Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dawn of Fate
.
.
[Yami Seto walks into Skyla's room at the Angel Wings treehouse. Yami Yugi is sitting at the computer, chuckling slightly as he looks over the document for "Dawn of Fate". Skyla's bed is shaking, and her feet can be seen from underneath.]
Y.Seto: Pharaoh, why is Sky-chan hiding under the bed?
Y.Yugi: Hunh? [He looks.] Oh, she put up chapter twenty-two today.
Y.Seto: Oh... THAT chapter, hunh?
Y.Yugi: Yeah, THAT chapter.
Y.Seto: Ah... so I guess that means there's no Q&A for this chapter, hunh?
Y.Yugi: Yeah, there weren't that many people that reviewed anyway; she didn't give them the chance. Skyla did want us to mention something to Shaun Garin though.
Y.Seto: Oh? What's that?
Y.Yugi: That if he doesn't review this chapter, she kick the crap out of him next time she sees him on AIM.
Y.Seto: [sniggers] And then she dove under the bed, hunh?
Y.Yugi: Yup.
Y.Seto: ^_^ Okay, everyone. Read, enjoy, and then review!
Y.Yugi: Flames will be used to power up Sky-chan's God of Ra card.
[Skyla can be heard whimpering under the bed.]
.
.
.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - THE THIRD TASK
"Marik-kun! Onegai, wake up!"
Marik blinked his eyes open slowly, gradually coming awake as he became aware of a painful stiffness in his body. He gazed above him blearily, seeing two twin sets of purple eyes above him. Yugi and Yami Yugi helped him sit up, and Marik became aware the he and the grass around them were wet from morning dew. He brushed his shirt off futilely, before looking around to see that not only were the pharaoh and his hikari there, but Dumbledore was as well. The elderly headmaster was over where Krum had fallen, trying to wake the Bulgarian. Mr. Crouch, however, was gone.
"Thank goodness," Yugi said relieved. "When Dumbledore-sensei said you two were hurt, I feared the worst."
"You two didn't try to attack each other, did you?" Yami Yugi asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Marik shook his head painfully.
"No nothing like that," he said. He hesitated a moment, making sure Dumbledore was too preoccupied with Krum before whispering, "I'll need to talk to you two later. You, the Setos, and the Bakuras."
The two of them exchanged alarmed looks as Marik slowly got to his feet, his legs stiff from being stuck in one position all night. He hobbled over to Dumbledore, wincing with each step.
"How is he?" he asked, leaning against a tree once he was close enough.
Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "Merely stunned, just as you were, Mr. Ishitar," he said. "He'll be all right, but this begs the question, 'What were you two doing out here last night?'"
"Krum wanted to talk to me after we were showed what the third task was going to be, sir," Marik explained. "While we were talking, I saw Crouch-san in the forest."
"Crouch?" Dumbledore asked, sounding slightly concerned.
Marik nodded in affirmation. "Hai, it was definitely Crouch-san. It was like he had gone crazy. He kept rambling about his son, and... well, he said something about the Dark Lord becoming stronger."
A dark look overtook Dumbledore's face as he looked up to him. "I feared as much..."
"You mean... Voldemort's coming back?" Yami Yugi asked. The headmaster nodded, and Yugi squeaked in fear, holding onto his other self tightly; obviously remembering his last encounter with Voldemort. Dumbledore turned to them, a solemn look on his face, as Krum groaned, slowly coming to.
"I cannot be certain when," the headmaster said softly. "But it is inevitable."
~.oOOo.~
It was a very solemn gathering in the library that day after lunch. Seto, Bakura, Yugi, and their respective Egyptian spirits sat around a table in the very back, away from the ears of other students and the librarian. Marik stood before the six of them, having already recounted the dreams he had had before the start of Battle City that past summer, and the first day of school, as well as what Crouch said about a faceless dark creature. No one had said anything while he was talking, and there was a long pause after he had finished.
"So," Yami Bakura finally said, "he found a way to escape from the Shadow Realm."
Yugi looked up sadly at Marik as his other self put an arm around him. "What are we going to do?" he asked. "We barely managed to defeat him the first time. He nearly killed two of our friends then as well."
Yami Seto laced his fingers together, a distant look on his face. "It might not be so bad this time. He doesn't have a Millennium Item, nor can he get access to one."
"But if what Crouch said was any indication, he's in league with Voldemort," Yami Yugi pointed out. "That in itself could lead to trouble."
"You're all forgetting one thing," Seto said sternly. "He's still a spirit isn't he? He can't harm people in that form can he?"
"No, but he can possess them," Bakura answered. "'The seven Chosen will stand before the Un-Chosen'." He looked up at Marik. "That's what Aishisu meant when she said that, didn't she?"
"It's starting to look that way," Marik replied.
The tomb robber swore under his breath. "Geeze. That could be any one out of thousands of people that don't have an Item."
"What if it's Harry?"
All eyes turned toward Yugi at his suggestion. The small of stature duelist looked at each of them, a concerned look on his face.
"What if the Items are responding to him because they perceive him as a threat?" he asked. "It would not be the first time something like that happened."
Yami Bakura nodded. "Or he could be the seventh priest. We still don't know if the Ankh is supposed to stay with Shadi or not."
Yami Yugi stood up, looking at each of the others in turn; the pharaoh looking upon his loyal priests, and his life-long companion.
"There is still much we do not know," he said. "As long as our story keeps going, however, we'll continue find out more. Until we do know more, we can only follow the turn of the pages." He paused a moment to let what he said sink in, before continuing, "We should explain this to Draco and Hermione. As Item holder's, they'll need to know."
Yugi stood up, latching onto his other's arm. "We'll tell Draco-kun," he said, before turning to Marik. "Marik-kun, I take it you'll tell Hermione?"
Marik nodded. "When the time is right, I'll tell her."
Yugi nodded in return, before tugging on the pharaoh's arm, urging that they should find Draco right away. The two of them let the library together after bidding the others goodbye. Yami Bakura watched them leave, a deep frown on his face. Bakura put a hand on his shoulder, a silent inquiry as to what he was thinking about. The tomb robber glanced to him, before turning to the others.
"Things are going to get harder for those two," he said sternly. "The power of the pharaoh… the power to unite the Gods under his name. Voldemort is going to want that power."
