Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dawn of Fate
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(Hikari no Mari, forgive me for borrowing your 'yami' for this little pre-chapter skit.)
[Skyla's room in the Angel Wings treehouse; Skyla is looking over several documents on her computer, occasionally picking from a plate of french fries next to her. Yami Yugi is streched out on her bed, watching newest version of The Mummy.]
Skyla: Don't you ever get tired of watching that?
Y.Yugi: No. I like pointing out what they got wrong. ^_^
Skyla: -_-
[Suddenly an evil cackle is heard, and Mari -- a yami -- goes running past the open door, clutching the Millennium Rod.]
Skyla: Uh... how did a reviewer's yami get up here?
Y.Yugi: Do I look like I'm in charge of security?
[Seto soon runs by the door, shaking an angry fist.]
Seto: Give that back!!!
Skyla AND Y.Yugi: -_-;
[Yami-neko runs past the door as well, trying to bite Seto's heals. Out of Skyla and Yami Yugi's view, Seto suddenly yelps.]
Seto: Damn cat!
Skyla AND Y.Yugi: -_-;;;;;;
Skyla: ANYway... here's chapter twenty-six, finally. This is the second to last chapter of Dawn of Fate. There's also a little FMA plug in here. ^^;; I couldn't resist.
Y.Yugi: As always, read, enjoy, and then review.
[Mari, Seto, and Yami-neko go running by the door again.]
Seto: Give me back my Rod!
Skyla: _ I'm not touching that one...
Y.Yugi: -_-;;;
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - PARTING OF THE WAYS
Marik yawned tiredly, stretching his arms high above his head. After finding the real Mad-Eye Moody in an enchanted trunk in the office, Dumbledore had escorted the Egyptian and Harry up to his office. There, they met up with Sirius, who had been brought up prior by Professor McGonagall (who thought she was escorting some kind of very friendly dog). In the office, the two of them had to recount everything that they had witnessed in the graveyard, with Marik filling in for things that Harry did not know, and vice versa. Afterward, they were escorted to the hospital wing, where everyone was waiting for them. Harry had taken a potion that would give him a dreamless sleep, but Marik had refused to do the same, preferring to sit up with the others in the infirmary and making sure Harry was not disturbed.
"I didn't need it," Marik explained to Mrs. Weasley, scratching Sirius (who had turned back into a dog) behind the ears. "Nothing I saw tonight was enough to give me nightmares."
"You sure?" Yami Bakura asked, raising a critical eyebrow. "Seeing that bastard again would be enough to give ME nightmares."
Isis stared down at her hands folded on her lap. "So... it has returned. And it tried to take over your friend..."
Marik nodded, as Sirius went over and rested his head on her lap. Isis smiled softly, petting him on the head as her brother continued, "It seems like he doesn't want to try taking me over again. Probably because he wants to kill me for sending him to the Shadow Realm in the first place."
"Um... excuse me, but," Bill Weasley began, "what's this 'he' and 'it' you're talking about?"
Marik scrunched his face up, trying to think of the best way to begin. Finally he stood up, shaking off his school robes, before reaching for the collar of his purple hoody and pulling it off as well. He turned so that his back was facing everyone; he heard Hermione and Mrs. Weasley gasp in surprise. The only people in the room who did not react were Yami Yugi, Yugi, Jonouchi, and Seto...
They had been there when he first revealed the knife-inflicted tattoo on his back.
"This is the curse of being born as the future heir of the Ishitar Gravekeeper Clan," Marik explained solemnly. "It was our duty to - when the pharaoh was reborn and found - point him in the right direction, so that he could regain his memories. These scars describe how it had to be done. They were carved onto the back of every leader of my Clan since it all began five thousand years ago, so we could never forget."
Marik turned back around, slipping his shirt back on. He was quiet for a long moment before he was able to continue.
"I was ten," he said softly. "I was bound to a stone slab, a gag in my mouth, while my own father used a heated knife to carve the symbols on my back."
Hermione had a hand over her mouth, horrified. "But... but, you could have DIED," she said. "Didn't your father CARE?"
Marik smiled bitterly. "Oh, he cared. If I had died, then it would have been proof that I was unfit to be Clan Leader."
Hermione could only stare, too stunned to speak. Isis gave her a soft smile.
"We, the younger generation, knew that there had to be other things out there other than our underground life," she explained. "But the elders would hear nothing of it. Our duty was to our pharaoh and our pharaoh alone, as it had been for five thousand years."
Hermione shot Yami Yugi an accusing glare. "How could you have approved of this?!"
The pharaoh did not meet her gaze. "I didn't, and I still don't," he replied, "but there was nothing I could have done. By the time this tradition was established, I was already dead."
"You still did not answer my question," Bill began as Hermione looked away, lost in her own thoughts. "Whom where you speaking of before?"
Marik took a deep breath, knowing he was not going to like the direction the conversation would end up turning toward.
"Darkness, itself," he replied. "After or during the ceremony... I don't know when, but sometime around when I received the scars on my back, did my hatred and my rage for having to endure such pain because of a person I never met and probably would have never met in my lifetime consolidate itself into a separate spirit. You see, we knew that the spirit of the pharaoh was locked inside the Millennium Puzzle, but no man in five thousand years had been able to find and solve the Puzzle. That spirit was created from my misguided hatred, and became more distinct when..."
