Week 2
Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was doing his best not to grin like a Cheshire cat. Okay so it wasn't as good as being back in Hogwarts, but after an impatient day of waiting Harry finally had time to actually read his letters, which he was doing by torchlight while hiding under his duvet.
Hi Harry, New York is fun, Tea was great on stage, Pegasus was weird, and the gang says hi. I'll let you know who wins the tournament. Joey
It was his first ever postcard, and had a photo of the Statue of Liberty on it.
He opened the other letters quickly as he could; checking the names as he did so. Ron, by owl post, Ombre by air mail, Yugi, again by air mail, Hermione, Mokuba by MMM, Ginny…? Also by MMM.
What was MMM? And how did Ginny Weasley of all people manage to get mail sent to him the muggle way? Most of her family seemed hopelessly lost when it came to muggle ways.
He hesitated over which to read first, but curiosity won out, what would Ginny say to him? It wasn't like they had talked much.
Dear Harry, I know we don't really talk but you sounded like you would welcome a letter from anyone, so I'm writing and hoping you'll reply. I don't really know what you're interested in besides Quidditch, but everyone's very excited about the world cup this year…
He read on as Ginny went into details about the teams, and the qualifying matches for a couple of pages. She hadn't seen the matches; apparently the Wizarding world didn't have the equivalent of a television, instead having listened to the commentary over the wireless.
Harry stared at the letter for a while after putting it down. He still didn't know why Ginny had written to him, unless it was because of her crush, but the letter didn't sound like what he imagined a lovesick teenager would sound like. Instead she sounded like a strange cross between all his female friends with a bit of Ron's passion for Quidditch thrown in.
Leaving Ginny's letter for a moment he picked up Hermione's, wondering if her letter would be the normal discussion on what books she had read, how much homework she had gotten done, and where she and her parents were going on holiday.
He picked up the letter and three stamp books fell out.
Dear Harry, You'll never guess what! I have an interview with a summer internship program, its tomorrow (he checked the date on the letter and saw the interview must have been yesterday) so hopefully I'll hear from them by next week.
Down the bottom there was an explanation for the stamps, she figured he wouldn't know what was needed for whom so on each book there was a note for where the stamp would go. England had very plain stamps, just red and white with the queen's head on them. America's were bigger and seemed to have pictures of Big Ben, while Japan's were of the Thames.
He scanned the letter again but she provided no more details other than it being an amazing opportunity. He would have thought she had had enough work to last her a life time after the year she had been through, but not Hermione. She was already a good way into her summer assignments, and her reading list. He read the letter more carefully his third time through, and caught a vibe he wasn't expecting. She was lonely? No, that couldn't be right. He was the lonely one; he was probably just reading into her letter too much.
He wondered which letter to read next, and decided since he had read the most confusing two first he might as read the next one too. Why weren't girls simple?
He picked up Ombre's letter and this time he knew he wasn't imagining it, Ombre was desperately lonely.
Dear Harry,
Japan is weird without the gang around. Kari's off working, I think she's trying to make up the past nine months in just a few weeks. The Kaiba brothers have been busy, they opening their new theme park tomorrow, I think I'll go. Yugi's grandpa has been ever so nice; I've been helping out in his shop since the student who was working there has gone home for the summer.
Missing everyone,
Ombre
It wasn't a long letter, and postal was expensive overseas. It couldn't have been any nicer for Ombre to be stuck all on her own than it was for him, it might have actually been worse if you considered the fact Ombre would have expected Kari to be around at least some of the time. He was used to being alone, not as much as he used to, but still being alone when before you had always been surrounded by people you knew?
He would write back to Ombre first… after reading the other's letters.
Yugi felt confused. Not about the duelling, he was completely in his element in a duel… but through the whole tournament he had felt like he was missing something, like somehow everyone knew something about him that he didn't.
Finally he asked Tea, thinking she of all their friends would know. He bribed her with ice cream while Yami, equally curious, challenged Joey and Tristan at an arcade game.
"So what's the big secret?" Yugi asked at last, the silence between them no longer felt natural, instead of the silence of friends it had become the silence of 'I can't remember how to talk to you.'
"Secret?" Tea asked, "Which one?" As casually as possible, but Yugi didn't buy it, he had known her for far too long.
"The one everyone but me and Yami seem to be in on, every one I've duelled has been hinting at something… but I don't have a clue what!" The last bit came out stressed, and Yugi took a breath, he hadn't realised it was getting to him so badly.
"Well… it's about how Yami just showed up two years ago after you had been missing for ten months, no one knew what to think, what with you claiming he was your brother, but no one had ever heard of Yami Muto, and then he just beats you like that," She snapped her fingers, "Playing with your deck, and well…"
"And we never explained it… so they came up their own story?"
"No, actually Pegasus did. He said as soon as you graduated high school you went searching for your missing parents, but instead of finding them, you found Yami. Only now everyone knows your parents are missing."
"Which explains the impostors that turned up last year, but what exactly did Pegasus say?"
"That before your parents went missing they were going to take both you and Yami to Egypt with them, but you got sick and couldn't go on the plane, so they left you with your Grandpa, expecting you and your Grandpa to follow as soon as you were better, but when you two got to Egypt your parents were missing and no one knew what had happened to Yami. Your Grandpa couldn't afford to stay in Egypt for long so he never managed a proper search for Yami or your parents otherwise he would have found Yami after while. He also said you probably gave your deck to Yami as it was the family deck, and you would have wanted to make him feel like family after so long apart." The rush of words slowed, and Tea became silent again while Yugi processed.
"Pegasus?"
"Yes, Pegasus."
"Okay, I don't get why this guy is being so helpful to me all of a sudden."
"Maybe he's trying to make up for past sins?"
Hermione had been waiting for nine minutes and twenty three seconds when her name was called. She resisted the urge to straighten her skirt when she stood up. Her parents had insisted she get a new dress suit for the interview, but instead of the image she wanted, she looked like a child dressing up in her mother's clothes.
Her interviewer on the other hand… Mrs Redclath was dressed in a dove grey suit, the only colour a pale pink blouse that looked far more professional than the students she was interviewing. Her blondish hair was curled and held in place with either a charm or a lot of hair spray. Hermione had to remind herself that if Kari could get through an interview with Kaiba then surely she could handle a practice interview.
It wasn't like she expected to get the place. She had only completed her third year; the other students all seemed much older than her.
"So Miss Granger, I see from your record that your schoolwork is exemplary. Do you take part in any extra curriculum activities?"
"If truth be told Mrs Redclath, normally I just cheer on my friends from the sidelines."
"Your friends are sportier than you?"
Hermione smiled, "Not really ma'am, Ron is in the chess club, Harry is the sportiest since he plays Quidditch, but I think he just likes to fly, and my other friends are into Duel Monsters so organised a mini-tournament."
"Is that why you applied for a job with us Miss Granger? Because from your file I can't see any reason why you would want to join us."
