"We probably don't have much time left before they wonder what is taking us so long and come looking for us." Yami frowned at the sealed door.
"Mana is still keeping watch, of course, so at least we'll have a warning. I am unsure whether these wizards will be able to detect our magic. Obviously, they noticed something to be able to determine why we were unconscious, but the ones downstairs didn't mention anything. Then again, they could just be pretending they're ignorant, although I didn't get that vibe."
Yugi nodded wearing a similar frown. "That's a valid concern, but trust your instincts, as they are usually correct. And, I mean, we know that we can detect their magic, but theirs is so different, I can't begin to guess what it can do. I can also see what you meant by it being layered. It feels really.. heavy." That was the best way he could put it.
That, plus the sensation like he was being stabbed by an ice pick in the brain. The feeling came so out of the left field, that he barely managed to mask his flinch in time.
He saw Yami nodding thoughtfully, thankfully unaware of his almost-slip. "You could certainly say that. Also, there's... another thing. Something I might have forgotten to mention to Mahado, when I sent him off."
"Oh?" Yugi's own voice sounded more weary, than really questioning. There was already so much weirdness happening right now, what else was there?
"Do you remember the whole Paradox fiasco?"
He shouldn't have thought that. "Uh, well, yeah. Meeting Judai and Yusei was quite interesting... but everything else... I'd rather you didn't remind me." Yugi groaned. "Do I want to know why you're bringing this up?"
"Wellll... right now, I'm betting on us having time travelled."
Yugi slowly looked up. "You're kidding, right?"
"I truly wish I was, partner."
A sigh left him. Being who they were, it was probably too much to hope for something ordinary to happen.
Suddenly, he was almost missing the run-of-the-mill kidnapping attempts.
"Do we know when we are?"
"The 'Daily Prophet' newspapers on the table were definitely recent make and the date was something-something August, 1995." A slightly mocking smile graced Yami's lips. Yeah, he too could see the grim humour in this situation.
"So that puts us just over five years in the past, probably. Hmm. To be fair, that might very well explain the phones and possibly the memory gap-ow!" Yugi hissed at the sudden, intense agony that came completely out of nowhere and made black spots appear in his vision as he tried to blink through it.
Yugi felt Yami's concern wash over him like wave. Shoot. Had he let the pain pass his shields? He really hoped he hadn't, although it was unlikely Yami hadn't noticed. Damn. They had more than enough to worry about. This headache was just a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things right now.
However, another spike of pain made him hunch over and let out a strangled breath. His hands latched at his temples and he didn't realise his nails were digging into the skin near his temples, probably leaving marks, until he became aware of the stream of Yami's concerned thoughts.
"-ugi! Partner!" The voice suddenly came into focus as Yami's hands grasped at his, gently but firmly pulling them away from his head.
He was surprised when the touch brought some unexpected, but welcome relief and looked up to see Yami staring at him with desperation and even some fear.
The Shadows around them wavered in agitation, stretching and expanding, and sealing off the entire room. They could feel the echoes of Yugi's torment, but were unable to help without a physical enemy present.
Yugi leaned forward, trying to lean into Yami's space. The pain felt more muted when he did. Why though? He had been okay, literally seconds ago. Sure there had been pain, but nothing close to what he had just experienced.
His forehead was pressed against Yami's chest. Huh, he didn't remember leaning that far in. He felt Yami embracing him lightly.
Dimly he realized he had never answered and knew that he really ought to.
He took a deep breath and tapped on Yami's collarbone with two of his fingers.
Almost immediately he felt Yami shift and suddenly found himself once again blinking up and looking at Yami's face, as his other's eyes frantically searched his. His face was being cradled between Yami's palms.
That felt rather nice and warm.
'Hey, your eyelashes are actually really long...' Yugi though to himself in a daze.
Or maybe not just to himself, as he saw Yami crack a tiny, mostly forced grin, as a thumb brushed itself across his cheek.
'And your kohl is smudged everywhere.' Yami sent back, pressing their foreheads together.
'Ugh.' Yugi squeezed his eyes shut. The pain was definitely a lot more tolerable with the close contact. 'What in the damned hell was that anyway? You felt it, right? I'm sorry.'
'Don't apologize for your pain. Please, never do that.' Yami said seriously. 'I'm sorry for thinking it would be alright for you. As Mahado and you said, it's a different branch of magic. We have no idea what the side-effects are. The only thing I know for sure is that we'll likely be stuck with the headache until we adjust to this magic. I'm... unsure as to why the touch is helping.'