Yami Seto bit his lip, understanding. "Yeah... maybe we should have tried to keep Panseru and Yugi's role as pharaoh a little more quiet."
"It's too late for that now," Marik said, frowning bitterly. "Besides, I think Voldemort would have found out about it anyway. I mean, it was probably because of Pettigrew he knew about the God Cards. Who knows what else that rat may have heard."
"So what are we going to do?" Bakura asked, worried.
"The only thing we can do," Seto replied, standing up from his seat. "We're their priests, right? It's our duty to make sure nothing happens to them, and to risk everything to protect them."
Yami Seto looked up to him in surprise. "Hikari..."
Seto closed his eyes a moment, trying to think of the best way to continue. "We've been through too much these past few years," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Since Duelist Kingdom, it's been an almost non-stop adventure; our lives far from mundane. And, like most adventurers, we've had to change ourselves in order to adapt to the difference in circumstances. The new emotions we feel, the way we react to one another... it just makes us stronger."
He opened his eyes then, looking at each of them, before resting a hand on his other half's shoulder. Yami Seto looked down at it, then up at his hikari. A soft smile came to his face; his hikari was really growing up emotionally, and that made him so very proud.
"Each of us, even Hermione and Draco, and whomever the seventh person will be; even our other selves," Seto continued. "We're each a new generation of priests, and we have to live up to that honor. We have to protect our pharaohs and our loved ones... as well as this world we live in. It's an overwhelming responsibility... but I know that we can do it. I have faith that we can succeed."
There was a long stretch of silence, before...
"Well said, High Priest," Yami Bakura complimented with a smile. Bakura and Marik nodded in agreement. Seto looked down to see that his other self was also smiling, the pride in him practically radiating from his expression.
Seto's lips quirked up in a small smirk. "Let's go."
~.oOOo.~
HARRY POTTER
"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"
The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita
Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence
has recently come to light about Harry Potter's
strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his
suitability to compete in a demanding competition
like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend
Hogwarts School.
Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal,
regularly collapses at school, and is often her to
complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of
the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to
kill him). On Monday last, midway through a
Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter
witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming
that his scar was hurting too badly to continue
studying.
It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's
Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that
Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted
upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence
that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his
deep-seated confusion.
"He might even be pretending," said one
specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."
The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed
worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus
Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully
concealed from the wizarding public.
"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Ecillia
Lestrange, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot
of attacks on students a couple years ago, before I
was transferred here, and most people thought Potter
was behind them after they saw him lose his temper
at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It
was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends
with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do
anything for a bit of power."
Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes,
has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the
most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other
than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the
Dark Force Defense League, who wishes to remain
unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard
who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of
investigation. Personally, I would be highly
suspicious of anybody who could converse with
snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds
of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with
evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the
company of such vicious creatures as werewolves
and giants would appear to have a fondness for
violence."
Albus Dumbledore should surely consider
whether a boy such as this should be allowed to
compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear
that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his
desperation to wing the tournament, the third task of
which takes place this evening.
Yugi frowned bitterly as he folded up his copy of the "Daily Prophet" that hot June morning, glaring over Harry's head as he caught sight of Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle grabbing their heads and contorting their faces in mock pain. Harry just had a bored look on his face as he picked at his breakfast.
"Gone off on me a bit, hasn't she?" he asked, starting to munch on a strip of bacon.
"I wish I knew how she was doing this!" Yugi exclaimed, pounding his fist down on the table.
"Maybe she's got this place bugged or something," Marik commented idly, spreading some jelly on a piece of toast.
"Bugged?" Ron asked, confused.
"Oh, I know this one!" Draco exclaimed happily just as Yami Yugi was about to explain. "It's when someone leaves equipment around to listen in on a person. Like miniature microphones and video cameras hidden about in a place in order to spy on someone."
Yami Yugi nodded, while Harry shook his head. "I honestly don't think she would do that, though. I mean, how can she have the WHOLE SCHOOL bugged?"
"I don't know," the pharaoh replied. "Maybe she did it over the summer or before that even. What do you think aibou... aibou?"
Yugi, however, had a bright look on his face, as if something just occurred to him. He ran a hand through his hair, a slow, mischievous grin spreading on his face.
"Um... aibou?"
"I think I know how she's doing it..." he murmured. "And if she is..." He grinned. "Oh, she is in SO much trouble..."
Marik raised an eyebrow. "You mind on enlightening the rest of us?"
Yugi just shook his head, however. "I'll let you know if I'm right."
Marik was about to comment further, when Professor McGonagall approached their table.
"Potter, Ishitar, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she announced.
"But the task's not until tonight!" Harry exclaimed, accidentally spilling his scrambled eggs down his front.
"I'm aware of that, Potter," she replied, frowning in disapproval as he attempted to clean up the eggs. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them."
Harry gaped at her as she moved away, before turning to the others. "She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?"
Marik stuffed the rest of his toast in his mouth, catching Fleur pull Seto out of his seat early and steer him toward the side chamber out of the corner of his eye, obviously eager for him to meet her family before he had to hurry off to one of his final exams. Seto did not look as anxious as she was, though, and Marik had to force himself not to bust out laughing at the massive blush on his face.
"C'mon, Harry," Marik said after he swallowed his food. "Hurry up and finish eating. Even if none of your family showed up, at least you'll get a chance to meet my onee-san."
Harry managed to stuff the rest of his food down his throat, before getting up and bidding the others goodbye. He rushed to keep up with Marik as they made their way to the side chamber that Fleur and Seto, as well as Krum had already entered. Inside, the other two champions were already speaking with their families in their native languages (Seto had turned an even brighter shade of red by this time). Off to the side was Marik's quietly elegant sister, Isis, whom Harry had already met briefly at the end of their first year at the school. She was not the only one there, however…
"Jonouchi-kun!" Marik exclaimed, surprised. "Mutou Ojii-san!"
"Mrs. Weasley!" Harry also exclaimed, equally surprised. "Bill! What are you doing here?"
Bill Weasley grinned. He was the eldest of the Weasley boys, and he wore his flaming red hair long as well as a fang earring in his left ear. Harry had met him over the summer when he had gone to the Quidditch World Cup.
