OMG, four hundred reviews! By Ra, I am so touched, let's all celebrate! Ryou-kun, go bake some cookies, eh? Sirius! Grab some Butterbeer! Yami no Malik, get some wine! Malik, some chips. Bakura, an ouija board and candles.
Bakura: After you wrote this chapter, I'm keeping my Dark Sanctuary a hell away from you.
Spoilsport.
But FOUR HUNDRED REVIEWS! RA, THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL, REVIEWERS!
Sorry I do not have time to answer reviewers…there are just so many! I can gurauntee you though, I will do all that I can possibly can to NOT discontinue this fic. (fists the air) Despite my two on-going yaoi stories and my final exams, I WILL UPDATE THIS STORY ONCE A MONTH!
Yes, I agree. Too many YGO/HP crosses have been discontinued. Lizeth hasn't updated in ages, White Angel Chan hasn't either, and Hinotama85 hasn't either. T.T Oh well! I will be the first then to start the trend of having ouija board something YGO/HP crosses must have!
Ooh, I love this chapter. So ominous. So scary. Woo, love it. (shudders)
Oh yea, Sirius-angst moment. People have been telling me (everywhere, especially on my yaoi account) that I hurt Ryou too much. XDD Okay, fine. Let's give Sirius some angst lines, then. (hugs Sirius) He needs some. Can't be his seventeen year old Marauder self all the time, can he?
(gr. I hate writing Yami no Malik here. Gods, whoever has read my yaoi stuff on my AphroditeLove account knows how damned difficult it is to write anything with Ryou and YM together and hating each other. ARGH.)
T.T Sirius was so MEAN to Ryou-kun! Gah! (whacks Sirius in the head) You know, you used to be my British Bishie. But you hurt Ryou-kun! (huggles Ryou-kun) What a sweetie-pie. I love him. HE'Smy new British Bishie now!
Disclaimer: No own, and too tired to say more.
Chapter Twenty Three: Past, Darkness, and Prediction
"Bakura, stop making this up."
"Excuse me?" Bakura retorted, feigning hurt as he glared at Yugi. "It's what the board says. And the spirits that revolve around us."
Yugi was itching to roll his eyes, but consented with resting his head tiredly against his folded arms on the desk. "Bakura, I am NOT going to die after being eaten by three Blue-Eyes White Dragons."
Bakura snorted.
It was Double Divination, which meant twice the longer period. Yugi sighed tiredly again. Only thirty minutes had passed since Trelawney had explained to them the meaning of the ouija boards (something Bakura ignored entirely). And though it had been only thirty minutes, Yugi thought that it was an eternity.
Forty-five more minutes with Yami Bakura. Joy.
"You never know," Bakura said idly, closing his eyes and smirking as the ouija board rotated on its own. He purposefully had crossed his arms, to prove that he was not manipulating the board in any way. "After all, as Professor Trelawney said: 'ask, and the spirits shall reply.'"
"And this spirit commands you to shut up," Yami suddenly said, popping out of nowhere in Yugi's body. Yugi gave his darker half a happy grin. Ready to groan, Yami rested his forehead against the palm of his hand. Bakura smirked.
"And this spirit actually knows how to use the board," Bakura retorted smugly. "Who are you to say, Pharaoh, that the other spirits around us are not agreeing with me?"
"Who'd want to agree with you?" Yami replied dryly. Bakura snorted.
"Ah, Pharaoh. King of Egypt with a mind as flat as this board."
"You and your ouija boards, Bakura," Yami snapped back, growing slightly irritated. The perfumed air was getting on his nerves. Breathing the air within the castle attic was like choking a lungful of ashen poppies. Again, Bakura snorted.
"The spirits say the pharaoh's piiisssedd," Bakura sang, as the ouija board again, shifted from side to side, finally pointing at Yami. Rolling his eyes, but beginning to smirk all the same, Yami nonchalantly twirled his finger towards the direction of Bakura. After a few moments' worth of shifting, the pale board then swiftly turned about, before falling to a rest in front of Bakura.
"And this spirit doesn't need a board to tell him that," Yami replied, smirking.
