?" Harry asked.
"They went back to Egypt to try to figure out what's going on with the monsters," Yugi told him.
"I'm worried about what Bakura's up to," Téa said, biting her lip.
"Knowing the Thief, he's busy looting every store he can," Aziza scoffed.
Ginny gave Aziza a look. Aziza scowled, and Ginny sighed. Hermione looked at them, confused. Were they using body signals? Or did they just know each other that well?
"What's wrong?"
Hermione jumped at the Pharaoh's voice next to her. "Don't do that!" she snapped.
He chuckled. "Apologies."
Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry. This whole day has been insane."
The Pharaoh nodded. "Agreed. After all, it's not every day monsters appear out of nowhere."
"Or that you have a long lost sister." Hermione turned to face the Pharaoh. "Look, I can't imagine how difficult this is for you—"
"It's not as difficult as you might think." Hermione blinked, so he elaborated. "For so long I have had no memory of my time as Pharaoh. Aziza is a part of that time. Her being here feels…right, somehow. Yes, I will have to adjust to the thought of having a sister, but it makes my past that much less of a mystery."
Hermione smiled slightly. "To tell you the truth, monsters aren't that much of a big deal for me anymore. But why didn't our spells work on them? During that Shadow Game at the museum, the Death Eaters' spells worked fine."
He thought it over for a minute, looking at Yugi. Yugi shrugged and his eyes went a little distant as he scratched Crookshanks' ears. Hermione blinked. The Pharaoh finally spoke. "Perhaps it is because it isn't Shadow magic that allows the monsters to walk free. Additionally, in the Shadow Game, the Death Eaters were essentially the Duel Monsters. They would have to be able to affect the other Monsters to have a hope of winning."
Hermione scoffed. The Death Eaters had never stood a chance, between Marik's Rod and Magician Valkyria's special ability. "I have another question. What's with the looks?"
The Pharaoh frowned. "Looks?"
"Yeah. You and Yugi, were you using body language? Yugi's eyes got distant a minute ago. Ginny and Aziza were doing something similar."
The Pharaoh smirked. "When you share a body with someone, you tend to learn a few tricks."
Joey and Tristan walked in with several plates of food, half of it devoured. Sirius carried a plate stacked high with sandwiches to the coffee table. When Joey reached for one, Sirius grabbed his hand. "No more. You've had several."
Joey frowned, trying to use puppy dog eyes to get another. Sirius snorted. "Kid, I invented that look. Don't try it on me."
Hermione giggled and turned back to the spot where the Pharaoh had been. He was gone.
Nice, Yugi snorted in his head as he bit into a sandwich, breaking off a piece for the cat next to him.
What? Yami asked innocently.
Leaving her in the dark like that. I have a feeling she won't just let it go.
She'll either figure it out or she won't. All I know is that I won't be the one to give her all the answers.
Yugi had just finished his first sandwich and was on his way for a second when the door opened. Bakura sauntered in and snatched the last sandwich on the plate Joey was holding. Joey's mouth dropped in outrage.
"That was mine! Get your own!"
Bakura smirked. "I just did."
Joey glared as Bakura ate the sandwich slowly. It was obvious the Thief was amused at Joey's possessive attitude over food. Yugi sighed.
"Joey, there's a whole stack by Sirius. Go get another one."
"Sirius won't let me have one," Joey grumbled. "He says the rest are for Ron."
Bakura smirked. "Ron may be a while." Several death glares were leveled at Bakura for that comment. He rolled his eyes. "Relax, the Scarecrow is fine."
"Scarecrow?" Ginny asked dubiously.
"Yeah. Tall, no brain." Bakura caught the plate that Hermione hurled at him. He looked at her, eyes glinting dangerously. "Don't try that again."
"Next time it'll be a knife," Aziza threatened.
Bakura grinned maniacally. "I like knives."
Well, now she knows what to get him for Christmas, Yugi thought.
"What did you do, Bakura?" Yami sighed.
"Who says I did anything?"
"Because you couldn't be honest to save your life," Aziza spat.
"All right, Princess. I'll let you know what I did with him." He leaned forward so that he was looking Aziza directly in the eye. "Nothing. I saw him outside the Domino Museum about ten minutes ago. If he does have a brain, he'll try to retrace his footsteps. Of course, he could also ask for directions." Bakura leaned back in his chair and finished his sandwich before disappearing upstairs.
The door opened again, and Ron stumbled in. Hermione hurled herself at the ginger. They clung to each other for a second before she pulled back and whacked his shoulder. Yugi winced at the sound.
"Hey, Ron." Sirius held up the plate. It was still mostly full. "We saved you some food."
Ron grinned and was over by Sirius in a second, grabbing a sandwich in each hand. Yugi blinked. Did he teleport?
No, Yami chuckled. I think he loves food as much as Joey and Tristan, though.
That's possible? Yugi thought in astonishment. Apparently it was, because Ron practically inhaled half the plate before coming up for air.
"Wow," Téa said. "And I thought Joey and Tristan were bad."
Ron grinned, mouth luckily closed, but pieces of food were stuck to his teeth. Yugi grimaced slightly. Hermione and Téa groaned in disgust.
"Manners, Ronald!"