"We didn't want you to be the only one without family to cheer you on," he said, reaching out to muss up Harry's hair.
"And what about you two?" Marik asked, looking to Jonouchi and Sugoroku.
The blonde grinned roguishly, before saying in Japanese, "I've wanted to see this place, since you guys keep telling me about it."
Sugoroku nodded, a nostalgic look on his face. "It's been years since I've been here," he said in English, though his speech was a bit shaky. "It seems like nothing has changed, even after all this time."
Marik grinned, turning to his sister. "How'd you manage to put up with the koinu over such a long flight?"
Jonouchi pouted and glared as Isis giggled.
"I told him I would put him in the pen if he did not behave," she said, playing along.
Jonouchi let out a dog-like whimper as Seto approached them. He had said his goodbyes to Fleur and her mother, though he still looked a little red from the encounter. He shook hands with Isis, Sugoroku, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill; before turning to grin at the blonde Japanese boy.
"How was the kennel flight?" he asked, a smirk on his face.
Jonouchi smirked, before pointing to his face. "Blush much?" he asked in obviously unpracticed English. Seto coughed, muttering something about having to get to class, before walking away, Jonouchi sniggering in his wake. Marik and Harry just shook their heads sadly.
~.oOOo.~
After spending most of the day showing Isis and the others around the school, everyone shared dinner together at the Gryffindor table. Yugi was ecstatic to see his grandfather and best friend at Hogwarts, and had practically talked their ears off within the first few minutes. Yami Bakura and Bakura came over after finishing their meals to greet everyone, as well as Seto and his yami.
When the time came for the task to begin, Marik almost did not want to leave. It was just so enjoyable being with his sister at his school that he just wanted it to last a little bit longer. He stood up with Harry and the other champions however, bidding everyone goodbye before heading out to the Quidditch field.
Bagman had stayed true to his word; the hedges for the maze were now twenty feet high. Marik and Harry stood side-by-side at the entrance, feeling a bit intimidated. Since they were tied for points, they would be the first ones in the seemingly daunting maze.
It was not long before the stands of the Quidditch stadium were filled. Marik and Harry spotted their companions - even Hermione - and waved up to them. Everyone waved back, giving encouraging gestures as Bagman started to announce where everyone stood in terms of points. Marik let his gaze linger a bit on Hermione, trying to convey how much he could not wait for the task to end so he could see her again just by his gaze. She seemed confused by the expression, but eventually nodded, smiling slightly.
"So... on my whistle, Harry and Marik," Bagman announced, forcing Marik to tear his gaze away. "Ready... and..."
There was a short blast from Bagman's whistle, and Harry and Marik plowed into the entrance of the maze. Whether it was because the hedges were enchanted or because they were just so huge, they could not tell, but all sounds of the crowd vanished as soon as they entered, leaving the two of them in an eerie silence.
"Lumos!" Marik exclaimed, casting the spell that made the tip of his wand light up. Harry did the same as they ran down the long starting corridor of the maze. They soon reached a fork in the road; and Marik wished Harry luck as he disappeared down the left fork.
The Egyptian plowed down the right fork. He heard another whistle go off and increased his speed, knowing that Krum was entering the maze. The only thing that he could hear was his pounding footfalls as he sped through the maze, and he was starting to get concerned. Why had he not run into anything yet? He thought this maze was supposed to be full of creatures and enchantments.
He reached another fork in the path, and paused the catch his breath before holding up the Millennium Ring.
"Triwizard Cup," he said. The points sprang to life instantly, pointing down the left path. Marik let the Millennium Item rest against his chest again, and the points continued to remain active as he headed down the left path. Again, he thought that this path was deserted as well, when a deafening screech sounded around a bend. He turned... and nearly ended up face to ugly face with one of Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts. The creature had grown considerably since the last time he had seen it, and it had gotten uglier too.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. The spell hit the Skrewt's armored shell and rebounded, smacking into the hedges. Marik backed up until his back was pressed against a wall of hedges. This... was not good. Unless he did something quickly, that stinger attached to the Skrewt's tail was going to come around and...
Wait... these things were not called BLAST ENDED Skrewts for nothing. Maybe if he hit the tail with something, it would explode! Lowering his wand, Marik waved his other hand, shouting out a quick word of Egyptian. The tail of the Skrewt burst into flames immediately, and the creature started to shudder in response. He ducked out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by exploding Skrewt guts.
"Ugh..." Marik said, making a face as he got up and peered at the charred carcass left behind. "Note to self: never do that again."
He edged around the still smoking remains, before taking off toward the left again and heading deeper inside the maze. All was quiet again, until he ran out into a cross section and almost collided with Harry.
"You all right, Marik?" he asked.
"Yeah, just be careful," Marik warned. "Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts are in here." He made a face. "Whatever you do, don't hit it in the tail."
With that said, he headed off down another path, pausing only briefly to see Harry continuing along the cross section. This path was quiet too, but Marik was not about to let himself be lulled into a false sense of security again. He kept a tight grip on his wand as he continued to push onward, looking around each intersection before heading in the direction that the Ring was pointing.
The Gravekeeper came to a halt as a sudden scream echoed through the maze.
"Fleur?!" he shouted.
It had sounded so very close, but in this maze, who knew how long it would take before he could find her. Marik raced down the path he was on, nervous by the fact that he was not running into any opposition. He kept one eye on the Millennium Ring, which automatically changed the direction it was pointing in as soon as he came to an intersection, while he kept his other eye on the sky. They were supposed to send up red sparks if they got into trouble that was too much for them to handle, but he had not seen any yet. Did Fleur manage to deal with whatever made her scream on her own... or had whatever it was made it so she could not get to her wand?
Marik finally had to stop running, and he leaned against one of the hedges, his breath burning in his lungs as he gasped for air. He never knew the Quidditch field was this big. It certainly did not look that way on a broomstick.
He straightened and was about to continue on, when he got the sense that something was behind him. Spinning around and holding up his wand, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was only Krum.
"Geeze, you scared me," Marik accused. "You could make a little more noise when you're coming up behind someone, you know?"
Krum, however, did not respond. He had a strange look in his eyes as he raised his wand. Marik took a step back; this could not be good.