Bakura's expression did not faze as he stared at his former opponent evenly in the eyes. Blood red eyes leveled with ruby ones.
"Too bad the spirit across from me is too much of an idiot to know that," Bakura retorted. Yami's eyes narrowed, and after a moments' hesitance, a verbal duel began, and this was one Yami was eager to win.
"I am NOT going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow!" Ron said indignantly. "Harry, you're reading it wrong!"
"No I'm not!" Harry said defensively. "Look! Read it! It stopped by the picture of a mouth, and then it said marshmallow! The spirits said something about you being eaten by a marshmallow!"
"They did not!" Ron said again, but was grinning all the same. "Blimey, you suck at this, Harry."
"Let's see you do any good," Harry said back, but smiling all the same. He pushed the ouija board to Ron. "But seriously. The spirits in the room said something about a marshmallow, okay? I know it."
"Yeah yeah," Ron said idly, as he made a long face and placed his hands together in a prayer-form. "Aaaaahh…"
Harry snorted with laughter. Behind him, distinctly Bakura's voice echoed with, "Yeah, pharaoh? Well, YOU'RE AS SMALL AS A MARSHMALLOW! HA!"
Five more minutes passed, and Ryou moaned in agony in his soul room.
/Bakura! Let me out/
But all he could hear as a reply was, "HA! YOU'RE AS SMALL AS A MARSHMALLOW! BEAT THAT, PHARAOH!"
Rolling his eyes, Ryou sat back down on his soul room bed.
That's the crappiest thing I've heard him say all day…Ryou thought dryly. Not that he was being rude; he was just annoyed that Bakura had stolen his school time. He never liked his soul room anyway. So boring.
"That's the crappiest thing I've heard him say all day," said a familiar voice suddenly.
Perking up considerably, Ryou jumped off his bed, and hurried towards his door. After a few quick twists and turns with the rusty doorknob, the white-haired boy opened the door, and was pleased to meet with the tall form of Sirius Black.
"Can he not think of anything better to say?" Sirius asked idly, striding forwards and plopping himself on Ryou's bed. Ryou giggled. There were times when Sirius acted so much like a child, it was funny.
"I don't know," Ryou said, grinning as he heard Bakura scream something about a rainbow mating with a cactus. "He's usually better when he's got something dark behind him."
Sirius snorted, looking quite amused. "Please. So who's he talking to? The pharaoh someone? Yami something?"
"Yami Yugi," Ryou replied, nodding his head. "They're in Trelawney's Divination class, and Yami got bored of staring at Bakura's ouija boards."
Sirius snorted again with stifled laughter. Distinctly, as he swept his matted bangs over his shoulder, he remembered his first encounter with an ouija board. Not that Snivellus had called it an "ouija board"…more like a "wedgie board…"
"Oh, ouija boards? Those are fun," Sirius said, beginning to grin at the memory.
Ryou smiled, before sitting down on a chair next to the flopped Sirius on the bed. "I suppose they are. But with Bakura, I think mayhem might be a better word."
The Animagus made a wryly smile. "Better than voodoo dolls. I mean, come on. What man plays with dolls?"
"I HEARD THAT BLACK!' Bakura's voice suddenly roared into the soul room. Ryou winced at the unexpected volume. "How would you like a pin stuck in your eye, hm?"
"Less than I would like an ouija board up your ass," Sirius replied perkily to the ceiling, grinning innocently. Bakura gave a frustrated growl.
"Black…" Bakura growled warningly. "What the hell are you doing with my hikari?"
"Nothing?" Sirius replied innocently, blinking his eyes at the ceiling. "I mean, how could you dare suspect me of any mischief? I'm just a lonely wanderer wanting some company."
"This is coming from the man who is known to murder thirteen people with one curse," Bakura said dryly.
Sirius suddenly scowled, and both the soul room occupants could almost feel Bakura's instant shift of attitude.
/Ha! Score one for the raider…/ Ryou heard Bakura say triumphantly.
/Score one/ Ryou thought back, blinking. /Just one/
/I called the Pharaoh the orphan of a cactus-rainbow-marshmallow hybrid/ Bakura said hopefully, as though Ryou would count that as score number two. Sighing, Ryou shook his head.