While that didn't really explain much, Yugi just felt relieved that the hurt would leave eventually.
For now, however, the touch did make it easier to bear. Having their skin brush where the clothes didn't cover it, seemed to quell the pain even further.
Yugi hummed at this new discovery, trying to focus through the blanket of pain that was still laid across his mind, and let his hand trace a line up Yami's neck, noting a tiny hitch in the Pharaoh's breathing. Hmm, that made him... happy, for some reason.
Squeezing his eyes tighter, he tried to pull his thoughts together. 'Maybe it's to do with the fact that our magic is similar and manages to somewhat shield this one.' Yugi guessed. He shifted around so he could rest his head on Yami's shoulder. 'Still doesn't explain why I was better off beforehand.'
He felt Yami give a small shrug and felt helplessness float across the link. 'I don't know what to tell you, partner. We'll have to ask Mahado, whenever he gets back here. Maybe he'll have a theory.'
"Yeah.." he breathed out, comforted with the knowledge that at least they weren't alone here. He carefully tried to avoid thinking what this meant for their friends.
Tried, being the key word.
He trusted Seto to handle the situation with care because, despite all his scowling and generally unfriendly behaviour, Yugi knew that deep-down Seto did 'give a fuck', as Jou had said. Mokuba's worried presence would help push things along too. There was likely a Court session approaching. One that they would miss, because, once again, they were the reason for it.
Malik and Ryou would also be fine. They would probably immerse themselves into researching this new development, but they would also know when to take a break. And if they didn't, then Isis or Rishid would make them take one.
Honestly, Yugi was more worried about how Jou, Honda and Anzu would take this. He hoped they wouldn't be overly worried, although that was probably just wishful thinking. At least they all had things to occupy themselves with, so they wouldn't spend all their time worrying.
Jou had tournaments to attend, most of which couldn't be put on hold. The latest one had been organized to raise money for a charity.
Honda had been working hard lately and rarely had time off, but he often called in, same as Jou.
Anzu, of course, had her dance school and as such, was in-touch less often. Last they had heard from her, she was doing really well and hadn't managed to stop gushing over the different techniques she had picked up, while talking over the phone.
Neither Yami, nor Yugi had managed to hold their smiles at her honest enthusiasm. They were really happy it was working out for her. Yugi hoped that this situation wouldn't distract her from her goal.
They would get back eventually. They always did.
"Masters!" Mana's voice startled Yugi out of his thoughts.
"Yes?" Yami thankfully took charge of speaking, as Yugi hadn't yet managed to re-orient himself. However, he was able to at least raise his head, leaving his hand on Yami's, for comfort and some pain-relief.
"They're preparing to come up. You have a few minutes, tops." She glanced at Yugi worriedly, having felt his pain echo in the Shadows.
"Damn. Okay. Yugi." Yami squeezed his hand. "Let me take on a share of the pain. Don't-" He interrupted before Yugi could even open his mouth to protest. "-argue right now. I know that you know that I am better off right now. I – we - need you at your best."
Yugi closed his mouth, dismayed at the logic, but nodded reluctantly and passed on some of the pain threads over to Yami's side, and then stomped on the gnawing guilt he felt, when he saw Yami wince.
Despite his own reservations however, the difference he felt immediately afterwards was actually quite baffling. The fog that had enveloped him dissipated to a manageable levels and he could think clearer again. Strange. He knew he had only given over the bare minimum.
"Okay." He finally found his voice. "Last minute additions, anyone?"
He felt, more than saw, Yami and Mana glance at each other, communicating wordlessly.
Yami cleared his throat. "Let's say we're cousins, that'll help explain the resemblance. Common ancestor or whatever."
"Ah. We could also say we're travelling, because we're on a holiday and wanted to experience different cultures..." he tapped his chin. " Hmm.. we don't like being separated... also I'm still feeling the effects of the Dement-ur's attack and magical exhaustion, so you're not letting you out of sight. That'll be helpful, especially if we have to keep in close contact to alleviate the pain." Yugi finished and Yami nodded approvingly.
"That works fine. Hmm... Mana? Anything you can think of?" He looked back at Yugi. "We can always sort out the unexpected questions quietly between us and I can't really think of anything else right now."
Yugi shrugged in agreement and looked at Mana expectedly.
Mana pursed her lips and tapped her staff against her helmet, where it made a pleasant clinking sound. She paused and then lifted her staff in front of her, tapped it with her finger and made a thoughtful sound.