Marik trailed off, at a loss for how to continue. Isis put a hand on his shoulder, offering to continue for him. He gave her a grateful smile.
"Marik had always wanted to see the world outside the underground community we lived in, even though it was expressly forbidden," she began. "So, our guardian, Rishid, offered to cover for us while we explored the world above. Our father found out, however, and when we came back, we found Rishid being tortured to near death. That was when IT first appeared under it's own power. Marik no Yami... Darkness of Marik. It took up the Millennium Rod, one of the two Items our Clan was guarding... and killed our father."
"So..." Draco began. "This 'Yami Marik' is like Panseru and the others then?"
"No, far from it," Yami Seto answered. "We existed as real people in the past. Marik's Darkness was - is - just that; Darkness incarnate."
"I guess..." Marik said softly. "You could consider him a representation of a person's negative emotions. I think that's why he doesn't have a face or a definite shape right now. Because I abandoned him by sending him to the Shadow Realm, he is no longer tied to me."
Jonouchi started to say something in Japanese. Yugi listened to what he was saying, waiting till he was finished before translating for everyone who could not understand the language.
"Jonouchi-kun said that it had been bad enough the first time we had had to deal with the Darkness of Marik," he said. "He can't imagine what it would be like this time."
"Died once," Jonouchi said in broken English, shaking his head. "Don't want die again."
Seto gave the blonde a tired, critical look. "You forgot everything you learned in high school once that diploma was in your hand, didn't you?"
Jonouchi shot back at him with something that sounded quite rude, as Sugoroku attempted to prevent the blonde from jumping on the young businessman. Seto just smirked.
"Baka koinu."
Jonouchi sweatdropped and made a sound that seemed to be a very good impression of a dog whimper, as the sounds of shouting outside the hospital wing reached their ears. Everyone quieted down, looking toward the doors as the shouts got louder and more distinct. Marik looked over to Harry, who flinched in his sleep at the noise.
"They'll wake him if they don't shut up," he hissed.
"What are they shouting about?" Yugi asked, standing up so he could get a better view of the infirmary doors. "Nothing else could have gone wrong tonight, could it?"
The shouting became more distinct as the owners of the voices drew nearer. Mrs. Weasley stood up as well, frowning.
"That's Fudge's voice," she whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? What are they arguing about?"
"I have a feeling we're about to find out," Yami Yugi muttered.
Just after he finished saying that, the hospital doors burst open, revealing an angry Cornelius Fudge with an even angrier Professor Snape and an outright ENRAGED Professor McGonagall hot on his heels.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded.
"He's not here," Sugoroku replied, standing up and giving Fudge a hard look. "This is a hospital wing, sir. Don't you think you should show -"
The doors opened again, however, and Dumbledore came into the ward. He looked far from pleased as he glared from Fudge to McGonagall to Snape.
"What has happened?" the headmaster demanded. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you. I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch..."
McGonagall was about to reply, but Snape cut her off, least she do or say something drastic. It was the first time any of them in that room had ever seen the Transfiguration professor loose her control in such a manner. Angry blotches of color stained her cheeks, and her hands were balled up and shaking in rage.
"There's no need to do that anymore," Snape explained for her, giving Fudge a bitter look. "When we told Mr. Fudge we caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events, he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him in meeting Barty Crouch. The dementor took one look at him and..."
Snape snapped his fingers for emphasis as Yami Bakura gave the Minister a horrified look. There was no need for the Potion's Master to describe what had happened any more than he did. Crouch was worse than dead; the dementor had Kissed him, sucking his soul out through his mouth. The tomb robber stood up angrily.
"How could you have let it do that?" he accused. "Especially after Kaiba got that confession out of him!"
"He is no loss!" Fudge blustered, giving the tomb robber a scathing glare. "It's obvious he was responsible for several murders."
"Yes, and thanks to you, now we have no proof!" Seto snarled, looking like he was about ready to rip the Minister to shreds.
"Do we even NEED proof?" Fudge replied, seriously offended that children were arguing with him. "He was a raving lunatic! From what I'm told, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"
"Lord Voldemort WAS giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore responded, his voice and expression hard as ice. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength. The plan succeeded; Voldemort returned tonight."
Fudge looked like someone had just hit him in the face. "You-Know-Who... returned?" he stuttered. "Preposterous! Dumbledore..."
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtlessly told you," the headmaster cut him off, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. He told us of how he escaped from Azkaban, and how Voldemort discovered him and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you, Crouch has helped Voldemort return."
A curious smile made it's way onto Fudge's face. "And... you're prepared to take the word of a madman and a boy who, well..."
Marik stared at the Minister, shocked and enraged all at once. He stalked up to him, grabbing him by his dress shirt and pulling him down to his eyelevel, despite his sister's protests.
Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "Are you insinuating that Harry's a liar? Or maybe just crazy?"
Fudge reddened as he attempted to push the Gravekeeper off, his unusual smile turning into a defiant and obstinate look.
"He's a Parselmouth, and has funny turns all over the place," the Minister replied stubbornly. "Headaches. Nightmares. Hallucinations. I don't need to say if he's a liar or crazy; he proves it all on his own."