/Ano, Bakura…you should really get back to class. Can't I go/
/No/ was Bakura's simple and crisp reply. And without further ado, the thief returned to his verbal duel with the pharaoh.
Sighing again, Ryou leaned back in his chair. Looking to his side, he saw that Sirius had sat up too, waving his wand idly between his fingers. As the sleeve of Sirius's tattered robe shifted down his arm, Ryou caught a glimpse of a rather nasty jagged line of crimson…
Narrowing his eyes, Ryou quickly got off the bed, and without further warning, took Sirius's hand and brushed the sleeve down. Blinking, Sirius gave the other Briton a quizzical, slightly annoyed look, but shook his hand away when he saw what Ryou was looking at.
"It's nothing," Sirius replied shortly.
"Sirius, you're hurt!" Ryou said, worry glinting in his eyes.
"I said it's nothing," Sirius said bluntly. "I'm fine."
Ryou frowned. "Sirius…"
The Animagus simply arched one eyebrow, seemingly uncaring for Ryou's distress over his wound. Continuing to twirl his wand, Sirius leaned back against the bed again.
"It's nothing," he said firmly.
"Where did you get it?" Ryou persisted. "Was it when you were with Yami Marik?"
Sirius gave him an odd, slightly cool look. "And if it was?" he asked brusquely. "What difference would it make?"
Grimacing, Ryou took a seat next to Sirius, his brown eyes lingering on the arm where the wound was present. Bowing his head down, Ryou brought his knees to his chest, curling up a bit.
"You were fighting Yami Marik?" Ryou asked weakly.
Sirius arched an eyebrow again, before nodding curtly.
Again, Ryou grimaced. Forcing himself to look at Sirius, Ryou opened his mouth to speak.
"Sirius…how bad was it…when you guys were fighting in the Shadows?"
The older Briton blinked, but shrugged his skeletal shoulders. "Not too bad," Sirius admitted. "Harder than I had anticipated, but then again, he had different magic." Attempting to get Ryou off such a distressful topic, Sirius asked wryly, "Do all your acquaintances have porcupine hair? What is it, a style of fashion in Japan?"
Ryou ignored the joke entirely, and continued looking at Sirius as though disappointed and fearful. "What did he do to you?"
"What does it matter?" asked Sirius heatedly. "It's just a cut, nothing else. For God's sake, Ryou, I'm a grown man, I don't need you to mother me!"
At this, Ryou looked hurt, but he immediately regained composure. "Sirius," he began, speaking softly. "Yami no Marik is not like Bakura. He's nowhere near like Bakura. He's evil. He's the Darkness itself. Vengeance, Hate, Anger, Destruction, he is all of the above and I can't believe you risked your soul to fight him for me!"
"So what?" Sirius retorted back. "You were in danger. As long as you were in such proximity with him, he was close to escaping the Shadows and replacing himself with you! What possessed you to go to the damned Ministry anyways?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Ryou replied desperately. "Bakura went there on some stranger's orders! I didn't know that it was the Shadows that was consuming the Ministry!"
"We talked about it during Defence Against the Dark Arts," Sirius replied crossly. "How can you not say that we did not talk about it? You knew that it was suspicious. You knew we suspected the Shadows were consuming the Ministry. So now you're lecturing me about fighting with some stranger, while you practically threw yourself into harm's way?"
"That's not my point!" Ryou said. "I'm just asking why you did it! Why you fought with him! Gods, Sirius, you should've just let Bakura or something deal with him! I didn't want you hurt!"
"Oh, so now you think I couldn't take him?" Sirius retorted heatedly. "Well excuse me, why don't you try being damned locked up all the time, unable to do anything while your friends and families were being destroyed?"
"I just didn't want you hurt!" Ryou cried. "Yami Marik is dangerous! I don't want you hurt!"
"No one wants me hurt," Sirius snapped. "Except for the rest of the thousands in Britain who want my head. For God's sake, Ryou! I've been living in the damned darkness for so long, don't you think I should go out and have a little fun?"
"A little fun!" Ryou cried out. "Fighting Yami Marik is no fun! He sent Bakura to the Shadows once! I don't want him tormenting you!"