"Got it!" She exclaimed. She focused back on them and quickly explained. "Tell them you lost your wands sometime before the attack."
"Our.. wands?"
"Yep!" She nodded. "While I was spying on them I noticed that they were using little sticks to channel their magic. I heard the ginger-haired one mention something about his son who has a classmate, whose wand is apparently under-performing. He used his stick as an example to point out something on it. I'm positive that it's an essential wizard's tool as he seemed quite concerned for the kid. It'll seem weird that you two don't have any on you. And this way, you might get your hands on some 'replacements' for yourselves and study them."
"Good tip, that would have been confusing without prior knowledge. Probably suspicious too. Thanks, Mana." Yami smiled at her gratefully and Yugi gave her a two-fingered salute.
Mana did a little twirl and then stopped mid-air to tilt her head towards the door. "They're almost at the door. Permission to look for Master and update him on the news?" She looked at them hopefully. "I promise we'll be back as soon as we can."
"Yeah, of course." Yugi nodded. "Thanks for looking out for us!"
"No problem, my Princes!" She smiled, but then turned serious again. "I'll tell him about your condition too. I for one, don't like it. So try to take it easy, kay?" She floated up close and ruffled Yugi's hair gently.
"As much as we can." Yugi assured her, for the both of them.
To be fair, they couldn't promise more than that and Mana knew it.
"They're here." She whispered suddenly. "'Ta!" She waved and quietly melted into the Shadows.
Yami stood up, one hand still gripping Yugi's and waved at the Shadows, letting them go back to their normal, dormant state.
And not a second too late, as they immediately heard a quiet knock and a voice calling out to them.
"Are you alright in there?" It sounded kind, if a bit concerned.
"Coming! Just give us a second." Yami called, then lowered his voice as he turned back to him. "That's Remus. He's a Dark one and has some weird things going on with his aura." He whispered. "The other one is inclined towards Light, so you'll have to get a read on him, but I think you'll like them both anyway. They seem genuinely nice."
"Oh?" Yugi raised an eyebrow curiously, only to wince at the impending headache that the gesture left him with, and scowled. He waved of Yami's worried frown with a sigh.
Was he going to have to refrain from making facial expressions for the next several weeks, or something, until the pain went? That would be irritating, not to mention nigh-impossible.
Thank the Gods, Yami's presence made it a lot more tolerable. If he wasn't around, then Yugi would be in real trouble.
"Okay, partner. Come on." Yami helped him up, and damn everything, but his legs really didn't feel up for the task. He could already feel the pins and needles.
They made it to the door and Yami looked over him for a final time, before pushing the door open.
The men on the other side were a bit of a surprise, if only for how... normal they looked, if one didn't count the weird robe-thing the ginger-haired man was wearing.
'Ah, I can feel the power of Light in him, if not a lot.' It felt calm and soothing to Yugi's senses.
'Not compared to you, partner. But that's a given.' Yami thought back and Yugi had to silently agree.
"Pardon the intrusion, I'm Yugi, and you've already met Yami. Thank you for taking care of us." He uttered softly and gave a light bow. He felt Yami copy him, with some reluctance flooding across their bond.
He bit back a grin at that. The Pharaoh didn't like seeing him bow to anyone, seeing as he was higher ranked, but he had given in after Yugi had explained him that it was simply a part of their culture now. Plus, they couldn't really disclose their hierarchy to the public anyway.
He saw the ginger-haired man blinking at him, before his face broke into a warm smile.
"It was truly no trouble, Yugi..?" He pronounced the name slowly, but correctly and Yugi nodded. "My name is Arthur and this," He gestured to the man to his right, who offered a nod, "is Remus."
Yugi smiled at them, subtly adjusting his weight so that he could lean closer to Yami. "Pleasure to meet you."
"We're just glad you're awake now." Remus spoke in a soft voice. "I was afraid I would have to call the nurse in again to check on you. You've been out of it for quite a while."
"Indeed!" Arthur exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Magical exhaustion on top of a Dementor attack? Merlin's beard, but that's not something I'd wish on anyone."
'Merlin, huh...' Yami's thoughts floated over to him. Yugi made a mental note on the name.
"We're better now, no doubt thanks to you." Yami finally said. "Also, we have decided to accept your offer. We'll help out, it's the least we can do."
"Thank you, an outside testimony will be a tremendous help. Come on then, I shall lead you to the location where we'll been staying." Arthur said, his expression visibly relieved as they started to the path downstairs. "Let us not linger here longer then necessary. I am sure you're hungry too. I made certain that something would be fixed up for you once we get there. My wife's cooking is unparalleled!" Affection coloured his voice.