The only warning Fudge had was a brief growl of rage from the Gravekeeper. In the next instant, he was sprawled out on the ground, a deepening red mark on his face from where Marik had slugged him. Isis stood up from her seat, yelling at her brother in Egyptian. He turned to her, responding with a brief, harsh word, before focusing his attention back on the Minister.
"Bakayarou!" he snapped. "You forget, I was there in that graveyard tonight as well. Harry may be unique in ways that disagree with you, but if it weren't for him, you'd be sending me back to Japan in a pine box!"
Fudge scowled at the Egyptian as he got back to his feet, clearly not pleased. He was about to retort, when someone else cut him off.
"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, haven't you, Mr. Fudge?"
Everyone turned in surprise to see that Harry was very much awake. He was sitting up in bed, his glasses on, and giving the Minister an accusing glare. Fudge sputtered slightly.
"And what if I have?" he demanded. "It doesn't matter. You and your friends were full of a crazy story last year as well. Now you say the Dark Lord has returned? No one, not one person, will ever believe you."
Snape stalked toward Fudge, a look on his face that he rarely showed, even when he was being particularly murderous with homework. He pulled up the left sleeve of his robe, sticking out his forearm for the Minister to see. Fudge recoiled as everyone else strained to get a look. Glaring black on his arm was a symbol of a skull, with a snake for a tongue...
The Dark Mark.
"You see it, you fool?" Snape demanded in a low voice. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing on another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."
Snape pulled down his sleeve again with an angry tug as Fudge stepped back, shaking his head. It seemed as if he had not taken in a word the Potion's Master had said. Draco stood up, walking over to Snape's side; the expression on his face a good imitation of the professor's.
"Malfoy, Macnair, Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle - all Death Eaters that were supposedly 'cleared' of their crimes years ago," he snapped. "I'll bet my wand that every single one of them and more were at that graveyard tonight, and I'll also bet that they're already planning for how to break the others out of Azkaban. The dementors will let Voldemort; he was their old master, and would willingly hand over all those in the wizard prison in order to return to their old life!"
Fudge looked between Snape and Draco, and mix of fury and horror marking his face. After a long moment, he turned to Dumbledore, his expression becoming unreadable.
"I don't know what you, your staff, and your students are playing at, Dumbledore," he accused, "but I have heard enough. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."
He was about to leave, when he turned back to Marik and Harry. Taking two large bags of gold out of his pocket, he shoved them both into Marik's hands.
"Your winnings," he said shortly. "One thousand Galleons each. Normally because of the tie, there would have been a duel to determine the winner, but under the circumstances..."
Fudge crammed his bowler hat onto his head before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. A long stretch of silence followed, with no one willing to say anything. Yami Bakura was the first to speak; he turned toward Snape, a lopsided grin on his face.
"I knew you were a Death Eater," he said confidently.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Oh...?"
"Yup. You had to be," the tomb robber replied, before his expression turned sour. "That last homework assignment you gave Ryou was pure evil."
Bakura sweatdropped as the Potion's Master gave the two of them a bland look.
"As much as I would love," Dumbledore cut in before anyone could say anything, "for the jokes to continue, there is work to be done." He turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Molly... am I right in assuming I can count on you and Arthur?"
"Of course, Dumbledore," she replied. "We know how Fudge is."
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Stubborn as all hell?" he suggested.
Yami Yugi smirked. "Too worried about his own position to care much for anything else?"
Yami Seto grinned, before looking to his hikari while pointing at the pharaoh. "I like that one better."
Seto just rolled his eyes before saying, "He was right about one thing. Now that our proof is nothing more than a walking human shell, no one is going to believe a word we say."
Suddenly, a loud clanging sound came from somewhere inside Seto's robes. Everyone gave the young businessman a bewildered look as he flushed bright red. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out his laptop, which was dangling from a harness looped over his shoulder. Marik sweatdropped, raising a critical eyebrow.
"You've been carrying him around all night?" he asked.
Seto looked rather sheepish while Yami Seto was in near tears from laughing. "He wanted to see the final task," he protested, before flipping up the laptop monitor.
Noah was on the computer screen, as expected. He was holding a cooking pan in each hand, as if he had been banging them together. Dropping them, he gave Seto a "what took you so long?" glare, as Bill got close to the computer screen, marveling at it.
"Wow..." he muttered, poking at the screen. "How did you get him so small?"
Seto sweatdropped as Noah shook an angry fist up at him.
"Who are you calling a string bean that you can hardly see?!" Noah shouted. Bill backed up in surprise, nearly tripping over Harry's bed in the process.
"I didn't say that much!" he protested. Seto raised a confused eyebrow, caught off guard by the very "un-Noah-ish" response, before turning a glare toward his other half.
"Mou hitori no boku... what ELSE have you been downloading on this computer?" he demanded. Yami Seto just smiled nervously.
"Oh... nothing much..." he replied. "Just an anime episode or two... or three... or thirty..."
Seto's eyebrow twitched, before he lunged for his yami, knocking the computer off his lap. Draco dived for it and caught it just before it hit the ground, as the two high priests disappeared in a dust cloud. Everyone sweatdropped as the two of them fought, oblivious to their reactions. Sugoroku rubbed his forehead.