"Krum... what are you doing?" he demanded. "Krum -!"
"Crucio!"
Marik knew that he had to have been screaming, but the pain that lanced through his body was so intense, he did not even notice. He fell to his knees, his whole body feeling like it was on fire and being twisted around itself at the same time. The pain seemed to increase drastically every time Krum took a step toward him... when suddenly it stopped.
Marik picked himself up from the ground, not realizing he had fallen to his back in all the pain. He was breathing heavily as he looked to his left to see Harry standing over a stunned Krum, his wand pointed down at him.
"You all right?" he asked.
"Yeah," Marik answered, panting. "I don't believe this. I thought he was an okay guy."
"Yeah, me too," Harry agreed. "Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?"
"Unh-hunh," he replied. "You don't think he got to her too, do you?"
"I hope not," Harry said, a slight smirk on his face. "And if he did, I wouldn't want to be him when Seto found out."
"Actually, I would pay to see that conversation... or fist fight rather," Marik responded, smirking as well. He raised his wand and sent a shower of red sparks up into the sky, marking where Krum had fallen.
The two of them headed off along the same path for a moment, before the two of them split off again, with Marik heading off to the right. He blindly followed the directions the Millennium Ring was pointing him in, his mind lost in his thoughts. Professor Moody had told them once that use of the Unforgivable Curses was punishable with a lifetime in Azkaban. Had Krum wanted to win so much that he would risk something like that? It did not seem like him at all, though; and that look in his eyes... he had seen that look in the eyes of members of GHOULS that he had to control when he possessed the Millennium Rod. It was a look of involuntary submission... and it left a bad taste in his mouth. Was someone messing with the final task...?
Suddenly, the Millennium Ring started to shudder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He stopped and looked down to see that all five points were pointing directly in front of him. Looking up, he saw it: the Triwizard Cup stood gleaming on a plinth quite a distance before him. Not wasting another moment, he broke out into a sprint, heading straight for the cup before him. He was almost there...! Just a little further...!
"Marik! On your left!"
The sudden shout surprised him, but looking toward his left surprised Marik even more. A gigantic black something was scuttling straight toward him, and if he did not move, he was going to collide with it head on. He threw himself forward, just barely avoiding whatever it was, but also tripped in the process, sending his wand flying away from him.
"Stupefy!"
The black thing stopped coming for Marik, and instead headed straight for Harry. The Gravekeeper scrambled for his wand as he heard the other wizard shouting off several hexes, none of which seemed to be doing him any good. Finally grabbing his wand, he turned around, ready to help Harry against the creature. Only thing was, the creature was one of the giant spiders from the forbidden forest, and it had his friend in its pinchers.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. A burst of magic shot out of his wand, but the spell did not seem to do anything but irritate it. He was about to try something drastic when Harry cast a disarming spell on it, making the spider drop him twelve feet.
"HARRY!" Marik exclaimed. He saw Harry shakily raising his wand, and he did the same in time for them to both cast the Stunning Spell against the creature. The combined power of the spells did what one alone could not, and the spider teetered slightly, before falling over, crushing some of the hedges.
"Harry, you all right?" Marik asked, running to his side. Harry's leg was bleeding freely, and he was having a difficult time standing.
Harry waved toward something behind Marik. "Go on, take it."
Confused, Marik turned slightly. Behind him, begging to be touched, was the Triwizard Cup. He frowned, before turning back to his friend.
"How can you be worried about that when you've been hurt like this?" he asked, walking right over to him and slinging one of Harry's arms over his shoulders, trying to help steady him. Harry just gave him a dull look.
"If you take the Cup, this'll be all over?" he replied, his voice a bit sarcastic.
"Then we'll take it together."
Harry looked at Marik as if he had grown another head.
"Hey, don't look at me in that tone of voice," Marik said, grinning. "We'll tie for it. Either way, it's still a Hogwarts - and a Gryffindor - victory."
Harry looked unsure for a moment, before he grinned as well. "Yeah, okay."
The two companions hobbled up to the plinth the Cup stood on. They reached out a hand, letting them hover over each of the Cup's handles, before turning to each other.
"On the count of three," Harry said. "One... two... three...!"
No sooner had they each grabbed a handle, that Marik felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. Somehow, his feet seemed to leave the ground, and he could not let go of the Cup. It felt like he was being pulled forward in a howl of wind and swirling color, still holding onto Harry as tightly as he could.
It seemed to take an eternity for the sickening mode of transportation to finally drop them off. Marik felt his feet slam back onto ground, and he lost his grip on Harry as the other boy's injured leg gave out on him, making him fall forward toward the ground. The both of them were finally able to let go of the Cup and they did so, letting it fall to the ground with a THUD as Marik turned to help Harry back to his feet.
"Did anyone tell you that the Triwizard Cup was a Portkey?" Harry asked.
"I don't even know what a 'Portkey' is," Marik replied.
The Gravekeeper felt his blood run cold as he took a look around at his surroundings. Somehow, they had ending up in an eerie graveyard... the same misty, overgrown graveyard that he had seen in his dream. He held onto Harry tightly, and kept an even tighter grip on his wand, listening...
He heard it... a low, sinister laugh that he would recognize anywhere...
"That doesn't sound human..." Harry muttered, his voice quavering a bit.
"That's 'cause it's not," Marik returned, his eyes scanning around for the source of the voice.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the mists. Whoever it was, they were short, and wearing a cloak with the hood pulled low over their face. As the person drew closer, the boys were able to see that they carrying something in their arms. Was it a baby or a bundle or robes...? The two of them could not tell, as only the stars provided any kind of light.
There was a long pause as the two boys just stared at the figure, when suddenly Harry shouted in pain. He clutched at his head, falling out of Marik's grasp and to his knees. The Gravekeeper turned away from the figure, reaching out to see if he could help his friend...
~~"Kill the spare."~~
Marik paused what he was doing at the high, cold voice. He looked back toward the figure...
"Avada Kedavra!"
~~Bye, bye, hikari-pretty...~~
Marik felt oddly detached from his body as the deadly green light lanced out at him. There was no pain of any kind, just a strange feeling of his soul, of his very existence being torn away as the world around him turned black...
Dawn of Fate
.