"Oh well fine then!" Sirius yelled, standing up from the bed. "Fine! I can't do anything in the outside world, and I can't do anything in this Shadow world! Why don't I just damn pop my clogs?"
"Sirius!" Ryou cried.
"I couldn't save my best friend," Sirius snapped. "I couldn't save his wife. I couldn't prevent the murderer from returning to Voldemort. I couldn't protect my remaining closest friend, Remus Lupin, for all those times when he needed me during the full moon. I dammit, I can't even save my damned godson because I'm living in this wretched world of darkness, and now I can't even save my only present friend, who's DARKER HALF USED TO ABUSE HIM AND TORMENT HIM! THEN WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, THEN!"
"Sirius, that's not what I mean!" Ryou cried. "Sirius, please, calm down!"
"It doesn't matter," Sirius snapped. He began to stride towards the door. "I'm leaving."
Ryou's eyes widened fearfully as he watched his homeland friend wrench the door open.
"What? But-but…Sirius…!"
"See you," Sirius replied coldly.
The door shut.
"So I'm going to be a Quidditch player on the new Irish team Rainbow Cactus?" Ron asked, looking at Harry with a weird look. "Well, that's what I got…"
Harry laughed. "See? You suck too."
Ron chucked a pillow at him. "The spirits in this room suck."
"They probably can't speak English," Harry agreed, looking beneath the ouija board for the chucken pillow. Behind, Yami and Bakura were literally screaming at each other in Egyptian, something that Yami was surprised he even remembered. He supposed being a teenage adolescence and hiding in a pot would bring back certain words he could use against the thief.
More curses were exchanged, before they finally got Trelawney's attention. She had been very intrigued in Lavender Brown's work, with Parvati, who insisted that the spirits spoke of stars floating from the depths of a clay pot. Apparently, Trelawney and Parvati were convinced that this meant that there were good things to come from the darkness that was now approaching.
"I am not a star-head and I didn't used to hide in pots!" Yami yelled back in Egyptian. Secretly, he was rather enjoying himself.
/Ouija boards are fun, aibou/ Yami said.
Yugi giggled. /I think you ate too many pumpkin tarts this morning, Yami./
/They were good/ Yami insisted.
/What happened to the regal, commanding pharaoh/ Yugi asked innocently, unable to hide another giggle.
/Apparently, according to what Bakura says, that pharaoh has curled his way in a pot and doesn't know how to get out because he's too small./ Yami replied matter-of-factly.
"You are so a star-head!" Bakura yelled back. "And I would know! Stealing from the palace, minding my own business, thinking about life five thousand years ago, and suddenly, POOF, look! Haley's multicolored comet is shooting from the fern pot!"
"May I interrupt?" asked a misty distant voice.
Blinking, both Yami and Bakura swiveled their heads towards the voice. No other than the gangly, dragonfly form of Professor Trelawney stood before them, her hands clasped together and her wide eyes staring distantly on their board.
"Professor! Professor!" Parvati squealed. "The spirits say that Haley's comet is going to strike the Earth five thousand years hence, and strike a fern pot!"
"Intriguing!" Professor Trelawney exclaimed. "Ask more. Is this a sign from the celestial bodies? A message from the heavens? Why a fern pot? Does that specific fern have magical healing qualities? I must mention this to Professor Sprout!"
Yami and Bakura blinked, staring stupidly at Parvati, who was squealing in anticipation as the ouija board shifted towards the two.
/What. The. Hell./ Bakura thought.
/…/
Bakura blinked. There was something wrong with his hikari. /Ryou/
/Y-yes, Bakura-sama/
Bakura blinked again. /What's going on in there/
/Nothing, Bakura. Nothing at all./
"Please then," Professor Trelawney asked, sitting herself gracefully on a pink pouffe. They reminded Yami quick starkingly of the same ones in Umbridge's office, and he fought down to make a face. "Please, proceed. Elaborate upon your readings!" She waved her arms dramatically towards Bakura. "Tell, speak! Ask the spirits and bring forth the answer for all of us to hear!"