"I thought those two were supposed to be the serious and mature ones out of your friends, Yugi," he muttered.
Yugi just shook his head. "Normally, yes. But when someone messes with Seto-kun's property, all hell breaks loose."
Meanwhile, on the computer screen, Noah was shaking his head sadly; muttering something along the lines of, "Grow up, otouto." Draco turned the computer around so that the screen was facing him.
"Noah, did you want to show us something?" he asked.
"Hai, Draco-kun!" Noah exclaimed.
He reached over and grabbed the edge of his window, pulling it back as if he were using the mouse to resize it. Leaning over the window slightly, he reached a finger out to the desktop, touching an icon on it with a finger. Winamp loaded in response, and suddenly all sound - and fighting - in the room stopped as Crouch's interrogation came in over the laptop speakers. After a moment, Noah turned it off, smiling proudly.
"I heard you guys talking from inside otouto's cloak," he explained. "For once I'm glad he didn't turn the computer off."
Dumbledore walked over to the two of them, taking the computer in his hands so that he could look at Noah.
"My friend, I do believe you've made our lives a little easier," he said.
Noah grinned, holding up his fingers in a peace gesture. Dumbledore smiled gently, before looking over to Seto, who was on the floor on top of his other self.
"Mr. Kaiba, may I borrow your older brother?" he asked.
"Uh... hai," Seto said, standing up (making sure to shove his other's face into the floor a little).
Dumbledore turned his attention back to Mrs. Weasley. "I will need to send a message to Arthur," he said. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."
"I'll go to Dad," Bill offered. "I'll go right now."
"Excellent," Dumbledore replied, nodding. "Tell him what has happened, and that I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however..."
"Leave it to me," Bill assured him. He kissed his mother on the cheek, winked at Isis (who blushed slightly), before swinging on his cloak and leaving the room. Marik gave his back a dirty look, before turning to his older sister.
"Onee-san..." he began. "What was that about...?"
"I haven't an idea," she replied, frowning at the expression on his face.
"Minerva," Dumbledore continued, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also, if she will consent to come, Madame Maxime."
Seto looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. He swore in Japanese, before saying, "Um, professor, may I...?"
Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Miss Delacour, last I heard, was at the Beauxbatons' carriage with her family."
Seto bowed in thanks, before following Professor McGonagall out the door, ignoring Jonouchi's sniggering. After they left, Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, before turning back to the congregation of students, spirits, relatives... and one dog.
"Now," he began, "it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius, if you could resume your usual form."
The black dog looked up at him, seemingly in surprise, before instantly turning back into a man. Mrs. Weasley shrieked in surprise, and Yami Seto and Draco tried to calm her down as Snape glared at Sirius with fury in his eyes.
"Severus," Dumbledore began warningly before the Potion's Master could act, "I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."
The two adults were looking at each other with nothing but the utmost loathing.
"You're asking for a miracle, professor," Bakura mumbled, voicing what was on everyone's minds.
Dumbledore sighed tiredly. "I will settle, in the short term, for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You're on the same side now. Time is short, and we've already used precious amounts of it. Unless the few of use who know the truth stand united, there is no hope for any of us."
Very slowly, still glaring at one another, Sirius and Snape shook hands. They parted VERY quickly however, getting another sigh out of the headmaster.
"I suppose that will do for now," he said, as if he were talking to children rather than full-grown adults. He stood between the two of them; least they decided that they would rather be openly hostile with one another. "Now, I have work for each of you. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. Alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Stay a Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."
"But...!" Harry protested, reaching out a hand for Sirius to convey what he wanted. They had been in such close contact for such a short while; he did not want him to leave again right away. Sirius smiled slightly, kneeling down by his bed and resting a hand on his head.
"You'll see me again soon, Harry," he promised. "But, in the meantime, I have to do what I can. You understand."
Harry nodded. No matter how much he did not like it, he knew that it could not be helped. Sirius mussed his hair up slightly, before turning back into a dog and bounding out of the room.
"Severus," Dumbledore began again, "you know what I must ask of you. Only if you're ready... only if you're prepared..."
"I am," Snape replied with a nod. He did not look as confident as he usually did, however. Instead, he was paler than normal, and had a slight look of apprehension on his face as he swept out the door.
There was another long moment when no one spoke, before Dumbledore excused himself, taking Noah with him out the door. Marik sighed tiredly, slumping back into his chair.
"And here I thought this night couldn't get any worse," he bemoaned as Yugi got up from his seat, going over to the window. Yami Seto plopped into a chair next to him.
"Dark Lord rises, Yami Marik returns, Ministry doesn't believe a damn word we say," he said. "Yeah, I'd say we're in a bit of a pickle."
Suddenly, there was a smacking sound from the window. Everyone turned to see Yugi clutching something in his fist, a triumphant look on his face. He saw that the others were staring at him, though, and blushed, edging away from the window.
"Sorry," he muttered, making his way to Yami Bakura. He grabbed the tomb robber by his hair, pulling him out of his seat and out of the room in barely contained excitement. Everyone sweatdropped as the tomb robber's shouted curses and protests died away with the closing of the door.
Jonouchi and Sugoroku exchanged befuddled expressions, before they both turned to Yami Yugi.
"What was that about?"