"To be honest I'm not good at games, but I've watched my friends play Duel Monsters for three years, I just wondered what was behind the game. I'm good at organising, so I know I can do this job, but if you're looking for someone who understands games… that isn't me."
Mrs Redclath tapped her biro against her clipboard for a moment, then asked, "So what do you know about Industrial Illusions?"
"Well…" Hermione began.
A series of shots rang out, and suddenly Yami was the last one left standing while Tristan's character faded in a reddish glow. Joey growled, his character had been the first out, about twenty minutes into the game, how Yami had avoided being shot he would never know, Tristan had last another five minutes after Joey had gone down, but now it was Yami against the game, and while Yami still held the title of King of Games, he had yet to defeat this one by himself.
So far the only time he had won was when Yugi had played beside him, but that didn't dissuade the Pharaoh from trying again on his own.
Then the screen went red.
"Not again." He groaned. He had been caught in the same place three times, only when he had a partner, be it Joey, Tristan or Yugi, had he seen past this point. The game was designed for coop play, and unless you had two players the pair of twin snipers always managed to take him and anyone else out.
He had tried different strategies each time, but while he could now take out one of the snipers before they got him, there was no way for a single person to reach the second before being shot down, at least not one he had found yet.
"Bad luck Yami, maybe next time?" Joey said, grabbing him around the shoulders, "Now how about a real game?" He asked, Yami grinned slightly, while Joey would only occasionally manhandle him or Yugi while in school he was being a lot more physical with Tristan around.
"Oh man, what would you call a real game?" Tristan groaned, knowing full well that while his preference was shooting games Joey tended to go for the fighting games.
"My turn to pick anyway." Yami put in, looking with interest at the newest addition to the arcade, and Kaiba Corp virtual reality game. It came with headsets, gloves and strange looking controller that seemed a cross between a sword, a gun and a guitar.
"Alright Yami! Let's prove Kaiba's tech isn't up to snuff!"
They had tried the game once before, for about all of ten minutes before their lives ran out, and then realised they were out of chips, by the time they had returned the game had been taken, and every day since for the past week.
This time they would not go out after just ten minutes.
"Welcome duellists." Kaiba began, looking out over the crowd. There were over three hundred people here, not all of them duellists, but most. He had thought about making the tournament invitation only, until he realised Yugi and Yami would not be competing, at least not here.
Anyway it would be more profitable for the park in the long run. Brilliant duellists tended to globe trot a lot, going from tournament to tournament, trying to find a good match, or trying to prove they were the best. Most of the duellists here today were local, hoping to prove themselves.
It would be a good way of picking out local talent, and for that talent to gain more confidence, something that had been lacking when he and Yugi, Yami, Joey, Kari and others had been playing. They were some of the best duellists in the world, and when they played a tournament few others had a chance at a top spot, and he never got to see how far the local talent could progress.
He continued his speech, and wondered if he had ever seemed that young. He glanced back at Mokuba and motioned him forward to explain the rules, and realised even Mokuba looked older than most of the crowd.
A flash of gold brown catch his eye, 'Ironhide?' but as he continued watching out the corner of his eye he realised it was Ombre, not Kari. No, Kari was back at Kaiba Corp fixing the latest bug that had come up in the re-imaging of the newest cards. Luckily those cards weren't on the market yet, but it was only eight days until they were, and Industrial Illusions wouldn't set back the issue date, and Kaiba Corp had to have an up-grade of the duel disc ready to download before they did.
There was a loud cheer from the crowd, and Mokuba bowed. Thankfully it was over and he could get back to the real work of running his business before having to reward the winner in five days.
"Well done Mokuba." Kaiba nodded as they left the stage.
"You too, big brother."
Three letters left and an hour before midnight Harry was still writing letters. Ron had been easy, his letter just spoke of flying and food, but again Harry got the strange vibe his friend was lonely. The letter wasn't long, there was nothing of importance in it… it was strange. Hermione had at least pretended to be keeping busy. Then again Ombre hadn't even tried. Ron's letter had left with Hedwig just a little while ago. He considered sending Ginny's with Ron's… but he wanted time to plan that one.
Mokuba's letter had been strange, much like Ginny's in some ways. While Ginny talked of Quidditch, Mokuba talked of Kaibaland and the upcoming tournaments. They were writing for his sake rather than theirs, and it made him feel… funny. Finally he learnt what MMM meant, Muggle to Magic Mail, or in Mokuba's place magic to muggle to magic to muggle mail. Apparently it was less likely to get lost, how Harry couldn't say since surely changing hands four times meant it was more likely to get lost…didn't it?
He told Ginny he wished he could hear the matches, and he thought that while the German and English teams looked impressive they didn't seem much like team players, at least the Irish pretended to like each other. He told Mokuba that he hoped Seto wasn't pushing him too hard, and asked if he thought any of the Duellists could match their mutual friends. He wondered if he should add a postscript 'check on Ombre.' But decided not to, instead adding to Hermione's letter that he thought Ombre might be feeling lonely if Kari was working all the time.
Yugi's letter was by far the easiest to answer. His letter was sent not because of loneliness or a general feeling of pity but because he was so overfilled with joy that he had to share it. He rambled about Tea and Tristan, the game arcade, Tea's academy, her show, the upcoming tournament, Yami's failure to understand fast food, Joey's brashness, Tristan's skilful playing of Joey, Tea's skilful fun making of all four of them, and the multitude of photos they were coming back with.
Joey's reply he just added to Yugi's, then added Yami's as well. Not that Yami had sent him a letter… but it seemed wrong to send something to Yugi and Joey, and to ignore Yami altogether.
By then it was midnight, and Harry fell to sleep satisfied, Hedwig wasn't back yet, but she would be by tomorrow night.
Tea was a bit surprised to find the letter. Well she knew Yugi had sent a letter, but most of their friends used email or the phone so when a letter arrived addressed to Y. Muto, Y. Muto and J. Wheeler care of T. Gardiner she picked it up rather carefully. It was the last day of the tournament and she didn't recognise the spiky handwriting.
Beneath the letter was a small brown envelope, that seemed rather chunky for its small size, it was addressed to her. She opened it and pulled out the bubbled-wrapped item. Then she gasped.
It was a necklace, and the pendant was four hands held together by a smiley face.
She smiled, remembering the first tournament she had watched, the first final Yugi had won, and the shadow game against Pegasus. Their friendship had held together throughout the years and the dangers and the infrequent letters.
Today both Yugi and Joey were in the semi-finals, and in the afternoon there would be the finals and finally Yami would get to duel.
She knew one of the competitors, Rebecca Hawkins, duelling against Joey. Neither had duelled before and had vastly different strategies, but while most duellists would underestimate Rebecca due to her young age and appearance, that wasn't going to be a mistake Joey made, at least not this time. It was a flip up who would win, although Tea would support Joey all the way.