.
[Yami Seto walks into Skyla's room at the Angel Wings treehouse. Yami Yugi is sitting at the computer, chuckling slightly as he looks over the document for "Dawn of Fate". Skyla's bed is shaking, and her feet can be seen from underneath.]
Y.Seto: Pharaoh, why is Sky-chan hiding under the bed?
Y.Yugi: Hunh? [He looks.] Oh, she put up chapter twenty-two today.
Y.Seto: Oh... THAT chapter, hunh?
Y.Yugi: Yeah, THAT chapter.
Y.Seto: Ah... so I guess that means there's no Q&A for this chapter, hunh?
Y.Yugi: Yeah, there weren't that many people that reviewed anyway; she didn't give them the chance. Skyla did want us to mention something to Shaun Garin though.
Y.Seto: Oh? What's that?
Y.Yugi: That if he doesn't review this chapter, she kick the crap out of him next time she sees him on AIM.
Y.Seto: [sniggers] And then she dove under the bed, hunh?
Y.Yugi: Yup.
Y.Seto: ^_^ Okay, everyone. Read, enjoy, and then review!
Y.Yugi: Flames will be used to power up Sky-chan's God of Ra card.
[Skyla can be heard whimpering under the bed.]
.
.
.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - THE THIRD TASK
"Marik-kun! Onegai, wake up!"
Marik blinked his eyes open slowly, gradually coming awake as he became aware of a painful stiffness in his body. He gazed above him blearily, seeing two twin sets of purple eyes above him. Yugi and Yami Yugi helped him sit up, and Marik became aware the he and the grass around them were wet from morning dew. He brushed his shirt off futilely, before looking around to see that not only were the pharaoh and his hikari there, but Dumbledore was as well. The elderly headmaster was over where Krum had fallen, trying to wake the Bulgarian. Mr. Crouch, however, was gone.
"Thank goodness," Yugi said relieved. "When Dumbledore-sensei said you two were hurt, I feared the worst."
"You two didn't try to attack each other, did you?" Yami Yugi asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Marik shook his head painfully.
"No nothing like that," he said. He hesitated a moment, making sure Dumbledore was too preoccupied with Krum before whispering, "I'll need to talk to you two later. You, the Setos, and the Bakuras."
The two of them exchanged alarmed looks as Marik slowly got to his feet, his legs stiff from being stuck in one position all night. He hobbled over to Dumbledore, wincing with each step.
"How is he?" he asked, leaning against a tree once he was close enough.
Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "Merely stunned, just as you were, Mr. Ishitar," he said. "He'll be all right, but this begs the question, 'What were you two doing out here last night?'"
"Krum wanted to talk to me after we were showed what the third task was going to be, sir," Marik explained. "While we were talking, I saw Crouch-san in the forest."
"Crouch?" Dumbledore asked, sounding slightly concerned.
Marik nodded in affirmation. "Hai, it was definitely Crouch-san. It was like he had gone crazy. He kept rambling about his son, and... well, he said something about the Dark Lord becoming stronger."
A dark look overtook Dumbledore's face as he looked up to him. "I feared as much..."
"You mean... Voldemort's coming back?" Yami Yugi asked. The headmaster nodded, and Yugi squeaked in fear, holding onto his other self tightly; obviously remembering his last encounter with Voldemort. Dumbledore turned to them, a solemn look on his face, as Krum groaned, slowly coming to.
"I cannot be certain when," the headmaster said softly. "But it is inevitable."
~.oOOo.~
It was a very solemn gathering in the library that day after lunch. Seto, Bakura, Yugi, and their respective Egyptian spirits sat around a table in the very back, away from the ears of other students and the librarian. Marik stood before the six of them, having already recounted the dreams he had had before the start of Battle City that past summer, and the first day of school, as well as what Crouch said about a faceless dark creature. No one had said anything while he was talking, and there was a long pause after he had finished.
"So," Yami Bakura finally said, "he found a way to escape from the Shadow Realm."
Yugi looked up sadly at Marik as his other self put an arm around him. "What are we going to do?" he asked. "We barely managed to defeat him the first time. He nearly killed two of our friends then as well."
Yami Seto laced his fingers together, a distant look on his face. "It might not be so bad this time. He doesn't have a Millennium Item, nor can he get access to one."
"But if what Crouch said was any indication, he's in league with Voldemort," Yami Yugi pointed out. "That in itself could lead to trouble."
"You're all forgetting one thing," Seto said sternly. "He's still a spirit isn't he? He can't harm people in that form can he?"
"No, but he can possess them," Bakura answered. "'The seven Chosen will stand before the Un-Chosen'." He looked up at Marik. "That's what Aishisu meant when she said that, didn't she?"
"It's starting to look that way," Marik replied.
The tomb robber swore under his breath. "Geeze. That could be any one out of thousands of people that don't have an Item."
"What if it's Harry?"
All eyes turned toward Yugi at his suggestion. The small of stature duelist looked at each of them, a concerned look on his face.
"What if the Items are responding to him because they perceive him as a threat?" he asked. "It would not be the first time something like that happened."
Yami Bakura nodded. "Or he could be the seventh priest. We still don't know if the Ankh is supposed to stay with Shadi or not."
Yami Yugi stood up, looking at each of the others in turn; the pharaoh looking upon his loyal priests, and his life-long companion.
"There is still much we do not know," he said. "As long as our story keeps going, however, we'll continue find out more. Until we do know more, we can only follow the turn of the pages." He paused a moment to let what he said sink in, before continuing, "We should explain this to Draco and Hermione. As Item holder's, they'll need to know."
Yugi stood up, latching onto his other's arm. "We'll tell Draco-kun," he said, before turning to Marik. "Marik-kun, I take it you'll tell Hermione?"
Marik nodded. "When the time is right, I'll tell her."
Yugi nodded in return, before tugging on the pharaoh's arm, urging that they should find Draco right away. The two of them let the library together after bidding the others goodbye. Yami Bakura watched them leave, a deep frown on his face. Bakura put a hand on his shoulder, a silent inquiry as to what he was thinking about. The tomb robber glanced to him, before turning to the others.
"Things are going to get harder for those two," he said sternly. "The power of the pharaoh… the power to unite the Gods under his name. Voldemort is going to want that power."