Dawn of Fate
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(Hikari no Mari, forgive me for borrowing your 'yami' for this little pre-chapter skit.)
[Skyla's room in the Angel Wings treehouse; Skyla is looking over several documents on her computer, occasionally picking from a plate of french fries next to her. Yami Yugi is streched out on her bed, watching newest version of The Mummy.]
Skyla: Don't you ever get tired of watching that?
Y.Yugi: No. I like pointing out what they got wrong. ^_^
Skyla: -_-
[Suddenly an evil cackle is heard, and Mari -- a yami -- goes running past the open door, clutching the Millennium Rod.]
Skyla: Uh... how did a reviewer's yami get up here?
Y.Yugi: Do I look like I'm in charge of security?
[Seto soon runs by the door, shaking an angry fist.]
Seto: Give that back!!!
Skyla AND Y.Yugi: -_-;
[Yami-neko runs past the door as well, trying to bite Seto's heals. Out of Skyla and Yami Yugi's view, Seto suddenly yelps.]
Seto: Damn cat!
Skyla AND Y.Yugi: -_-;;;;;;
Skyla: ANYway... here's chapter twenty-six, finally. This is the second to last chapter of Dawn of Fate. There's also a little FMA plug in here. ^^;; I couldn't resist.
Y.Yugi: As always, read, enjoy, and then review.
[Mari, Seto, and Yami-neko go running by the door again.]
Seto: Give me back my Rod!
Skyla: _ I'm not touching that one...
Y.Yugi: -_-;;;
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - PARTING OF THE WAYS
Marik yawned tiredly, stretching his arms high above his head. After finding the real Mad-Eye Moody in an enchanted trunk in the office, Dumbledore had escorted the Egyptian and Harry up to his office. There, they met up with Sirius, who had been brought up prior by Professor McGonagall (who thought she was escorting some kind of very friendly dog). In the office, the two of them had to recount everything that they had witnessed in the graveyard, with Marik filling in for things that Harry did not know, and vice versa. Afterward, they were escorted to the hospital wing, where everyone was waiting for them. Harry had taken a potion that would give him a dreamless sleep, but Marik had refused to do the same, preferring to sit up with the others in the infirmary and making sure Harry was not disturbed.
"I didn't need it," Marik explained to Mrs. Weasley, scratching Sirius (who had turned back into a dog) behind the ears. "Nothing I saw tonight was enough to give me nightmares."
"You sure?" Yami Bakura asked, raising a critical eyebrow. "Seeing that bastard again would be enough to give ME nightmares."
Isis stared down at her hands folded on her lap. "So... it has returned. And it tried to take over your friend..."
Marik nodded, as Sirius went over and rested his head on her lap. Isis smiled softly, petting him on the head as her brother continued, "It seems like he doesn't want to try taking me over again. Probably because he wants to kill me for sending him to the Shadow Realm in the first place."
"Um... excuse me, but," Bill Weasley began, "what's this 'he' and 'it' you're talking about?"
Marik scrunched his face up, trying to think of the best way to begin. Finally he stood up, shaking off his school robes, before reaching for the collar of his purple hoody and pulling it off as well. He turned so that his back was facing everyone; he heard Hermione and Mrs. Weasley gasp in surprise. The only people in the room who did not react were Yami Yugi, Yugi, Jonouchi, and Seto...
They had been there when he first revealed the knife-inflicted tattoo on his back.
"This is the curse of being born as the future heir of the Ishitar Gravekeeper Clan," Marik explained solemnly. "It was our duty to - when the pharaoh was reborn and found - point him in the right direction, so that he could regain his memories. These scars describe how it had to be done. They were carved onto the back of every leader of my Clan since it all began five thousand years ago, so we could never forget."
Marik turned back around, slipping his shirt back on. He was quiet for a long moment before he was able to continue.
"I was ten," he said softly. "I was bound to a stone slab, a gag in my mouth, while my own father used a heated knife to carve the symbols on my back."
Hermione had a hand over her mouth, horrified. "But... but, you could have DIED," she said. "Didn't your father CARE?"
Marik smiled bitterly. "Oh, he cared. If I had died, then it would have been proof that I was unfit to be Clan Leader."
Hermione could only stare, too stunned to speak. Isis gave her a soft smile.
"We, the younger generation, knew that there had to be other things out there other than our underground life," she explained. "But the elders would hear nothing of it. Our duty was to our pharaoh and our pharaoh alone, as it had been for five thousand years."
Hermione shot Yami Yugi an accusing glare. "How could you have approved of this?!"
The pharaoh did not meet her gaze. "I didn't, and I still don't," he replied, "but there was nothing I could have done. By the time this tradition was established, I was already dead."
"You still did not answer my question," Bill began as Hermione looked away, lost in her own thoughts. "Whom where you speaking of before?"
Marik took a deep breath, knowing he was not going to like the direction the conversation would end up turning toward.
"Darkness, itself," he replied. "After or during the ceremony... I don't know when, but sometime around when I received the scars on my back, did my hatred and my rage for having to endure such pain because of a person I never met and probably would have never met in my lifetime consolidate itself into a separate spirit. You see, we knew that the spirit of the pharaoh was locked inside the Millennium Puzzle, but no man in five thousand years had been able to find and solve the Puzzle. That spirit was created from my misguided hatred, and became more distinct when..."