The boy going against Yugi, a Stuart Hemlock, duelled a lot like Weevil, using his plant like monsters to poison and weaken his opponent, but unlike Weevil, Hemlock played an honourable game and was rather closed mouthed. He had finished third at the last tournament he played, being knocked out the semi-finals by Rebecca last year.
She met the boys at the tournament, having taken the bus down. The crowd was massive after everyone had heard Yugi Muto was playing in the semi-finals.
"Tea!" She heard Yugi shout when she got off her bus and she dashed through the crowds towards Yugi.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your match?" She asked. Yugi was standing on his own near the entrance to the park. That was the weird thing about Yugi, no one ever really saw him. Most of these people were here to see his match, but they didn't see him standing by the entrance.
He shrugged, "Joey's off getting breakfast with Yami and Tristan, I didn't feel like eating much."
Tea shook her head, "Didn't you lot get breakfast at your hotel?"
Yugi grinned, "Yeah but you know what Joey's like, and anyway I wanted to make sure we would find you today." Tea almost blushed; yesterday the entire group had gotten split up but they hadn't found her until the end when she finally reached Yugi's match. It had been a silly thing, she had gotten glomped by one of her dancer friends and by the time Tea realised her friends wasn't there anymore she had no idea where they would be, until Yugi's duel, which was pretty well advertised.
"Oh, before I forgot, a letter came for you." Tea dug the envelope out of her bag.
"Excellent! I was starting to think Harry wouldn't reply in time for us to get his letter."
"Hey, we still have five days left in New York you know."
"Yeah… but then I remembered he didn't have any stamps and it's a bit too far for Hedwig to go." Yugi slipped open the letter with practiced ease and started to read.
"Yugi… what about your duel?" Tea asked, wondering if the world had turned upside down when she wasn't looking. Yugi having to be reminded about a duel… she thought that would never happen.
"Oh… right, I've just been worried about Harry, his relatives… well…" Tea heard the unspoken message, it was the reason she so seldom talked of her parents; it brought up too many bad memories for her friends. She was pretty lucky, her parents might protest her dream but at least she could still talk to them.
"I'll take the letter and start writing back, you focus on your duel, okay Yugi?" She said snatching the letter out of his hands. Yugi smiled slightly, easing the worried look.
"Alright Tea, it's time to duel."
Ombre handed the box to Mr Muto and slowly climbed down from the step ladder. "Thanks my dear, I'm just not up to getting stuff down off the top selves."
Ombre smiled, "It's okay, glad to be useful." It was early enough that the shop had yet to open, but both Ombre and Solomon were early risers so when Solomon had asked if she would come in early to help out with reorganising the shop she had jumped at the chance.
The tournament would continue today, but her duel wasn't until late morning so she had plenty of time on her hands. Part of her thought she should be watching the competition, but since Yugi's grandfather was an ardent supporter of Duel Monsters he had placed a television showing the tournament up in the shop. As was his tradition the shop would only close for him to watch the semi finals and finals of the tournament. Very few fans of the game would be around at those times and so there was little point of keeping the shop open.
"No really Ombre, you've been a big help the past week. I couldn't have handled it on my own. I think I'm getting a bit old for it now."
The words chilled Ombre, she knew how much Yugi depended on his grandfather, how much all the gang depended on him. "Don't say that…" But memories were flooding in, she knew people in these times lived much longer than in her time but still, she remembered too many deaths when the person was just worn out from age and sickness, how old was Muto Solomon?
"Oh don't you worry; I'll be around for a while yet, plenty of life left in this old gambler."
Ombre nodded, and he continued, "I'm just thinking I need to get someone in full time to help with the shop, it's not fair on you kids to be helping out an old man every summer."
"But I enjoy working here, and I know Joey and Yami do too, and I can't imagine Yugi letting go of this place unless you removed him with a crowbar."
Solomon laughed, "You might be right about that, but still you kids are away getting an education, and I need a lot more help than I used to, Duel Monsters just keeps on growing."
Yugi and Tea arrived in plenty of time for Yugi's match, but Joey, Tristan and Yami were nowhere to be seen.
"Joey's probably got them lost again." Tea sighed, although lost didn't exactly cover it, Joey was just easily distracted and while they had yet to get into any real trouble this tournament, it could be anything from an impromptu duel, an insult from an old enemy, or a hamburger stand.
"They'll be here Tea, don't worry about them." But Yugi's eyes sought out the clock, fourteen minutes before his duel was due to begin.
"So, what should I tell Harry?" Tea asked, seeking to distract him, Yugi always worried, and yet always had complete confidence that they would be okay, the two concepts seemed polar opposites, but it was part of what made Yugi, Yugi.
Yugi shrugged, "Anything and everything. He's in on all the major secrets, and I bet he's bored stiff at his aunt's house."
"You've told him everything?" Tea asked, and Yugi nodded.
"We've lived in the same dormitory for three years now, and we've been friends most of that time. It's practically impossible to keep secrets from him, not that we didn't try, but Harry pays too much attention, and he's…" Yugi shook his head, "I was about to say he's Harry Potter, but that wouldn't mean anything to you."
"So not so much a matter of trust just that he worked everything out." Tea replied, sounding frosty.
"I trust Harry, Yami does too." Yugi added, realising his trust in Harry may not be enough, "He's a really good friend in a bad situation, but he's a good guy Tea."
"Okay Yugi, but I want to meet him someday, alright?"
"Yeap and I think I had better take my place." Yugi replied, looking to the gawky teenager who he would be duelling next who had just come into view.
Tea hugged herself, feeling suddenly cold. "Where are you guys?" She asked, her hand gripping her new necklace. It slowly warmed in her hand, and she turned as she heard some sort of commotion behind her.
Joey's voice was raised in anger, and Tea stepped towards them, to see Yami stalking forward and looking exasperated at Joey. Tristan on the other hand just looked amused.
"What happened? Yugi's duel is about to start."
"Rex Raptor." Yami said shortly, as if that explained everything, and it did, but that didn't stop Tea.
"What were you thinking getting in a duel with that idiot just before Yugi's duel was about to start?"
Tristan shook his head, "No Tea, Rex was acting weird even for him. Joey had to, or Rex would have…" He trailed off.
"He had a gun Tea." Yami said, "But the police have him in custody now."
"Can't we just have one normal tournament?" Tea asked, her eyes turning skyward.
"We did Tea, last year." Joey joked. "Anyway, this tournament has been fairly normal so far, apart from Rex there haven't been any threats on our lives, none on our souls, no shadow games, no being stuck in a virtual reality, no freaky magic. We might be lucky."
"Mr Hemlock to move first, ready Duellists?" The announcer shouted over the murmuring from the crowd causing Yugi's friends to settle and the crowd to go quiet.
"Let's duel!" Both Yugi and Stuart shouted.
The holographic projectors activated and the crowd roared.