"Sounds good." Truthfully, Yugi wasn't all that hungry. He was aching and sore, and in pain, but not hungry. Yami picked up on that, shooting him a concerned look.
'I know, partner. But food should help the recovery, if only a little.' He then sent over a wave of amused disgruntlement. 'Mortal forms are rather inconvenient like that.'
Yugi almost laughed out loud at that, but managed to cover it up with a cough. 'Just because you are a creature made mostly of Darkness and above us Mortals, doesn't mean all of us can be the same.'
'Mmmm... You come pretty close to that already though. What with you hiding in dark rooms and playing video games.'
'Oh, shush. You know it's a part of the job and you're just jealous that Seto makes you actually face him in brightly lit stadiums.'
'I'm still convinced he's doing that on purpose. Also, I admit to nothing.' Yami sniffed.
Arthur looked around the house with some longing. "Here we are. Remus, if you'd like to grab your things?" Remus nodded in response and turned to pick up the suitcase he had probably packed while Yugi and Yami had been having their own talk.
"Good, good. We'll have to walk outside a bit to pass the wards. And then we'll have to side-apparate you to the location, which is in London." He turned towards them. "You okay with that?"
'Apparition..?' Yugi asked.
'Their method of transportation, I assume. Maybe like our Shadow Flickering? There's no way Arthur would have gotten here so fast otherwise.' Yami guessed.
'Maybe. I'll guess we'll see.'
"Yeah, that's fine." Yugi said and Yami nodded.
After that, Arthur grabbed the newspaper from the coffee table and gave the room a sweeping glance to make sure he had what he needed. Satisfied, he waved them along and together they left the house.
They didn't walk very far, but for Yugi it seemed much longer than it actually was. Some of it due to the pain, but there was also fascination bleeding through.
'These are the... what did he call it... wards?' Yugi stared around with slightly widened eyes. Pale, slightly glowing threads wove all around them, like loose strings from a violin. They calmly floated around, seemingly unbothered by the slight wind. He almost flinched when he had to walk through a whole bunch that seemed like they were braided together, convinced that he would get tangled in them, but they passed through him like there was nothing there.
'Yeah...' Yami was staring too.
'They're beautiful.' Yugi whispered and felt Yami's whole-hearted agreement. As he happened to look up towards where their new... associates were travelling slightly ahead of them, he noticed something and nudged Yami's arm.
'What is it, partner?' Yami immediately glanced at him, concernedly. 'Is the pain picking up again?'
Yugi subtly shook his head. 'No. I mean, a little, but not much. But that's not what I mean. Look at them.' He pointedly looked at Arthur and Remus.
At first, he felt a flash of confusion from Yami, but then it smoothed into understanding and a slight intrigue, as he continued watching the two men.
'They can't see the threads, can they?'
Yugi shook his head. 'I don't think so.'
'That's... something we'll have to look into. Hope they have some books they wouldn't mind me borrowing.'
'Borrowing.' Yugi flared his amusement.
'Well, would you prefer me to call it 'stealing, but with the intention of returning the property'ing?'
Yugi pretended to think it over and leaned to the left, to avoid getting hit by the light threads in his face. Even if they just passed through him, it was still unnerving. Like getting hit in the face with a spider web. 'Maybe.'
The threads were getting sparser by the minute and now there were only a couple fluttering around them. They were probably on the very edge of their range now.
Arthur, who had been pretty quiet up to this point, finally came to a stop and also proved him right. "We're at the end of the wards, so let's apparate."
'He can sense them, but not see them.' Yami mused. 'Very interesting, indeed.'
"Alright then." Yugi offered him a smile, and gripped Yami's elbow tighter.
'We don't have to do anything, right? We just stand and let them do whatever it is they're doing. By Ra, I hate walking into unknown situations like these.'
Yami flooded their bond with calm. 'I think we'll be just fine.'
And they were. There was a quick discussion between Remus and Arthur, as to which one of them would be doing the apparating. In the end, Arthur won as Remus caved-in.
Arthur came over to them and offered a small smile. "I know that side-along is not the nicest experience, but bear with me, okay?"
"Thank you." Yugi nodded, unsure of what he should expect.
Arthur laid his hands on both Yugi and Yami's shoulders and what followed was the weirdest, most unpleasant experience they had subjected themselves to, so far.
As soon as Yugi became aware of ground below his feet again, he had to try and calm his racing heart. Next to him, Yami wasn't much better. And then he noticed the Shadows.