Marik trailed off, at a loss for how to continue. Isis put a hand on his shoulder, offering to continue for him. He gave her a grateful smile.
"Marik had always wanted to see the world outside the underground community we lived in, even though it was expressly forbidden," she began. "So, our guardian, Rishid, offered to cover for us while we explored the world above. Our father found out, however, and when we came back, we found Rishid being tortured to near death. That was when IT first appeared under it's own power. Marik no Yami... Darkness of Marik. It took up the Millennium Rod, one of the two Items our Clan was guarding... and killed our father."
"So..." Draco began. "This 'Yami Marik' is like Panseru and the others then?"
"No, far from it," Yami Seto answered. "We existed as real people in the past. Marik's Darkness was - is - just that; Darkness incarnate."
"I guess..." Marik said softly. "You could consider him a representation of a person's negative emotions. I think that's why he doesn't have a face or a definite shape right now. Because I abandoned him by sending him to the Shadow Realm, he is no longer tied to me."
Jonouchi started to say something in Japanese. Yugi listened to what he was saying, waiting till he was finished before translating for everyone who could not understand the language.
"Jonouchi-kun said that it had been bad enough the first time we had had to deal with the Darkness of Marik," he said. "He can't imagine what it would be like this time."
"Died once," Jonouchi said in broken English, shaking his head. "Don't want die again."
Seto gave the blonde a tired, critical look. "You forgot everything you learned in high school once that diploma was in your hand, didn't you?"
Jonouchi shot back at him with something that sounded quite rude, as Sugoroku attempted to prevent the blonde from jumping on the young businessman. Seto just smirked.
"Baka koinu."
Jonouchi sweatdropped and made a sound that seemed to be a very good impression of a dog whimper, as the sounds of shouting outside the hospital wing reached their ears. Everyone quieted down, looking toward the doors as the shouts got louder and more distinct. Marik looked over to Harry, who flinched in his sleep at the noise.
"They'll wake him if they don't shut up," he hissed.
"What are they shouting about?" Yugi asked, standing up so he could get a better view of the infirmary doors. "Nothing else could have gone wrong tonight, could it?"
The shouting became more distinct as the owners of the voices drew nearer. Mrs. Weasley stood up as well, frowning.
"That's Fudge's voice," she whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? What are they arguing about?"
"I have a feeling we're about to find out," Yami Yugi muttered.
Just after he finished saying that, the hospital doors burst open, revealing an angry Cornelius Fudge with an even angrier Professor Snape and an outright ENRAGED Professor McGonagall hot on his heels.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded.
"He's not here," Sugoroku replied, standing up and giving Fudge a hard look. "This is a hospital wing, sir. Don't you think you should show -"
The doors opened again, however, and Dumbledore came into the ward. He looked far from pleased as he glared from Fudge to McGonagall to Snape.
"What has happened?" the headmaster demanded. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you. I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch..."
McGonagall was about to reply, but Snape cut her off, least she do or say something drastic. It was the first time any of them in that room had ever seen the Transfiguration professor loose her control in such a manner. Angry blotches of color stained her cheeks, and her hands were balled up and shaking in rage.
"There's no need to do that anymore," Snape explained for her, giving Fudge a bitter look. "When we told Mr. Fudge we caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events, he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him in meeting Barty Crouch. The dementor took one look at him and..."
Snape snapped his fingers for emphasis as Yami Bakura gave the Minister a horrified look. There was no need for the Potion's Master to describe what had happened any more than he did. Crouch was worse than dead; the dementor had Kissed him, sucking his soul out through his mouth. The tomb robber stood up angrily.
"How could you have let it do that?" he accused. "Especially after Kaiba got that confession out of him!"
"He is no loss!" Fudge blustered, giving the tomb robber a scathing glare. "It's obvious he was responsible for several murders."
"Yes, and thanks to you, now we have no proof!" Seto snarled, looking like he was about ready to rip the Minister to shreds.
"Do we even NEED proof?" Fudge replied, seriously offended that children were arguing with him. "He was a raving lunatic! From what I'm told, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"
"Lord Voldemort WAS giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore responded, his voice and expression hard as ice. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength. The plan succeeded; Voldemort returned tonight."
Fudge looked like someone had just hit him in the face. "You-Know-Who... returned?" he stuttered. "Preposterous! Dumbledore..."
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtlessly told you," the headmaster cut him off, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. He told us of how he escaped from Azkaban, and how Voldemort discovered him and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you, Crouch has helped Voldemort return."
A curious smile made it's way onto Fudge's face. "And... you're prepared to take the word of a madman and a boy who, well..."
Marik stared at the Minister, shocked and enraged all at once. He stalked up to him, grabbing him by his dress shirt and pulling him down to his eyelevel, despite his sister's protests.
Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "Are you insinuating that Harry's a liar? Or maybe just crazy?"
Fudge reddened as he attempted to push the Gravekeeper off, his unusual smile turning into a defiant and obstinate look.
"He's a Parselmouth, and has funny turns all over the place," the Minister replied stubbornly. "Headaches. Nightmares. Hallucinations. I don't need to say if he's a liar or crazy; he proves it all on his own."