Yugi smiled slightly as he drew his first hand. He'd heard of Stuart Hemlock. The Duellist played an Insect Deck, not unlike Weevil, but, unlike Weevil, who had been banned from this tournament for cheating, he was said to play an honourable duel.
"It's about time I got to face a real challenge." Hemlock laughed, though Yugi could tell it was exhilaration, the same as ran though all great Duellists when faced with a challenge, "I play two cards face down and a card in face down defence mode. It's your move, Yugi."
"I've heard of you before and I've been waiting to face you in a duel since I got here." Yugi admitted, "It's nice to finally play a Insect Duellist who doesn't cheat, one card face down, and one card in face down Defence Mode. End turn."
Stuart drew, studied the field for a second, and then nodded, "I sacrifice my Basic Insect…" The face down defence mode card vanished, "For my Rainbow Moth!"
A huge, rainbow winged moth appeared on the field, a square with it's attack and defence appearing for a few seconds before vanishing, telling those who didn't know what the stats for it were, 2100/1300, "And it attacks your face down card!"
The monster appeared and Yami frowned, he'd never seen that card before. A marshmallow looking thing just sat there as the winds from the moth's wings attempted to blast it.
"What?" Stuart yelped as his life points dropped by 1000.
"You attacked my Marshmallon." Yugi explained, "It can't be destroyed in battle and if it's attacked, the attacker loses 1000 life points."
"Well played." Hemlock conceded, "I haven't seen that card before. Your turn."
Yugi smiled back and drew, "I play another card face down and summon my Obnoxious Celtic Guard in attack mode, and I end my turn."
"Does this one have an effect too?" Stuart asked.
"He can't be destroyed by anything with over nineteen hundred attack points."
"But the damage is lost just the same, right?" Stuart grinned, "Rainbow Moth, attack!"
"I activate Marshmallon Glasses!" Yugi called, activating them.
A huge pair of glasses appeared on his moth, and the attack veered towards Marshmallon.
"What?" Stuart was beginning to feel like that was becoming his catchphrase for the Duel.
His life points dropped again, taking him down to 2000.
"Marshmallon Glasses means that your Moth can only attack my Marshmallon." Yugi explained.
Stuart rolled his eyes, off course someone like Yugi would have a strategy to work with a monster like Marshmallon. "I end my turn."
"I sacrifice my Guardian to summon my Dark Magician Girl!" Yugi called, "And play Sage's Stone!" A red costumed Dark Magician Girl, 2000/1500, and a dark blue, rather then purple, robed Dark Magician, 2500/2100, appeared on the field, grinning at each other, before nodding to Yugi and glaring at the moth. It was a strategy he'd gotten from Kari, and he'd managed to lay his hands on a new pair of Magicians in a pair of Wizard Duel Monsters Booster Packs he'd gotten in Hogsmead on their last trip there, though he'd had to work very hard to convince Kari that no he didn't want to trade them, and yes, he was certain, and no there was absolutely nothing she had that he wanted enough to trade with her.
"I activate my magic card, Dark Magic Attack, allowing my Dark Magician to destroy all your face down cards."
Stuart growled as they were blown away.
"Dark Magician attacks your moth."
It exploded and Stuart's points dropped to 1600.
"It's your move."
"The rumours I heard weren't wrong, Yugi." Stuart said with a frown of the concentration as he looked at Yugi, then at his hand, "You are an excellent Duellist. I play Monster Reborn to bring back my Moth, and play Nature Power to increase its attack power by 500, more then enough to blast your Dark Magician."
The Marshmallon Glasses were gone; blow away with the monster the first time, so the Moth's attack blew the Dark Magician away.
The Dark Magician Girl looked furious as Yugi's points dropped to 3900.
"And I know the Dark Magician Girl gets an extra 300 points because I sent her Master to the Graveyard," Master and friend, Yugi thought, "But she's still no match for my Moth. I summon Butterfly Swarm (1600/1200) in attack mode and end my turn. Your move."
Yugi drew and looked at the field, smiling slightly.
Stuart recoiled, he'd heard of that look, seen it on TV many times, but it didn't get any less worrying when it was on the face of his opponent.
"I play Equivalent Exchange." Yugi called, "Which allows me to destroy one monster that has the same number of stars as the one I offer." I'm sorry Mana, "I sacrifice my Dark Magician Girl to destroy your Rainbow Moth."
Both the red Dark Magician Girl and the Moth disappeared in a flash of light.
"I play one card face down and end my turn."
Stuart frowned as he drew. If he could get past Marshmallon, he could attack Yugi directly, but no matter how strong his monsters were, that stupid marshmallow couldn't be destroyed.
"I place a card face down on the field and I have to end my turn."
Yugi drew, "I use a Ritual Card called Heart of Light, offering my Marshmallon and this card, Beast of Gilford, to summon forth a new Monster, one not even my brother has seen yet."
Stuart was intrigued and worried.
The ritual finished and a rather large, white bird, with glowing wings appeared.
"Meet the White Phoenix." Yugi said with a grin, "With 3000 attack and 2500 defence points, it's in the same league as the Blue Eyes White Dragon."
Stuart was sure, with a name like White Phoenix, that it had an effect too.
"White Phoenix, burn his swarm!"
The Butterflies vanished in a blaze of white fire, and Stuart's points dropped to 200.
"It's your move."
Stuart read the field quickly, and then drew. His face down card would have boosted his moth, and his only monster in his hand wouldn't last five minutes against Yugi's Phoenix.
Yugi was stunned as Stuart's hand went over his deck. "Stuart?"
"I concede Yugi, I can't beat your Phoenix and you'll beat me on the next turn."
The crowd roared as Yugi was announced the victor, and Yugi jumped. He'd been so caught up in the duel that he'd forgotten the crowd was there.
His Phoenix vanished and Yugi went back over to his friends.
Finals here he came.
Kari's eyes itched. She had been staring five lines of code for thirty minutes and still couldn't see where the error was. It was here, she knew it was in these five lines, she just couldn't see the error, the missing letter, or extra, or displacement. She leaned back, and pushed her rolling chair away from her desk, sending it spinning gently before she lifted herself out of it with a groan.
"I need a coffee Jack, want anything?" She asked the sole technician remaining. Jack worked the late shift, not that Kaiba could complain, when Kari was there she was there from 6am to 11pm most days, her staff worked in shifts to accommodate their boss. Jack worked the late, Kat worked the early but only 4 hours a day, and the other two techs varied in a complex system that only they seemed to understand but seemed to involved how many errors they solved, how many dates they had in a month, and how many times Kari ordered pizza.
Jack looked up, "A new pair of eyes wouldn't go amiss, but failing that a coffee's good."
Kari smiled, "I doubt I could find another pair of square eyeballs for you sockets, Captain." She saluted and wandered off to find the canteen, or failing that a vending machine.
Then it hit her. "There's not an error within the code, the lines are in the wrong place!" She rushed back into the office, slamming into her desk and dragged the last line of code between the first and second line. "Now play that you evil, evil thing!" She grinned her most menacing grin at her computer.
