Return to the Old Ways

by kayono

The Pharaoh and King have returned, but the Fates and Destiny have yet to let them out of their grasp. There's more in the darkness than is known, but 'life isn't interesting unless there's a chance of dying.'

10. Abhorsen's House

Title: Return to the Old Ways

Chapter 8: Gimme a title, won't cha?

Disclaimer: Nyerg… too depressing… I HATE LAWYERS!

(Save me!)

(Writing about supporting characters is fun.)

---I HATE THESE KINDS OF BREAKS!---

The old house stood alone in its little pine grove. The grove was bordered on one side by the rest of the forest it was a part of, and the other side by open fields that might- at one point- have born vegetables, or maize, or other such possibly edible crops. They were now a mix of well-manicured lawns and overrun, weed-filled pastures, with stone and wooden pathways crossing the pastures to the well-manicured lawns, and back to the house.

Directly opposite the rest of the forest was a tree-lined road, stretching the couple miles from the main (country) road to the house. Pines, Evergreens, a few scattered Deciduous trees and the occasional fruit tree or fragrant bush lined the small road, providing a definite separation between it and the pastures it cut through.

Many people had tried to buy the house from the old owner ("It would make a great golf course/hotel/condos/town homes/town/village/resort village/shopping centre!"), but the elderly lady, well into her years but never yielding, even to sickness, had stood strong and told all investors that the house and the land around it had always been in her family, and in her family it would stay.

Just before she had died, the elderly woman had asked her one remaining servant- a young woman who had just graduated from a very private boarding school in Scotland- if she didn't know anyone the old woman could leave the house to, since the younger had expressed no interest in inheriting the land and buildings on it, and the elder had no living family.

"I can ask people I know from school if they know anyone who will take good care of it." She replied, and had set out at once to locate her old classmates.

Meantime, the elderly woman hired a private investigator to look through her family tree, and see if there was someone out there who she was related to and could take the house. The investigator had come back with a list of names, most of which were dead, in prison, on parole, or living out of the country. The few who weren't any of the above the woman had met before, and had not been taken with them.

Her young servant had come back with a list of names of people from her kind of world that would be able to take the house. None of them she recommended- none of the moving pictures appealed to the elder.

Then the younger was called out by her old headmaster, and came back with three names to look into. The elderly woman took one look at the names, and immediately flipped the pages the investigator had given her to a relatively distant family, most of whom were now dead, or would be in no condition to own a home such as hers.

But the son, although he lived between both Egypt and Japan, although he was a British citizen, was not only young enough (and smart enough) to manage the house properly, but he was charming, sweet, kind, and strict- and he was on the list that the younger had brought her from the headmaster.

A perfect combination for a house such as this, with its many pitfalls and booby traps. So the two women, young and old, made their plans, to be carried out when the elder finally passed on. All members of the family were invited to the funeral- no one showed. The young man who they had chosen, the young servant was told, was currently attending another funeral, and that whenever he could, he would be by to pay his respects.

So the young servant waited, having sent out multiple letters to the young man's many addresses, waiting inside the house until she received a response.

"Forgive me for not returning the favour sooner," the letter had said, "and for not attending Madame Bella's funeral. If I had known of her or her death, I would have contacted you before hand, and would have made every attempt to come to the funeral."

She still wasn't too sure of his character, but he seemed reliable enough.

And so she waited, until November rolled around, and she finally caught the first glimpse she had of her new master.

…

Dumbledore chuckled as he listened to his companions groan. "Not long now, you two."

Yugi shot him a disapproving glance. "How can you be so happy? You haven't slept in four days- you should be more like Ryou!"

Ryou himself raised his head slowly, dark circles under his eyes. "Urg… hi?"

Dumbledore laughed outright. "I have been offering people lemon drops for years, but no one ever seems to want one…."

The two hikaris looked at each other before diving for the sugary, sour sweets that Dumbledore held out in his hands. Their driver looked back at them, snorted, and continued down the road.

Since this was a muggle home, Dumbledore had insisted that they use muggle transportation to get there. Neither Yugi nor Ryou agreed, but as they had no idea where they were going, they followed the headmaster into a taxi at Heathrow airport, which he had then told to take them to a rather obscure corner of England.

Now that they were all awake, Yugi was chatting amiably with Dumbledore and their driver- who was quickly warming up to the hikari- and Ryou was staring out the window, only dimly recognizing which direction North was in. He had never before met this woman who had left him her house, had never heard her name- but when her servant had sent him those letters (all of which he seemed to get at once), he hadn't had a single qualm about taking care of this house.

Now, however, he was having second thoughts- lots of them. This place was so far away from any kind of civilization, he wondered how they bought goods- consumable and otherwise. If anything were to go wrong, there was no one near he could call and be sure they would be here pretty soon.

There would be no one to deter Bakura, should the thief want something.

Well, no, he would be there, but that didn't count, since everyone knew how powerful Ryou's defences were when it came to the spirit of the Sennen Ring. 'To be honest, I'm not sure what I mean by 'if Bakura wants something', but either way, there's not going to be much stopping him.'

The thief had been acting strangely since the event a few days ago, at the Kaiba mansion, between Seto and Jounouchi. Something had happened between Yugi and Atemu- something that resulted in their bond being stronger than ever, and a perment golden Eye on Yugi's forehead.

And this something had thrown Bakura for a loop, which had in turn thrown Ryou for a loop- and ended up with where they were now. Bakura wanted something from Ryou, Ryou knew Bakura wanted something from him, but neither knew what it was that was wanted (especially since Yugi and Atemu refused to say what had happened to change them in all of their nine hours missing).