Yami Seto bit his lip, understanding. "Yeah... maybe we should have tried to keep Panseru and Yugi's role as pharaoh a little more quiet."
"It's too late for that now," Marik said, frowning bitterly. "Besides, I think Voldemort would have found out about it anyway. I mean, it was probably because of Pettigrew he knew about the God Cards. Who knows what else that rat may have heard."
"So what are we going to do?" Bakura asked, worried.
"The only thing we can do," Seto replied, standing up from his seat. "We're their priests, right? It's our duty to make sure nothing happens to them, and to risk everything to protect them."
Yami Seto looked up to him in surprise. "Hikari..."
Seto closed his eyes a moment, trying to think of the best way to continue. "We've been through too much these past few years," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Since Duelist Kingdom, it's been an almost non-stop adventure; our lives far from mundane. And, like most adventurers, we've had to change ourselves in order to adapt to the difference in circumstances. The new emotions we feel, the way we react to one another... it just makes us stronger."
He opened his eyes then, looking at each of them, before resting a hand on his other half's shoulder. Yami Seto looked down at it, then up at his hikari. A soft smile came to his face; his hikari was really growing up emotionally, and that made him so very proud.
"Each of us, even Hermione and Draco, and whomever the seventh person will be; even our other selves," Seto continued. "We're each a new generation of priests, and we have to live up to that honor. We have to protect our pharaohs and our loved ones... as well as this world we live in. It's an overwhelming responsibility... but I know that we can do it. I have faith that we can succeed."
There was a long stretch of silence, before...
"Well said, High Priest," Yami Bakura complimented with a smile. Bakura and Marik nodded in agreement. Seto looked down to see that his other self was also smiling, the pride in him practically radiating from his expression.
Seto's lips quirked up in a small smirk. "Let's go."
~.oOOo.~
HARRY POTTER
"DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS"
The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita
Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence
has recently come to light about Harry Potter's
strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his
suitability to compete in a demanding competition
like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend
Hogwarts School.
Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal,
regularly collapses at school, and is often her to
complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of
the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to
kill him). On Monday last, midway through a
Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter
witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming
that his scar was hurting too badly to continue
studying.
It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's
Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that
Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted
upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence
that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his
deep-seated confusion.
"He might even be pretending," said one
specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."
The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed
worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus
Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully
concealed from the wizarding public.
"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Ecillia
Lestrange, a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot
of attacks on students a couple years ago, before I
was transferred here, and most people thought Potter
was behind them after they saw him lose his temper
at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It
was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends
with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do
anything for a bit of power."
Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes,
has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the
most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other
than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the
Dark Force Defense League, who wishes to remain
unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard
who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of
investigation. Personally, I would be highly
suspicious of anybody who could converse with
snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds
of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with
evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the
company of such vicious creatures as werewolves
and giants would appear to have a fondness for
violence."
Albus Dumbledore should surely consider
whether a boy such as this should be allowed to
compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear
that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his
desperation to wing the tournament, the third task of
which takes place this evening.
Yugi frowned bitterly as he folded up his copy of the "Daily Prophet" that hot June morning, glaring over Harry's head as he caught sight of Ecillia, Crabbe, and Goyle grabbing their heads and contorting their faces in mock pain. Harry just had a bored look on his face as he picked at his breakfast.
"Gone off on me a bit, hasn't she?" he asked, starting to munch on a strip of bacon.
"I wish I knew how she was doing this!" Yugi exclaimed, pounding his fist down on the table.
"Maybe she's got this place bugged or something," Marik commented idly, spreading some jelly on a piece of toast.
"Bugged?" Ron asked, confused.
"Oh, I know this one!" Draco exclaimed happily just as Yami Yugi was about to explain. "It's when someone leaves equipment around to listen in on a person. Like miniature microphones and video cameras hidden about in a place in order to spy on someone."
Yami Yugi nodded, while Harry shook his head. "I honestly don't think she would do that, though. I mean, how can she have the WHOLE SCHOOL bugged?"
"I don't know," the pharaoh replied. "Maybe she did it over the summer or before that even. What do you think aibou... aibou?"
Yugi, however, had a bright look on his face, as if something just occurred to him. He ran a hand through his hair, a slow, mischievous grin spreading on his face.
"Um... aibou?"
"I think I know how she's doing it..." he murmured. "And if she is..." He grinned. "Oh, she is in SO much trouble..."
Marik raised an eyebrow. "You mind on enlightening the rest of us?"
Yugi just shook his head, however. "I'll let you know if I'm right."
Marik was about to comment further, when Professor McGonagall approached their table.
"Potter, Ishitar, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she announced.
"But the task's not until tonight!" Harry exclaimed, accidentally spilling his scrambled eggs down his front.
"I'm aware of that, Potter," she replied, frowning in disapproval as he attempted to clean up the eggs. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them."
Harry gaped at her as she moved away, before turning to the others. "She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?"
Marik stuffed the rest of his toast in his mouth, catching Fleur pull Seto out of his seat early and steer him toward the side chamber out of the corner of his eye, obviously eager for him to meet her family before he had to hurry off to one of his final exams. Seto did not look as anxious as she was, though, and Marik had to force himself not to bust out laughing at the massive blush on his face.
"C'mon, Harry," Marik said after he swallowed his food. "Hurry up and finish eating. Even if none of your family showed up, at least you'll get a chance to meet my onee-san."
Harry managed to stuff the rest of his food down his throat, before getting up and bidding the others goodbye. He rushed to keep up with Marik as they made their way to the side chamber that Fleur and Seto, as well as Krum had already entered. Inside, the other two champions were already speaking with their families in their native languages (Seto had turned an even brighter shade of red by this time). Off to the side was Marik's quietly elegant sister, Isis, whom Harry had already met briefly at the end of their first year at the school. She was not the only one there, however…
"Jonouchi-kun!" Marik exclaimed, surprised. "Mutou Ojii-san!"
"Mrs. Weasley!" Harry also exclaimed, equally surprised. "Bill! What are you doing here?"
Bill Weasley grinned. He was the eldest of the Weasley boys, and he wore his flaming red hair long as well as a fang earring in his left ear. Harry had met him over the summer when he had gone to the Quidditch World Cup.