"By the way, Harry sent a letter." Tea dropped in the conversation.
It was enough to shut Joey up.
"Really? That's unexpected, how did he know to send it to you?" Yami asked.
"I'm guessing Yugi said in his letter. Yuge wants to send a reply by the end of the day."
"While we're rushing round like headless chickens, dodging fans, avoiding crowds, and duelling?"
"I'm writing, since all I'm doing today is avoiding the crowds." Tea said, winking at Joey.
"Joey, your duel is about to start…" Yugi warned him.
Joey growled, "Okay, but I want a chance to say something."
"Well we can't send it until we know the results of all the duels, wouldn't be fair." Tea said reasonably.
Joey marched away, and Rebecca waved from her platform.
"So who has the letter?" Yami asked.
"Joey's duel is about to start!" Tea exclaimed. Yami and Yugi shared a look.
"But…" Yami tried to think of a reasonable response other than 'its Harry.' "Joey would understand."
"Would Rebecca?"
"Probably." Yugi said, turning to their young friend on the field. "Hey Rebecca!" He shouted, "Harry sent us a letter; want to add your reply to ours after the duel?"
Rebecca grinned, "Oh course I will, I've been trying to get his address off of Mokuba for weeks now."
"See? No prob." Yami said, seizing the letter from Tea's unresisting hands.
Tea glared at him, then shook her head slightly. "You're as bad as Yugi." She declared.
"Miss Hawkins to go first, ready Duellists?"
"Duel!" Joey and Rebecca had already drawn their opening hands and were staring at each other. The crowd's roar made Joey smile slightly, "Hey Rebecca, I hope you realise that I'm not going to go easy on you."
"I know, and I hope you know that I'm going to be the one duelling Yugi next." Rebecca replied as she drew, "I play one card in defence mode and one card face down; it's your turn Joey!"
"I summon Red Eyes Black Chick, in attack mode and play three cards face down, your move Becs." Joey looked confident.
Rebecca wasn't stupid, she knew how Joey played, that was an obvious ploy to get her to walk into a trap, one the other hand, if it wasn't a trap and she didn't attack, Joey would be able to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon in the next turn… if he had it…
"I summon Masked Dragon, in attack mode and flip up my Raging Flame Sprite. Raging Flame Sprite, attack him directly!"
"Huh?" Joey was confused for all of two seconds before the flames that shot from the sprite and hit him.
His life points went down by 100 and the monster got 1000 points stronger.
"Becs, how did that monster…?"
"It can attack your life points directly and gets an extra 1000 attack points every time it does."
"Ah."
"Now, Masked Dragon, attack his Chick!"
"Activate Gambler's Debt!" Joey yelled.
Masked Dragon disappeared from the field.
"What did you…?"
"Gambler's Debt allows me to remove one monster from your side of the field as long as I discard one card from my hand." Joey grinned.
It had been a trap, damn, "I end my turn!" Rebecca growled.
"I sacrifice my Chick, to summon its fully grown version!" Joey called, "Come to me, Red Eyes Black Dragon!"
Joey's most faithful card, the one that he had won from Rex Raptor, the one that had saved him in so many Duels that he'd lost count, arrived on the field with a roar and a beat of his wings. Tobias.
"Red Eyes! Attack her Sprite!"
Red Eyes blasted Rebecca's sprite, hitting her life points for 1300, lowering them to 2700.
"I play a card face down and end my turn."
"You're not going to win!" Rebecca growled, "I special summon Inferno, in defence mode, by removing the Raging Flame Sprite you sent to the Graveyard from play, and set one monster card face down in defence mode." She glared, "End turn!"
Joey looked at his hand and grinned, "I summon Flame Swordsman!"
Becs didn't look worried.
"And activate Salamandra, increasing his attack by 700!"
Now Rebecca looked worried.
"Red Eyes! Attack her face down card!"
"I discard two cards to activate my Fire Sorcerer's effect, taking 800 life points before she's destroyed!"
Joey winced but didn't worry too much as his points dropped to 3100.
"Flame Swordsman! Attack Inferno!"
"Activate Firewall!" Rebecca yelled.
Her Inferno's defence points increased by 600, causing Flame Swordsman's attack to bounce off.
"Damn, sweet move Becs." Joey said as Inferno's defence points went back down, "I end my turn."
"Thank you." Rebecca grinned, "I play another card in defence mode and end my turn!"
"You feeling alright Rebecca?" Joey asked with concern as he drew, "You're not playing your best." Joey scowled, "I swear if you're letting me win, I'm not going to be happy."
"I'd never let anyone win." Becs growled, "Just make your move."
"I only asked." Joey shrugged, "I play Dragonheart String, which gives Red Eyes an effect called Trample as long as he's the only dragon on the field. I also summon Gearfried the Iron Knight."
"Trample?"
"The difference between your defence and Red Eyes' attack is taken from your life points." Joey explained.
"Oh."
"Red Eyes attacks your face down card!"
"It's another Fire Sorcerer, meaning…"
"Not again!" Joey complained as Rebecca discarded two cards and Joey lost 800 life points.
However hers went down to 1800.
"And Flame Swordsman attacks Inferno."
The fire creature exploded, leaving her defenceless.
"Gearfried! Attack!"
Rebecca's life points fell to zero.
"Well played Joey." Rebecca sighed.
Joey just frowned for a moment, before shrugging, "Better luck next time, Becs."
She chased him back to the group of friends.
Calm. Peaceful. Centred.
Robyn took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
It was Ireland against Korea in the Quidditch world cup, and a moment ago she had almost seen the end.
The game was only just starting. There was no way she wanted to see how this would end before it actually ended. That was the only trouble with getting excited over Quidditch, when ever she got too excited her vision would skip to the end, it had ruined more than a few games for her before she learnt to control it.
Excited or scared, both had filled the last few weeks, and as a result her visions had been coming more frequently, now twice a week instead of once every couple of months, but she had yet to decide anything.
There was something wrong, something that was going wrong or had gone wrong… but there was nothing she could do about it, otherwise her visions should have warned her by now and nearly all her visions centred on the World Cup (much to her annoyance) and Hogwarts, so there was nothing she could do until September.
Lunch had been fun, after Joey's and Rebecca's duel Rebecca had glomped Yugi, then stolen the letter from Yami, laughing as Joey chased her, only stopping when Tristan reminded them that they were meant to be meeting Duke for Lunch.
Joey grumbled but Rebecca got to add to the letter first, hogging it throughout lunch, and then handing it over to Duke when she was done, poking her tongue out at Joey.
Joey muttered under his breath about bratty duellists who were too smart for their own good.
When Duke finished adding to the letter he handed it over to Tristan, and ignoring Joey's glare asked, "Don't you two have a duel to get to?"