The only warning Fudge had was a brief growl of rage from the Gravekeeper. In the next instant, he was sprawled out on the ground, a deepening red mark on his face from where Marik had slugged him. Isis stood up from her seat, yelling at her brother in Egyptian. He turned to her, responding with a brief, harsh word, before focusing his attention back on the Minister.
"Bakayarou!" he snapped. "You forget, I was there in that graveyard tonight as well. Harry may be unique in ways that disagree with you, but if it weren't for him, you'd be sending me back to Japan in a pine box!"
Fudge scowled at the Egyptian as he got back to his feet, clearly not pleased. He was about to retort, when someone else cut him off.
"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, haven't you, Mr. Fudge?"
Everyone turned in surprise to see that Harry was very much awake. He was sitting up in bed, his glasses on, and giving the Minister an accusing glare. Fudge sputtered slightly.
"And what if I have?" he demanded. "It doesn't matter. You and your friends were full of a crazy story last year as well. Now you say the Dark Lord has returned? No one, not one person, will ever believe you."
Snape stalked toward Fudge, a look on his face that he rarely showed, even when he was being particularly murderous with homework. He pulled up the left sleeve of his robe, sticking out his forearm for the Minister to see. Fudge recoiled as everyone else strained to get a look. Glaring black on his arm was a symbol of a skull, with a snake for a tongue...
The Dark Mark.
"You see it, you fool?" Snape demanded in a low voice. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing on another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."
Snape pulled down his sleeve again with an angry tug as Fudge stepped back, shaking his head. It seemed as if he had not taken in a word the Potion's Master had said. Draco stood up, walking over to Snape's side; the expression on his face a good imitation of the professor's.
"Malfoy, Macnair, Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle - all Death Eaters that were supposedly 'cleared' of their crimes years ago," he snapped. "I'll bet my wand that every single one of them and more were at that graveyard tonight, and I'll also bet that they're already planning for how to break the others out of Azkaban. The dementors will let Voldemort; he was their old master, and would willingly hand over all those in the wizard prison in order to return to their old life!"
Fudge looked between Snape and Draco, and mix of fury and horror marking his face. After a long moment, he turned to Dumbledore, his expression becoming unreadable.
"I don't know what you, your staff, and your students are playing at, Dumbledore," he accused, "but I have heard enough. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."
He was about to leave, when he turned back to Marik and Harry. Taking two large bags of gold out of his pocket, he shoved them both into Marik's hands.
"Your winnings," he said shortly. "One thousand Galleons each. Normally because of the tie, there would have been a duel to determine the winner, but under the circumstances..."
Fudge crammed his bowler hat onto his head before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. A long stretch of silence followed, with no one willing to say anything. Yami Bakura was the first to speak; he turned toward Snape, a lopsided grin on his face.
"I knew you were a Death Eater," he said confidently.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Oh...?"
"Yup. You had to be," the tomb robber replied, before his expression turned sour. "That last homework assignment you gave Ryou was pure evil."
Bakura sweatdropped as the Potion's Master gave the two of them a bland look.
"As much as I would love," Dumbledore cut in before anyone could say anything, "for the jokes to continue, there is work to be done." He turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Molly... am I right in assuming I can count on you and Arthur?"
"Of course, Dumbledore," she replied. "We know how Fudge is."
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Stubborn as all hell?" he suggested.
Yami Yugi smirked. "Too worried about his own position to care much for anything else?"
Yami Seto grinned, before looking to his hikari while pointing at the pharaoh. "I like that one better."
Seto just rolled his eyes before saying, "He was right about one thing. Now that our proof is nothing more than a walking human shell, no one is going to believe a word we say."
Suddenly, a loud clanging sound came from somewhere inside Seto's robes. Everyone gave the young businessman a bewildered look as he flushed bright red. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out his laptop, which was dangling from a harness looped over his shoulder. Marik sweatdropped, raising a critical eyebrow.
"You've been carrying him around all night?" he asked.
Seto looked rather sheepish while Yami Seto was in near tears from laughing. "He wanted to see the final task," he protested, before flipping up the laptop monitor.
Noah was on the computer screen, as expected. He was holding a cooking pan in each hand, as if he had been banging them together. Dropping them, he gave Seto a "what took you so long?" glare, as Bill got close to the computer screen, marveling at it.
"Wow..." he muttered, poking at the screen. "How did you get him so small?"
Seto sweatdropped as Noah shook an angry fist up at him.
"Who are you calling a string bean that you can hardly see?!" Noah shouted. Bill backed up in surprise, nearly tripping over Harry's bed in the process.
"I didn't say that much!" he protested. Seto raised a confused eyebrow, caught off guard by the very "un-Noah-ish" response, before turning a glare toward his other half.
"Mou hitori no boku... what ELSE have you been downloading on this computer?" he demanded. Yami Seto just smiled nervously.
"Oh... nothing much..." he replied. "Just an anime episode or two... or three... or thirty..."
Seto's eyebrow twitched, before he lunged for his yami, knocking the computer off his lap. Draco dived for it and caught it just before it hit the ground, as the two high priests disappeared in a dust cloud. Everyone sweatdropped as the two of them fought, oblivious to their reactions. Sugoroku rubbed his forehead.