"We didn't want you to be the only one without family to cheer you on," he said, reaching out to muss up Harry's hair.
"And what about you two?" Marik asked, looking to Jonouchi and Sugoroku.
The blonde grinned roguishly, before saying in Japanese, "I've wanted to see this place, since you guys keep telling me about it."
Sugoroku nodded, a nostalgic look on his face. "It's been years since I've been here," he said in English, though his speech was a bit shaky. "It seems like nothing has changed, even after all this time."
Marik grinned, turning to his sister. "How'd you manage to put up with the koinu over such a long flight?"
Jonouchi pouted and glared as Isis giggled.
"I told him I would put him in the pen if he did not behave," she said, playing along.
Jonouchi let out a dog-like whimper as Seto approached them. He had said his goodbyes to Fleur and her mother, though he still looked a little red from the encounter. He shook hands with Isis, Sugoroku, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill; before turning to grin at the blonde Japanese boy.
"How was the kennel flight?" he asked, a smirk on his face.
Jonouchi smirked, before pointing to his face. "Blush much?" he asked in obviously unpracticed English. Seto coughed, muttering something about having to get to class, before walking away, Jonouchi sniggering in his wake. Marik and Harry just shook their heads sadly.
~.oOOo.~
After spending most of the day showing Isis and the others around the school, everyone shared dinner together at the Gryffindor table. Yugi was ecstatic to see his grandfather and best friend at Hogwarts, and had practically talked their ears off within the first few minutes. Yami Bakura and Bakura came over after finishing their meals to greet everyone, as well as Seto and his yami.
When the time came for the task to begin, Marik almost did not want to leave. It was just so enjoyable being with his sister at his school that he just wanted it to last a little bit longer. He stood up with Harry and the other champions however, bidding everyone goodbye before heading out to the Quidditch field.
Bagman had stayed true to his word; the hedges for the maze were now twenty feet high. Marik and Harry stood side-by-side at the entrance, feeling a bit intimidated. Since they were tied for points, they would be the first ones in the seemingly daunting maze.
It was not long before the stands of the Quidditch stadium were filled. Marik and Harry spotted their companions - even Hermione - and waved up to them. Everyone waved back, giving encouraging gestures as Bagman started to announce where everyone stood in terms of points. Marik let his gaze linger a bit on Hermione, trying to convey how much he could not wait for the task to end so he could see her again just by his gaze. She seemed confused by the expression, but eventually nodded, smiling slightly.
"So... on my whistle, Harry and Marik," Bagman announced, forcing Marik to tear his gaze away. "Ready... and..."
There was a short blast from Bagman's whistle, and Harry and Marik plowed into the entrance of the maze. Whether it was because the hedges were enchanted or because they were just so huge, they could not tell, but all sounds of the crowd vanished as soon as they entered, leaving the two of them in an eerie silence.
"Lumos!" Marik exclaimed, casting the spell that made the tip of his wand light up. Harry did the same as they ran down the long starting corridor of the maze. They soon reached a fork in the road; and Marik wished Harry luck as he disappeared down the left fork.
The Egyptian plowed down the right fork. He heard another whistle go off and increased his speed, knowing that Krum was entering the maze. The only thing that he could hear was his pounding footfalls as he sped through the maze, and he was starting to get concerned. Why had he not run into anything yet? He thought this maze was supposed to be full of creatures and enchantments.
He reached another fork in the path, and paused the catch his breath before holding up the Millennium Ring.
"Triwizard Cup," he said. The points sprang to life instantly, pointing down the left path. Marik let the Millennium Item rest against his chest again, and the points continued to remain active as he headed down the left path. Again, he thought that this path was deserted as well, when a deafening screech sounded around a bend. He turned... and nearly ended up face to ugly face with one of Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts. The creature had grown considerably since the last time he had seen it, and it had gotten uglier too.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. The spell hit the Skrewt's armored shell and rebounded, smacking into the hedges. Marik backed up until his back was pressed against a wall of hedges. This... was not good. Unless he did something quickly, that stinger attached to the Skrewt's tail was going to come around and...
Wait... these things were not called BLAST ENDED Skrewts for nothing. Maybe if he hit the tail with something, it would explode! Lowering his wand, Marik waved his other hand, shouting out a quick word of Egyptian. The tail of the Skrewt burst into flames immediately, and the creature started to shudder in response. He ducked out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by exploding Skrewt guts.
"Ugh..." Marik said, making a face as he got up and peered at the charred carcass left behind. "Note to self: never do that again."
He edged around the still smoking remains, before taking off toward the left again and heading deeper inside the maze. All was quiet again, until he ran out into a cross section and almost collided with Harry.
"You all right, Marik?" he asked.
"Yeah, just be careful," Marik warned. "Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts are in here." He made a face. "Whatever you do, don't hit it in the tail."
With that said, he headed off down another path, pausing only briefly to see Harry continuing along the cross section. This path was quiet too, but Marik was not about to let himself be lulled into a false sense of security again. He kept a tight grip on his wand as he continued to push onward, looking around each intersection before heading in the direction that the Ring was pointing.
The Gravekeeper came to a halt as a sudden scream echoed through the maze.
"Fleur?!" he shouted.
It had sounded so very close, but in this maze, who knew how long it would take before he could find her. Marik raced down the path he was on, nervous by the fact that he was not running into any opposition. He kept one eye on the Millennium Ring, which automatically changed the direction it was pointing in as soon as he came to an intersection, while he kept his other eye on the sky. They were supposed to send up red sparks if they got into trouble that was too much for them to handle, but he had not seen any yet. Did Fleur manage to deal with whatever made her scream on her own... or had whatever it was made it so she could not get to her wand?
Marik finally had to stop running, and he leaned against one of the hedges, his breath burning in his lungs as he gasped for air. He never knew the Quidditch field was this big. It certainly did not look that way on a broomstick.
He straightened and was about to continue on, when he got the sense that something was behind him. Spinning around and holding up his wand, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was only Krum.
"Geeze, you scared me," Marik accused. "You could make a little more noise when you're coming up behind someone, you know?"
Krum, however, did not respond. He had a strange look in his eyes as he raised his wand. Marik took a step back; this could not be good.