'Ah, shit. Yami, we need to rein them in and quickly!' He called out, thankful that Arthur and Remus were busy trying to locate a piece of paper, or something, as that meant they hadn't noticed the shifting Shadowy threads that did not look at all natural.
'Trying.' Yami spoke, a slight strain in his mental voice. Yugi pursed his lips and lent him some of the strength that they were still recovering. The Shadows went reluctantly, but didn't object. He looked up to see if their two companions had noticed anything, but it seemed they had been lucky.
"Ah, there it is!" It looked like Arthur had managed to find the paper slip. "Over here, boys." He waved.
They went closer, while Yugi carefully looked around. Yami had explained the Fidelius charm to him, so he was curious to see if they could pick up on it, especially after seeing the wards.
'Yami, it's there!' He exclaimed.
These wards were a lot less noticeable. Not because they were weaker, if anything they felt even denser than the ones they had seen, but they were dark. Literally. Almost black, and very hard to see in the evening twilight. And he couldn't see the house shape very well... it was like it kept flickering in-and-out of the existence itself.
'Wow.' Yami voiced, admiringly. 'Once we're in, we have to figure this one out.'
'Yeah.' Yugi made sure his staring at the supposedly-hidden place wasn't blatantly obvious, as he was talking to Arthur at the same time.
Good thing he had had years to practice paying attention to several different conversations happening at the same time.
"-nd just read this text and concentrate hard on it. Then you'll be able to see the house." Arthur finished.
Yugi and Yami both looked at the tiny piece of paper.
'The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London'
Was written in a loopy handwriting.
'An Order? Looks like they're not telling us everything.'
Yugi snorted quietly. 'And we've told them nothing at all.'
After reading the words, they both looked up and Yugi didn't even have to pretend to give a surprised gasp, as it came rather naturally. The dark threads unwound from the house and extended towards them, including them both in it's protections as they were included in the charm.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Remus asked with a smile. Yugi mutely nodded, even though he was amazed due to a different reason than what Remus probably had in mind.
For Yami though, the gasp had a different reason.
'Yugi.' Yami called in amazement. 'Can you feel that?'
'They... really like us. You.' The dark threads had some consciousness for themselves. They felt old. Much older that the ones at Arthur's house did. And they were happily winding themselves around Yami like excited kids. Made sense, with him commanding the Dark.
'Both, actually, so you're right.' Yami said as they walked after Arthur and Remus, up the stairs and stopping at the front door, where Remus gave a soft knock. The closer they got, the more Yugi felt the magical influence settle over him and a couple of threads hesitantly ventured closer to his person too.
Yami was loving it. And Yugi was too, his mind open to Yami's feelings. This Darkness was rather delightful and welcomed them, as warmly as a sort-of-sentient consciousness could.
The door opened to reveal a red-headed, motherly-looking woman.
"Arthur, dear! You're back!" She exclaimed in a hushed whisper with a smile and leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek. "Remus too! And our guests, I presume?" She directed a smile to them. "Come on in, it's getting a bit chilly out here."
'She's a Light too. And I sense more around. Probably upstairs? Either way, they're close.'
'Mmm. Makes you wonder what so many Lights are doing here.'
Yugi and Yami followed her in the house, and nodded politely as Arthur introduced them to her - his wife Molly-, and called out simple greetings as well as apologies for intruding.
"Oh, don't you worry, dears." Her tone was warm. "I'm glad you're all better now. Would you like to come to the kitchen? You need some food, and we'll talk a bit about everything. The hearing too, of course."
"When's that again?" Remus questioned.
"The day after tomorrow." Molly responded promptly, leading them towards the kitchen, presumably. "Harry dear is quite uptight about it, not that I blame him."
"Is Albus coming today?" Arthur asked, glancing around the dim hallway.
Molly hummed. "I believe so."
They had reached the kitchen. It was as dark as the rest of the place, from what they had seen thus far.
"Let me make you some tea, dears." Yugi nodded at her gratefully, mouthing a quiet 'thanks'.
He was glad that they were mostly leaving them out of the conversation. He was still very tired, as was Yami, and he knew they picked up on it from their body language, which thankfully meant that they weren't pushing any question on them yet either.
At least, until whenever that Albus person showed up.
A/N. Kay Im so done with this chapter. This is like 10 pages man, I cant do more rn. Hope you enjoy it tho!
To all my reviewers: I love you!
Edit: just fixed some grammar mistakes I noticed. English language is the devil.