"I thought those two were supposed to be the serious and mature ones out of your friends, Yugi," he muttered.
Yugi just shook his head. "Normally, yes. But when someone messes with Seto-kun's property, all hell breaks loose."
Meanwhile, on the computer screen, Noah was shaking his head sadly; muttering something along the lines of, "Grow up, otouto." Draco turned the computer around so that the screen was facing him.
"Noah, did you want to show us something?" he asked.
"Hai, Draco-kun!" Noah exclaimed.
He reached over and grabbed the edge of his window, pulling it back as if he were using the mouse to resize it. Leaning over the window slightly, he reached a finger out to the desktop, touching an icon on it with a finger. Winamp loaded in response, and suddenly all sound - and fighting - in the room stopped as Crouch's interrogation came in over the laptop speakers. After a moment, Noah turned it off, smiling proudly.
"I heard you guys talking from inside otouto's cloak," he explained. "For once I'm glad he didn't turn the computer off."
Dumbledore walked over to the two of them, taking the computer in his hands so that he could look at Noah.
"My friend, I do believe you've made our lives a little easier," he said.
Noah grinned, holding up his fingers in a peace gesture. Dumbledore smiled gently, before looking over to Seto, who was on the floor on top of his other self.
"Mr. Kaiba, may I borrow your older brother?" he asked.
"Uh... hai," Seto said, standing up (making sure to shove his other's face into the floor a little).
Dumbledore turned his attention back to Mrs. Weasley. "I will need to send a message to Arthur," he said. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."
"I'll go to Dad," Bill offered. "I'll go right now."
"Excellent," Dumbledore replied, nodding. "Tell him what has happened, and that I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however..."
"Leave it to me," Bill assured him. He kissed his mother on the cheek, winked at Isis (who blushed slightly), before swinging on his cloak and leaving the room. Marik gave his back a dirty look, before turning to his older sister.
"Onee-san..." he began. "What was that about...?"
"I haven't an idea," she replied, frowning at the expression on his face.
"Minerva," Dumbledore continued, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also, if she will consent to come, Madame Maxime."
Seto looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. He swore in Japanese, before saying, "Um, professor, may I...?"
Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Miss Delacour, last I heard, was at the Beauxbatons' carriage with her family."
Seto bowed in thanks, before following Professor McGonagall out the door, ignoring Jonouchi's sniggering. After they left, Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, before turning back to the congregation of students, spirits, relatives... and one dog.
"Now," he began, "it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius, if you could resume your usual form."
The black dog looked up at him, seemingly in surprise, before instantly turning back into a man. Mrs. Weasley shrieked in surprise, and Yami Seto and Draco tried to calm her down as Snape glared at Sirius with fury in his eyes.
"Severus," Dumbledore began warningly before the Potion's Master could act, "I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."
The two adults were looking at each other with nothing but the utmost loathing.
"You're asking for a miracle, professor," Bakura mumbled, voicing what was on everyone's minds.
Dumbledore sighed tiredly. "I will settle, in the short term, for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You're on the same side now. Time is short, and we've already used precious amounts of it. Unless the few of use who know the truth stand united, there is no hope for any of us."
Very slowly, still glaring at one another, Sirius and Snape shook hands. They parted VERY quickly however, getting another sigh out of the headmaster.
"I suppose that will do for now," he said, as if he were talking to children rather than full-grown adults. He stood between the two of them; least they decided that they would rather be openly hostile with one another. "Now, I have work for each of you. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. Alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Stay a Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."
"But...!" Harry protested, reaching out a hand for Sirius to convey what he wanted. They had been in such close contact for such a short while; he did not want him to leave again right away. Sirius smiled slightly, kneeling down by his bed and resting a hand on his head.
"You'll see me again soon, Harry," he promised. "But, in the meantime, I have to do what I can. You understand."
Harry nodded. No matter how much he did not like it, he knew that it could not be helped. Sirius mussed his hair up slightly, before turning back into a dog and bounding out of the room.
"Severus," Dumbledore began again, "you know what I must ask of you. Only if you're ready... only if you're prepared..."
"I am," Snape replied with a nod. He did not look as confident as he usually did, however. Instead, he was paler than normal, and had a slight look of apprehension on his face as he swept out the door.
There was another long moment when no one spoke, before Dumbledore excused himself, taking Noah with him out the door. Marik sighed tiredly, slumping back into his chair.
"And here I thought this night couldn't get any worse," he bemoaned as Yugi got up from his seat, going over to the window. Yami Seto plopped into a chair next to him.
"Dark Lord rises, Yami Marik returns, Ministry doesn't believe a damn word we say," he said. "Yeah, I'd say we're in a bit of a pickle."
Suddenly, there was a smacking sound from the window. Everyone turned to see Yugi clutching something in his fist, a triumphant look on his face. He saw that the others were staring at him, though, and blushed, edging away from the window.
"Sorry," he muttered, making his way to Yami Bakura. He grabbed the tomb robber by his hair, pulling him out of his seat and out of the room in barely contained excitement. Everyone sweatdropped as the tomb robber's shouted curses and protests died away with the closing of the door.
Jonouchi and Sugoroku exchanged befuddled expressions, before they both turned to Yami Yugi.
"What was that about?"