Rebecca's grandfather joined them in the stands; the Professor had left in a hurry at the end of her duel, trusting the gang to look out for her.
Rebecca then insisted her grandfather add to the letter, and Tea started to wonder if the young genius would start asking random people in the crowd to add a few words.
No matter what happened today, it was going to be an interesting letter.
"Mr Wheeler to move first, ready Duellists?"
"I'm not stupid enough to go easy on you, Yuge."
"I wouldn't expect you to and I'm not going to go easy on you either." Yugi grinned.
"Duellists?" The announcer asked again.
"Duel!"
"Alright Yuge, the winner gets to play Yami, and I want to beat him this time!" Joey said with a grin. "One card face down and one in defence mode. Your move."
"You have to get through me first!" Yugi grinned back, "I play a card in face down defence mode, and two cards face down. End Turn!"
Joey wasn't stupid; at least one of those cards had to be a trap. "A card face down in defence mode, and another face down."
Yugi laughed, "Playing defensively Joey?" He asked, "That's not like you."
"Just make your move!" Joey growled at him.
Yugi smiled and sacrificed his face down card, "I sacrifice my face down to summon my Lesser Fiend."
A four armed beast appeared on the field, flexing its muscles, it wasn't one Joey would have thought Yugi would use…
"I got this one from Harry, who wanted my Gold Winged Wolf," Yugi grinned, "Lesser Fiend! Attack his face down card!"
Joey's Red Eyes Black Chick exploded.
"It's your turn Joey."
Joey drew and laughed, "Speaking of cards given to us by Harry, I play Dragon Tamer, which gains attack points for each dragon in the graveyard, which I got from Harry for a Phoenix Heart card, and I activate Flute of Summoning Dragon."
Yugi looked confused.
"No, I didn't steal that one off of Kaiba." Joey grinned, "I use it to summon Red Eyes Black Dragon and Luster Dragon Number 2."
Two rather large dragons appeared and Joey grinned, "They both have 2400 attack points, Yuge, and they're both attacking you!"
"Activate Mirror Force!"
Joey swore as all of his monsters exploded and his field was left wide open. He'd expected a trap, but not that one. "I end my turn!"
"Sorry Joey," Yugi didn't look too sorry at all, "I activate Monster Reborn, to bring back your Luster Dragon."
"Go for it Yuge, I walked straight into it."
Yugi paused, it was too easy. "I activate Dust Tornado to blow away your face down card."
Damn it.
"Now, Lesser Fiend! Luster Dragon! Attack!"
Joey's points dropped to zero and Joey sighed, at least his record was consistent.
"Good try Joey." Yugi managed to say before the cheering started.
Ombre's eyes scanned the crowd before her duel like she always did. Her friends were absent, and she hadn't told Kari she was entering the tournament so she didn't expect to see anyone she knew, but it was habit now.
Then she spotted a familiar face and grinned. Muto Solomon had come to watch the final, and he was waving at her. She saluted, and could feel her heart lifting, she wasn't entirely alone, and anyway even if her friends weren't here right this moment they were here in spirit, and in card, even Ryou had given her a card, too embarrassed to say why, or too afraid.
It was time to duel.
Ombre grinned at her opening hand, thinking of her friends…
Kari's Magician's Valkeria, Yugi's Kuriboh (why did he have so many of them?), Yami's Skilled Dark Magician, Harry's Winged Kitsune and Hermione's Secrets of the Library all in her hand.
"Ironhide, it's your move!" Her opponent snapped, he'd put a card in defence mode and played one face down.
"Sorry." Ombre apologised and drew, Ron's Compactor, "I summon Skilled Dark Magician and place two cards face down, "Your move."
The teenager drew, he couldn't be more then fifteen, sixteen at most, and Ombre realised that the game was being taken up by younger and younger people, in fact Kari must have been around his age when she'd started and he'd been playing for three years.
Kai sacrificed his face down card for Patrician of Darkness. Ombre rolled her eyes as he attacked her Skilled Dark Magician.
"I activate Compactor, which halves the attack of your monster."
Her Skilled Dark Magician destroyed the attacking monster.
"Your move."
Ombre had to admit, as she drew, that she'd been somewhat disappointed in the skill level of the players she'd faced so far, she supposed that it was because she'd been playing against the King of Games and the regular tournament finalists for so long that she expected all Duellists to have the group's skill level.
"I summon Winged Kitsune, in attack mode and attack you with both."
Between Skilled Dark Magician's 1900 and Winged Kitsune's 1800, the teen lost 3700 life points, reducing him to 300.
Harry and Yami, the leaders of their group, giving her support when she needed it.
"I play my Secrets of the Library, allowing me to draw three new cards." Ombre said. "I end my turn."
Kai wasn't happy, and drew, scowling.
Sore loser. Ombre thought, as he summoned a card in defence mode and ended the turn.
"I summon Magician's Valkeria, and use her to destroy your monster."
Kai activated his face down card, Monsterous Shield, bringing back a monster to protect his monster on the field.
Valkeria's attack destroyed the shield, Winged Kitsune's attack destroyed the monster, and Skilled Dark Magician's attack finished the Duel.
Ombre found herself unsatisfied as the announcer shouted about her victory, and the Kaiba Brothers congratulated her. They may have been in her deck, but without her friends around, it just didn't feel like a real victory.
"This is the match you've all been waiting for," Pegasus introduced the Duel, "The Tournament Winner, Yugi Muto, will play the current King of Games in a Championship Match for the crown!"
Yugi smiled slightly at the roar of crowd approval at that.
If he was honest with himself, he had once preferred duelling in a separate area to where the crowds were, but that wasn't possible here and playing Quidditch had gotten him used to loud crowds.
"And here he is folks, the one and only King of Games, Yami Muto!"
The noise from the crowd would have rivalled Hogwarts at the Quidditch Match and that was saying something, as Yami came out of the stands, where he'd been sat with their friends, and came over to him.
"Ready Yugi?" Yami asked.
"Yeap." Yugi smiled and nodded. "You better not go easy on me, Yami; I'm not going to let you win."
"I wouldn't dream of not duelling you with everything I've got." Yami grinned, "I know better then that."
"You heard it, the King of Game and the tournament winner, ready to duel." Pegasus said, getting a roar from the crowd, "If you will take your places…"
Yugi and Yami grinned at each other and then went to their places.
"Yugi Muto, are you ready?"
Yugi activated his Duel Disk, "Ready."
"Yami Muto, are you ready?"
Yami activated his Duel Disk too, "Ready!"
"Yugi Muto to move first."
Yami and Yugi looked at each other, "Duel!"
Yugi drew his first card and sighed, he never seemed to get a decent hand to start with when he played Yami in Tournaments. "I play one card in defence mode and two cards face down, it's your move Yami!"
Yami grinned, "I summon Skilled Dark Magician, in attack mode and play two cards face down," Yami's eyes flickered to Yugi's face down cards, "And I end my turn."