Ron's lips slid back over his teeth as he glared at Hermione.
"So, Ron," Harry said slightly louder than necessary, "where were you?"
Ron swallowed pointedly before answering. "I got lost on the way back. Somehow I found myself outside the museum and I retraced my steps."
"But you were right behind us. How did you get lost?"
"I, uh, got held up."
"What he means," Bakura said coldly, "is that somehow he managed to get his hands on a Millennium Item."
Ginny rolled her eyes. Your boyfriend is such a drama queen.
He's not my boyfriend, Ginny! Aziza didn't put much bite into the objection, more interested in the fact that Ron supposedly had a Millennium Item.
Scratch that, Aziza thought as Ron shrugged tersely. Now that she knew about it, she could feel a slight energy coming from Ron, identical to but weaker than the energy coming from Ryo and Yugi. He definitely has a Millennium Item.
"So what if I do?" Ron asked defensively. "Everyone else seems to have one."
Several people gasped. Yugi was frowning. "But where did you get it? And which one is it?"
"Some dude in a turban told me to pick it up, so I did." Ron relaxed slightly, since Yugi wasn't very imposing.
Bakura huffed. "That's not fair."
Ginny let Aziza have control so that the two of them could bicker in peace.
"Life's not fair, Thief," Aziza reminded him. Her voice wasn't harsh, as if Bakura was an afterthought. "He has the Belt. That's got to be it."
Ginny saw Bakura toss something shiny and pointy in Hermione's direction. Ron's eyes widened and something glowed under his jacket. The air in front of Ron and Hermione shimmered, like a mirage. Hermione and everyone else stared as the paper clip hit the force field and rebounded a few feet before hitting the ground.
Bakura nodded in affirmation. "He has the Belt."
Ginny and Aziza both wondered how long it would be before Bakura attempted to steal it for himself.
It didn't take long for Ron to tell them what Shadi had said. Bakura tuned him out afterward, wondering how he could get the Belt away from Ron. It had taken forever to get it last time, and only because the Priest had given his life force for the Pharaoh.
*I don't think you can,* Ryo whispered through the link. Bakura had forced him to sleep after separating from the others earlier, not wanting to hear him fretting and trying to convince Bakura to return the things he had stolen. He had only woken up when the Ring finally registered the presence of the Belt and started pointing downstairs.
*Stupid Belt,* Bakura complained. *It has a very strong defensive mechanism.*
*Ah, but that's why you want it so bad, isn't it?*
Bakura smirked. His landlord knew him so well.
"—wonder if it has anything to do with the monsters roaming around," Téa mused.
"Probably," Joey agreed.
The Pharaoh's midget frowned. "Shadi usually lets the Items test people on their own."
The Pharaoh looked at Bakura. "What does the Belt do?"
Bakura raised his eyebrows. "Why would I tell you?"
A collective sigh went through the room.
"We know it's a shield," Harry said, speaking for the first time since Bakura came into the room. "But how good is it?"
Bakura remained silent.
*Bakura, please,* Ryo sighed.
*Why should I?*
*You know more about the Belt than anyone else. If something happens to us, they'll be clueless. And why did the Belt show up now?*
*Because the Belt only chooses a bearer when the darkness is near. End of the world, nothing new for them.*
Ryo squeaked faintly and faded into existence next to Bakura.
"Hey, Ryo," Ginny greeted. "What's wrong?"
Ryo's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.
"He's a little upset because I just told him a secret about the Belt."
Joey got up from the couch to pull Bakura up by his shirt. "Listen you, either help us or shut up. We don't need your stupid remarks."
Bakura gripped Joey's wrists and tightened his grip until Joey had to release his shirt to pull away. Bakura let him go and pointed to Ron.
"You have a choice: either figure out the full power of the Belt on your own or watch everything you've ever known become enshrouded in darkness."
Bakura let Ryo have control. *Let's go home.*
Ryo hesitated. "Bakura said the Belt only chooses a bearer when someone is about to destroy the world."
Harry and Yugi both shook their heads.
"Voldemort's been threatening everyone, not just wizards, for a long time now," Harry said.
"Don't forget Battle City," Yugi reminded him. "So why didn't it show up before?"
Ryo shrugged. "He said something about the darkness."
Bakura rolled his eyes. *If you're going to pass on a message, do it properly. Now, let's go home so I can sort through our loot.*
*Your loot,* Ryo objected as they entered the Game Shop. Yugi's Grandpa nodded at him. A card on the counter caught Bakura's eye. The monster on it was pale white. The top half was a man with tiny wings, a horn, and pointy ears. The lower half formed a snake.
*I want it.*
Ryo sighed, knowing Bakura would get hold of it somehow. He pointed to the card. "How much?"
Ryo could feel Bakura lurking in his mind, filled with anticipation and excitement as he paid for the card.
*What's the big deal?*
Bakura appeared next to him and ran an invisible finger over Diabound Kernel before Ryo put it in his card holder.
*None of your business.*
Ryo sighed again and let the subject drop.
See? Told ya! The Belt's here. If anything doesn't make sense, let me know.
I would have had this up ages ago, but my computer fried. BUT, I am working on the next chapter right now. Until next time.
ASHLEY