Both Yami and Bakura made a deadpanned look, each looking as though they were ready to sweatdrop. It was quite clear to both hikaris in their soulroom that the Egyptian spirits in the room longed to say something similar to, "A dragonfly witch needs to fly out the window." But thankfully, neither Yami nor Bakura said anything.
"Bakura, if you please?" Yami asked, smirking as he bowed courteously. "Please, do tell what the spirits in this room reply."
The thief merely shot Yami an irritated look, but sat down on his cushion anyways. Looking interested, many students flocked around them; a large majority of girls sat themselves a little too close for comfort around both Yami and Bakura.
Curious, Harry wiggled through the crowd, finally finding a good place to sit and watch. He knew Trelawney had a liking for Bakura, mostly because of his rather morbid and gory ends in his dream diaries and ominous predictions, and was curious to see what Bakura would come up with this time.
"What should I ask?" Bakura asked Trelawney coolly. The Professor arched her head back thoughtfully, beads and jewels clinking lightly from their ascend.
"Ask the spirits the future of Hogwarts," Trelawney finally whispered. Many awed girls looked at each other in adoration at Trelawney's ominous voice. Harry had to fight hard not to roll his eyes, though Ron somehow managed to change his laugh into a trademark hacking cough.
Bakura nodded. "Alright then." Taking a deep breath, he braced himself in front of the ouija board. Its narrow, pale plank shifted lightly, though it made no move to circle about the candles around it. "Spirits of the Divination Tower," Bakura called, his voice low and ominous, inwardly sending a chill up Harry's spine. Gee that boy did good sound affects. "Come forth and answer our questions. Spirits of the future, past and death, reveal yourself through the movement of the plank before me!"
Despite how Bakura originally had planned this to become a parody act, distinctly he felt indeed, and ominous presence surround them. It was nothing that he had ever felt before, and judging by the Pharoah's look from across the board, neither did he.
This ominous presence was not a spirit. At least, not a chained one, as Yami and Bakura were, existing by their bond by their items. No. This presence was dark, lurking, and deceptive, able to thicken a shroud of black about them, yet able to dissolve in a mist among the light.
Something was not right.
"Spirits within our presence," Bakura called, forcing his voice to steady. "Reveal yourself as who you are. Are you a spirit from the future, past, or present?"
Everyone stared in suspense as the pale plank finally began to rotate. Slowly it wound from its point on Bakura, shifting here in there. In one smoothing motion, it rotated slowly towards the copper alphabets that they had set up outside the candles.
P. A. S. T.
"So you are a spirit of the past," Bakura said softly. He chanced a glance at the pharaoh, but Yami was also staring at the board, his ruby eyes widening with suspicion and wariness. "Are you anything else?"
For a moment, the board hesitated, before it began to circulate again. It shifted among the choices of letters, as though pondering with a mind of its own. Finally, after some silent minutes, the board's narrowed end finally placed its answer.
D. A. R. K. N. E. S. S.
Bakura's eyes widened, but he forced himself to remain calm. Yami, from the other side of the board, looked even more wary and suspicious, his eyes narrowing to focus on the board. The Past…the Darkness…what was this spirit? Was it subconsciously one of them?
"What can you tell us about our future?" Bakura asked the board, his voice wavering slightly despite his attempts to hold it cold and still.
The board shifted again, this time almost in a mocking fashion.
.A. S. K.
A moment of silence, before it was broken by Bakura's low cold voice. "Alright then. What future lies in Hogwarts?"
For a second, the board did nothing, before it shifted across the panel of letters.
Everyone's eyes widened, and many gasped at the answer. Harry's eyes did so as well.
D. E. A. T. H.
Not a breath was exhaled, not a whisper was spoken. Among all the suspense and terror that filled the room, Harry distinctly remembered a familiar ouija board doing the exact same thing.
DEATH…
Bakura swallowed. Was Dark Sanctuary somehow in play? Was there Shadow magic among Hogwarts?
"Is there another magical presence among Hogwarts?" Bakura asked.
Again, the board shifted, almost mockingly once again.
Y. E. S.
"How many?"
This time, the board slowly turned about, leaving the circular panels of letters, and heading towards the circular panel of numbers. It went from one, to five, before it landed on…
3.