Yugi grinned, "Playing it cautious, bro?" Yugi asked, drawing, "I sacrifice my face down card for my Dark Magician Girl…" Yami wondered if it was coincidence that the red Dark Magician Girl looked a bit like Kari, with brown hair and brown eyes. "And activate Mage Power, raising her attack to 2500." Yugi watched Yami carefully, "Dark Magician Girl attacks your Skilled Dark Magician!"
"Negate Attack!" Yami called, activating one of his face down cards, "And Magician's Circle allowing both of us to summon a Spellcaster with 2000 attack points or less."
Yami's Dark Magician Girl, the normal version, appeared, while Yugi summoned a Winged Magician, another present from Harry.
"Alright Yami, I guess the turn passes back to you."
"Impressive aren't they."
Tristan turned, he recognised that voice.
"Pegasus." Joey growled, "What do you want?"
"I came to see Yugi boy duel Joseph, wouldn't anyone with an interest in the games?"
"Joey enough, we don't stop Kaiba from watching Yuge's duels or anyone else." Tristan said, grabbing Joey's arm before he did something more than just growl.
"Since when were you all buddy buddy with Pegasus?" Joey asked, incredulously.
"How about since he's the reason I'm here with my friends instead of stuck in Japan."
"We're only here because he wanted us here." Joey growled again, but no longer as hostile.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's important that I speak to you all, we have less time than I thought."
"When you say all…" Tea began.
"I mean all, not just the Pharaoh."
"Muto has to finish the duel first Pegasus." Duke put in, with far more respect in his tone that any of the others had. Of course Duke had never had to watch as Pegasus messed with Yugi.
"And I'm pleased I can watch this historic event in person."
"Pegasus, we're writing to our friend Harry, would you like to add to the letter?" Rebecca had gone into full cutesy mode, reducing her age by a few years.
The gang was shocked into silence, Tea opening to protest, but was at a complete lost as to what to say. So far Rebecca had asked most of the high ranking duellists she knew, the referee, a few of her fans, and a couple of Yugi's.
"Would I know this friend of yours?" Pegasus asked.
"I doubt you know Harry Potter, his relatives keep him pretty close to home. He would have loved to be here today."
This time it was Pegasus's turn to look surprised, but his mask was on again almost instantly. "Would that be Harry James Potter?" He asked, "The lightening kid?"
"You've heard of him?" Joey said in surprise.
"So that's where they've been hiding you. That makes altogether too much sense, Dumbledore always did…" Pegasus shook himself out of his thoughts. "Yes Rebecca my dear, I think I will add a few comments to your magnanimous effort."
Rebecca beamed, and handed over the letter, now almost three times the size it had been before lunch.
"I know I've said it before, but that girl is crazy." Joey muttered to Tristan and Tea, who could nothing but nod. They would have to tell Yugi and Yami later.
Yami read the field, and then his hand.
Yami had his Sorcerer of Dark Magic on the field, at 3200 while Yugi only had his Dark Magician Girl left, at 2600 attack points.
Both of them were down to 100 life points.
Yami twigged how he was going to end this as he looked more carefully, "I play Monster Reborn to bring back the Dark Magician, Yugi's Dark Magician Girl went down to 2300, "And I activate Graverobber to steal your Dark Magic Attack magic card!"
Yugi's eyes widened as his face down cards were blown away.
"Sorcerer of Dark Magic, attack the Dark Magician Girl!"
Yugi's life points dropped to zero and the crowd's roar actually outmatched Hogwarts during Quidditch.
"Yami Muto wins!" The announcer yelled.
The closing spiel over with, Yugi and Yami were joined by their friends, on the arena floor.
"Well done my boy." Pegasus shook Yami's hand, "But I notice you did not use the God cards in your duel."
"I thought it best to keep them off the field considering what they are."
"You did not go all out against your… brother?" The hesitation was minute, but Yami's eyes narrowed.
"I do not put my twin in any more danger than necessary Pegasus." Yami growled.
"Ah yes, sensible of you I'm sure. May I invite you and your friends to dinner tomorrow night, a celebration if you will?"
Yami nodded, "We'll come."
"All of you?"
Yami nodded again, and wondered what exactly he and his friends were getting into.
"Then here's the invites, all the information in contained within. I'll see you tomorrow night." Pegasus pulled several pinkish envelopes out of seemingly thin air and handed them to Yami.
"Have a… magical evening." Pegasus said as he left.
Ryou was once again questioning his sanity. It had been an open question for about seven years now, or maybe longer.
Only over time the question had changed. He didn't worry about the gaps in his memory anymore. He knew, or had a good guess, what was going on there and he didn't want details, only he did, he just didn't think he could bear to know them.
He wondered if getting involved with Ombre was a mistake. Except she cleared his head, she kept him grounded and he didn't have that many close friends that he was willing to sacrifice even one.
He kept flip-flopping between decisions, but it all came down to one thing, he couldn't afford to lose her because of the Ring. So he kept his distance, and kept her friendship, and tried not to go too far in either direction.
He had been going through his deck when it happened. He had gained a card, and he didn't know how, didn't remember how, and the more he looked the more he realised that there was a card missing.
He looked at the new addition to his deck and didn't have a clue what to do about it. It was Ombre's card, or one of her cards. The one missing was also hers, but not. It was the one he had always imagined he would give her if he ever trusted himself that far. It had been a pipe dream, he knew that now, the Ring would never let him go, but the card was gone.
Had he given that card to Ombre? Would he have? And if he had… why couldn't he remember?
"I don't think I'm all that surprised to find out that Pegasus is magical." Yugi said after Joey, Tea and Tristan told them what Pegasus had said while he and Yami were duelling.
"Yuge does have a point, most of the witches and wizards we've met are exceedingly weird, and Pegasus was strange even by Duellist's standards." Joey said, nodding.
"Is he strange by magical standards?" Tristan asked, still trying to get his head around Pegasus being a wizard.
Yugi, Yami and Joey share a look, and chorused, "Not really."
"Then how strange…" Tea asked.
Joey answered, "You should see Diagon Alley sometime. Most wizards have no sense of colour coordination, there's the strange hats;"
"Mrs Longbottom's vulture."
"Quirell's turban."
"The assortment of pets,"
"Rats, cats, toads, snakes, owls…"
"…salamanders, pufferskins, leeches, spiders…"
"And none of these pets ever get left at home, they might be lonely," Joey rolled his eyes, "How half of them avoid getting eaten I'll never know."
"And that doesn't count the normal pets…"
"Wait, I thought a cat was a normal pet…" Tea exclaimed, her eyes losing a bit of their glazed look.
"Have you met my cats?" Yami asked instead, "Because unless you didn't see, one of mine has wings."
"No, I don't think I've seen a cat with wings, I think I might have noticed." Tea glares at him.
Yami looked up, his eyes scanning the roof tops.
"Joey, anyone around?" He asks, and Joey checks.