"Krum... what are you doing?" he demanded. "Krum -!"
"Crucio!"
Marik knew that he had to have been screaming, but the pain that lanced through his body was so intense, he did not even notice. He fell to his knees, his whole body feeling like it was on fire and being twisted around itself at the same time. The pain seemed to increase drastically every time Krum took a step toward him... when suddenly it stopped.
Marik picked himself up from the ground, not realizing he had fallen to his back in all the pain. He was breathing heavily as he looked to his left to see Harry standing over a stunned Krum, his wand pointed down at him.
"You all right?" he asked.
"Yeah," Marik answered, panting. "I don't believe this. I thought he was an okay guy."
"Yeah, me too," Harry agreed. "Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?"
"Unh-hunh," he replied. "You don't think he got to her too, do you?"
"I hope not," Harry said, a slight smirk on his face. "And if he did, I wouldn't want to be him when Seto found out."
"Actually, I would pay to see that conversation... or fist fight rather," Marik responded, smirking as well. He raised his wand and sent a shower of red sparks up into the sky, marking where Krum had fallen.
The two of them headed off along the same path for a moment, before the two of them split off again, with Marik heading off to the right. He blindly followed the directions the Millennium Ring was pointing him in, his mind lost in his thoughts. Professor Moody had told them once that use of the Unforgivable Curses was punishable with a lifetime in Azkaban. Had Krum wanted to win so much that he would risk something like that? It did not seem like him at all, though; and that look in his eyes... he had seen that look in the eyes of members of GHOULS that he had to control when he possessed the Millennium Rod. It was a look of involuntary submission... and it left a bad taste in his mouth. Was someone messing with the final task...?
Suddenly, the Millennium Ring started to shudder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He stopped and looked down to see that all five points were pointing directly in front of him. Looking up, he saw it: the Triwizard Cup stood gleaming on a plinth quite a distance before him. Not wasting another moment, he broke out into a sprint, heading straight for the cup before him. He was almost there...! Just a little further...!
"Marik! On your left!"
The sudden shout surprised him, but looking toward his left surprised Marik even more. A gigantic black something was scuttling straight toward him, and if he did not move, he was going to collide with it head on. He threw himself forward, just barely avoiding whatever it was, but also tripped in the process, sending his wand flying away from him.
"Stupefy!"
The black thing stopped coming for Marik, and instead headed straight for Harry. The Gravekeeper scrambled for his wand as he heard the other wizard shouting off several hexes, none of which seemed to be doing him any good. Finally grabbing his wand, he turned around, ready to help Harry against the creature. Only thing was, the creature was one of the giant spiders from the forbidden forest, and it had his friend in its pinchers.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. A burst of magic shot out of his wand, but the spell did not seem to do anything but irritate it. He was about to try something drastic when Harry cast a disarming spell on it, making the spider drop him twelve feet.
"HARRY!" Marik exclaimed. He saw Harry shakily raising his wand, and he did the same in time for them to both cast the Stunning Spell against the creature. The combined power of the spells did what one alone could not, and the spider teetered slightly, before falling over, crushing some of the hedges.
"Harry, you all right?" Marik asked, running to his side. Harry's leg was bleeding freely, and he was having a difficult time standing.
Harry waved toward something behind Marik. "Go on, take it."
Confused, Marik turned slightly. Behind him, begging to be touched, was the Triwizard Cup. He frowned, before turning back to his friend.
"How can you be worried about that when you've been hurt like this?" he asked, walking right over to him and slinging one of Harry's arms over his shoulders, trying to help steady him. Harry just gave him a dull look.
"If you take the Cup, this'll be all over?" he replied, his voice a bit sarcastic.
"Then we'll take it together."
Harry looked at Marik as if he had grown another head.
"Hey, don't look at me in that tone of voice," Marik said, grinning. "We'll tie for it. Either way, it's still a Hogwarts - and a Gryffindor - victory."
Harry looked unsure for a moment, before he grinned as well. "Yeah, okay."
The two companions hobbled up to the plinth the Cup stood on. They reached out a hand, letting them hover over each of the Cup's handles, before turning to each other.
"On the count of three," Harry said. "One... two... three...!"
No sooner had they each grabbed a handle, that Marik felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel. Somehow, his feet seemed to leave the ground, and he could not let go of the Cup. It felt like he was being pulled forward in a howl of wind and swirling color, still holding onto Harry as tightly as he could.
It seemed to take an eternity for the sickening mode of transportation to finally drop them off. Marik felt his feet slam back onto ground, and he lost his grip on Harry as the other boy's injured leg gave out on him, making him fall forward toward the ground. The both of them were finally able to let go of the Cup and they did so, letting it fall to the ground with a THUD as Marik turned to help Harry back to his feet.
"Did anyone tell you that the Triwizard Cup was a Portkey?" Harry asked.
"I don't even know what a 'Portkey' is," Marik replied.
The Gravekeeper felt his blood run cold as he took a look around at his surroundings. Somehow, they had ending up in an eerie graveyard... the same misty, overgrown graveyard that he had seen in his dream. He held onto Harry tightly, and kept an even tighter grip on his wand, listening...
He heard it... a low, sinister laugh that he would recognize anywhere...
"That doesn't sound human..." Harry muttered, his voice quavering a bit.
"That's 'cause it's not," Marik returned, his eyes scanning around for the source of the voice.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the mists. Whoever it was, they were short, and wearing a cloak with the hood pulled low over their face. As the person drew closer, the boys were able to see that they carrying something in their arms. Was it a baby or a bundle or robes...? The two of them could not tell, as only the stars provided any kind of light.
There was a long pause as the two boys just stared at the figure, when suddenly Harry shouted in pain. He clutched at his head, falling out of Marik's grasp and to his knees. The Gravekeeper turned away from the figure, reaching out to see if he could help his friend...
~~"Kill the spare."~~
Marik paused what he was doing at the high, cold voice. He looked back toward the figure...
"Avada Kedavra!"
~~Bye, bye, hikari-pretty...~~
Marik felt oddly detached from his body as the deadly green light lanced out at him. There was no pain of any kind, just a strange feeling of his soul, of his very existence being torn away as the world around him turned black...