Three. Wizard Magic, Shadow Magic…what was the third?
Yami wasn't sure if he wished to know. What was this ominous presence he felt?
Bakura gritted his teeth, biting his lip almost nervously.
"Who…when will the victim die?" Bakura asked.
Almost excitedly, the ouija board spun about, almost blurring against the darkness of the room. Everyone held their breath, and even Ryou had reappeared from his soul room to watch over Yami Bakura's shoulder.
5. 0. 0. 0.
Bakura's eyes widened, and Yami sharply inhaled.
"Five…five thousand what?" Bakura whispered.
Minutes ticked by, but the ouija board did not move. During this time, each student held their breath, looking nervously at the board.
"Who are you?" Bakura finally asked.
For a crucial minute, the board did not move. Finally, It swept about, slowly, almost calculatingly, like a predator about to pounce. And who knew what the new prey would be…
After tense minutes of shifted slowly, it finally landed on…
Bakura.
Infinite number of gasps echoed about the room. Some of the candles flickered in the windless atmosphere of the room, and the roaring fire suddenly died.
But the board was not done.
It spun back around, smoothly, not hinting a stop any time soon. After more minutes in utter darkness, only broken by oily nubs of light from the candles, the board finally found a new destination.
It landed on Yami.
More gasps were heard, and a muddled crowd of whispers broke out. What was going on? Why was it choosing more?
But the ouija board did not stop.
After about fifteen more rotations, it finally stopped, resting in the direction of a boy with green eyes, messy black hair, and a lightning bold scar.
"What?" Harry breathed, his eyes wide and his voice weak.
The next moment, a ripple occurred when everyone took a step back from the ouija board. The students were now standing a good foot away from each of the sitting occupants, Harry included.
No. It was not possible. How could he be…a darkness…or anything at all?
Hands trembling, Bakura redirected his gaze towards the board again.
"You said you are a Darkness," Bakura whispered, staring in a dead way towards the board. "Where do you reside?"
The board slid about, and once again, rested on three occupants.
Bakura.
Yami.
Harry.
Instantly, Harry felt his scar burn, tearing across his forehead in attempt to split his head open in white-hot pain. Before he knew it, he heard screams, and shouts of terror, before two blinding flashes of golden light massacred his eyes.
Without warning, each of the Millennium Items shone in the darkness, sending white-hot pain shooting through each of its holders. Two voices echoed in screaming at the unexpected pain, writhing in agony as the Items fought ferociously to bellow the blinding flash of light to the world.
/Yami/ each hikari cried. /Yami/
More endless screams of pain, followed by the roaring of the suddenly revived fire. Candles flickered and drapes blew in an unseen wind, for no windows were open in the tower. The glass and wooden panes rattled menacingly, the wind howling in the ears of the occupants in an airless tower.
Suddenly, without another warning, the wind died, and the drapes fell back, tattered and ruined. The fire flickered, before dying once more. Candles laid strewn on the floor, weakly blinking in the darkness. The board shifted back and forth almost triumphantly, as each glow dissipated back into the Items, and into Harry's scar.
Instantly, both yamis slumped forward, unconscious. Fighting hard against the throbbing headache and increasing darkness, Harry weakly opened his eyes as he slumped forwards. Numbly, he felt Ron shake his shoulders in worry, as he watched the two foreigners regain conciousness.
His yami was not awake to finish the job, so Ryou was left with it. Shaking considerably, he gently placed his fingers upon the wooden plank, and stared up towards the heavens.
"S-Spirit…" he whispered, his voice wavering and cracking. "What future awaits us three, the ones you have previously chosen?"
Almost seemingly smirking with malice, the board shifted again, this time taking its time more so than with any other question. As he watched, Ryou held his breath, ready to faint as soon as the board granted an answer. Yugi sat on the other side, staring fearfully at the board with its smooth, casual rotation, almost backing away in fear.
"What future awaits us, Spirit of the Past and Darkness?" Ryou asked, his voice trembling.
What future awaits us, the two present Millennium Item holders and one?
The ouija board had its answer, and Ryou fainted.
D. E. A. T. H.