"Not at the moment."
He pulls a rubber mouse out of his pocket, holding it by its tail. "Ready Tea?"
"Yami, I doubt your cat is going to hear that from wherever it is at the moment."
"Look up." He said; his eyes fixed on the roof's edge, right where the drain pipe was attached.
He squeaked the toy, and a head appeared over the edge of the roof. He squeezed the toy again, and the cat looked straight at them, its golden eyes catching the light. The toy squeaked a third time and Yami chucked it up in the air.
Their was the sound of scrambling and then the cat jumped off the building, it's wings flapping heavily, before it dived straight for them.
It caught the toy before it even hit the ground, purring madly and squeaking the toy like it was going out of style.
"That cat has wings." Tea said unnecessary.
"Kana also follows me everywhere and attacks me whenever she thinks I'm not getting enough rest."
"Attacks you?"
"She managed to knock Yami out." Yugi said, "And then wouldn't let him up until he agreed to her demands."
"She's either evil or too used to getting her way, and considering Bakura's reaction we're pretty sure she's not evil." Joey said.
"What was Bakura's reaction?"
"Somewhere between amused, annoyed and utterly furious."
"Explain please."
"Amused when she knocked Yami out, annoyed that she stopped obeying his commands, and utterly furious that she would dare threaten him."
The young pilot cat stopped playing with her toy, and decided to try her favourite game of knock over the silly humans.
"Kana, no." Yami said when she began wrapping herself around Tea's legs; the kitten merely meowed and continued.
"She's not doing any harm." Tea said, crouching down to smooth the feathered kitten.
"Tea…" Yami began, but before he could finish Tea went 'eeek' and fell over, and the demon kitten jumped on top of her and began purring.
Yugi giggled, Tea looked just as put out as Yami had a few months ago.
"I can't move." Tea ground out through clenched teeth.
"Kana, get off Tea, be a good kitten and get off my friend?" Yami tried, cooing to the kitten.
The kitten raised it wings slightly and tilted its head as it considered.
'Fish?'
"Alright, I'll get you fish in the morning if you get off Tea now."
'Promise?'
"Only if you promise to stop attacking my friends."
'Promise!' The kitten meowed, and jumped off of Tea.
Mokuba sighed. He wouldn't admit it to his brother but without Joey and Yugi around Domino seemed ever so dull. Kari was no help, she was laired up in her office working practically all hours, and she had been known to growl at anyone who interrupted.
He had considered taking part in the Duel Monster tournament, but it wasn't really his game, it was Seto's. His game was capsule monsters, but that tournament wasn't until late august, by which time he would be back in England. Seto had asked him to take a more active part in organising the competition, and he had.
But now the tournament was over, and he was looking at a long empty summer practically alone. He hadn't had that many friends before going to school in England, and while his number of friends had multiplied they wasn't here, all his friends were in England or America, except for Seto, Kari and Ombre.
Seto and Kari were both workaholics, and it was even worse every time they came back for the summer, the work just piled up, and Mokuba knew Seto was seriously considering ditching the whole magical education thing, and to be honest Mokuba didn't understand why Seto hadn't yet. Except it was knowledge, and a market Kaiba Corp hadn't even had access to just a few years ago.
He put down the homework and glanced out the window. It was a horrible stormy day, the rain dancing against the library's windows.
Dark and stormy, Mokuba shivered, it reminded him too much of the Quidditch match that the Dementors had invaded, down to the dark figure gliding across his lawn.
A dark figure gliding? Not running? The rain looked freezing cold, and the wind torn his clothes away, so they steamed out behind the figure. Mokuba stepped back from the window, fear driving him.
Wand? Check. Seto? Upstairs. Anyone else? No one was meant to be here.
Run.
"Seto!" He yelled up the stairs as he ran.
Yami resisted the urge to check his watch again, they were early, he knew they were early; he didn't need to check his watch because the time wouldn't have changed.
It hadn't helped that for some reason Pegasus had wanted Rebecca and Duke along, and neither he nor Yugi knew why. It was bad enough that Tea, Joey and Tristan were always ending up in danger because of him, them… Yami let the thought trail off, not sure where to end it.
Normally people went after him, but more often lately Yugi, but it wasn't unheard of for someone to go after their friends. Just look at Marik for example.
So now the seven of them were waiting for a car of some sort to turn up.
Pegasus had better have a good explanation.
Finally a black limo stopped, and a familiar face got out. "Please could you all get in." Croquet, Pegasus's assistant, phased it as a request, but like most of utterances it sounded more like a demand.
With a last look at each other the group of friends piled into the vehicle, that was surprisingly large on the inside.
Croquet followed them in, sitting opposite the seven.
"Drive." He demanded, and the limo pulled away.
"Well?" Joey demanded after the silence began to get oppressive.
Croquet fidgeted with his glasses, a habit Yami had seen once before.
"Something's gone wrong, hasn't it?"
"The enemy that Mr Pegasus was preparing for attacked him last night."
"Who was it?"
"Dementors."
Yugi took a sharp breath, Rebecca flinched, Joey paled, and Yami's eyes narrowed.
"What's a Dementor?" Duke asked, looking as confused as Tea and Tristan.
"They drain happiness and eat souls." Yami said, and a fearful silence fell in the car.
"But how did they get here? I thought Hermione said there aren't any Dementors outside the British Isles." Yugi asked; his mind racing.
"There aren't." Rebecca confirmed, "It would cause a war if the British Ministry sent them here."
"Did the Ministry send them? Maybe they want a war." Tristan asked.
"No. They disappeared from Azkaban just over a week ago. The Ministry is keeping it quiet." Croquet told them
"I suppose you can't have rouge Dementors floating about when they are hosting the Quidditch World Cup." Yami said sarcastically.
Joey looked thoughtful, "Isn't that around the time they came after the train?"
Yami and Yugi's eyes widened and they looked at each other; it was around the same time, almost exactly the same time.
"No one has been informed except those at the highest levels, and the British Minister of Magic has declared that the Dementors would not leave the country therefore there is no need to inform any Foreign Powers."
"But Pegasus said that the enemy had been preparing for a long time, he can't have meant the Dementors if they only escaped last week." Yugi put in.
"Mr Pegasus suspects that the Dementors are merely a distraction, a new found ally. You know the old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? While my employer hoped it would not be true, there is evidence that the Dementors must have had help getting here, otherwise, where is the trail of hopelessness they would have left behind?"
"But what do we have to do with this?" Duke asked, he question that the others had even failed to think of, much less ask.
"Because Mr Devlin, the Dementors left a message in Azkaban. It took a week, as translating from the Dementors' written language is not easy, but the direct translation is 'revenge will be had against the oldest shadow for dividing the host.' The so-called experts thought that meant an old wrong done against them, but Mr Pegasus had a different hypothesis, he thought it meant they want revenge against Mr Muto." He inclined his head in Yami's direction.