"And, gents, here we are!"

Ryou blinked as they turned down a small, side-lane on the road through the rather randomly placed forest. A forest that quickly turned into a tree-lined boulevard with open fields on either side. The albino forgot his musings quickly enough as he and Yugi became plastered to the window, Dumbledore and their driver sharing a chuckling over their enthusiasm.

Finally, the taxi arrived at the grove, and it passed through the wrought iron gates and turned into a large, circular drive which passed the front door to a large, two-story home.

The walls of the building had been white-washed at one point, the tile on the roof still a distinctive red, though both had faded with age. Ivy crawled up the outer walls, twining itself around the decorative iron work around the windows, posts, lintels and eaves troughs. Although not impossibly tall, the house stretched out to the left and right for a considerable distance, and the centre part of the house, where the front door was located, was actually three floors, plus a domed four-story tall tower that protruded from the back of the building.

Old stone steps led up to the front door, which was opened by a young woman. She wore a simple, plain blue blouse and navy skirt, over which was a black smock and white apron. Running down the steps, she nodded to the taxi driver, before turning back to the new arrivals- specifically, Dumbledore.

"Headmaster! I didn't know you were coming! Then I would have prepared something extra delicious." She stated matter-of-factly, smiling up at the wizened old man.

Dumbledore laughed whole heartedly, grabbing Ryou and Yugi by the arms and yanking them forward. "You should have something extra delicious prepared anyways, for you new master and his semi-permanent house guest!"

Yugi frowned at the title he was given, but Ryou struggled out of the aging headmaster's hold and bowed formally to her. "Ms. Bell, it is my pleasure to finally meet you."

The young woman blushed slightly, but refused to let it get to her. "Er, yes- it is an honour to meet you as well, Mr. Bakura. Please, come this way."

As she led them into the house (Yugi having paid the taxi driver), Dumbledore chuckled. "Katie Bell, I never would have guessed you'd go from Quidditch super star to simple house maid."

She stuck her tongue out at them over her shoulder, opening the doors to a comfortable parlour room. "I'd rather be safe, here, than out there getting every bone in my body broken. Besides…" she trailed off, staring out the window as the other three seated themselves. "Madame Bella loved this place. I want to live here for as long as it stands, if only as a servant, so that I can keep her memory alive."

Ryou coughed politely. "If I might be so bold to ask, why did you not take the house? I know Madame Bella offered it to you-"

"I don't know." Katie cut him off, frowning at him. "Something told me that this house shouldn't belong to me. Now, if you'll excuse me-" She turned on her heel and walked out the door, presumably to the kitchen for some tea or coffee.

Dumbledore chuckled at the looks on Yugi's and Ryou's faces. "Katie Bell was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts."

Yugi blinked up at him. "Why did she choose to come back here and serve Madame Bella? From what I've seen, she would have been a formidable opponent in politics, crime fighting, or psychotherapy." Both Dumbledore and Ryou looked at him oddly. Yugi blushed, embarrassed, but defended himself. "What? She's playing mind games with us- creating an impression of herself that she wants us to see, not what she really is."

Ryou sighed, shaking his head. "Dear Re. I just hope she isn't totally abject to at least being the acting lady of the house. We'll be away enough with our other duties, and then, come September- if you're not averse to us rejoining your teaching staff for a year or so…."

Dumbledore smiled at him, pulling out some more lemon drops (which Yugi and Ryou pounced on). "Of course not. And Katie is quite a formidable opponent, as you have said, Yugi. It is just that she misses Madame Bella, is wary of you, is annoyed that you didn't come to Madame Bella's funeral and didn't show up sooner, and doesn't know what to expect."

Ryou looked thoughtful, turning his attention out the large bay window, but Yugi smiled encouragingly. "Both Yami and I agree that she is a good person, Ryou. It was there in her eyes. If she was a worry or opponent, we could tell- but Ms. Bell is a Gryffindor. If she were a Slytherin- not to be prejudiced- then we'd really worry."

Ryou shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Yes, I know. I just worry sometimes."

Yugi cocked his head, Dumbledore fading into the background with the skill he had picked up earlier in the week. "About what?"

"How many people we pull into this chaos we call our lives."

Yugi smiled charmingly, grasping Ryou's hand with both of his own. "It's okay, Ryou-kun! Things around us usually happen for a reason, remember, not just because they can, so Bell-san deciding to stay on as a staff of this house must have happened for a reason as well! Remember, she said that she didn't know why he turned down the offer of inheritance, so something out there must have told her to, so that you could take possession of it."

"Actually, this house fits pretty well with the descriptions I have found in the Sectrum Distalfios of the original Abhorsen's House in the Old Kingdom." Dumbledore commented idly, favouring Yugi and Ryou with a small grin as he continued, examining his blackened hand like it was the first time he had seen it. "White walls, red roof, rather… hard to get to, surrounded by a wall- yes, there is a wall, what do you call all those trees out there?

"You said yourselves that every country, especially those that are older or more magically-inclined, has some stored resonant energy. I have the feeling that those energies intended this to be the new Abhorsen's House. It wouldn't take much to put a raging river around this place, believe me."

After a moment of silence, Yugi laughed as Ryou chuckled. "So that's why you told Bell-san to tell Madame Bella that I would be a good choice!" Ryou commented, shaking his head at the deviousness of the headmaster.

Yugi blinked. "How did you know that Ryou was Abhorsen, anyways?" He asked carefully, eyeing the elder.

Dumbledore shrugged. "Word about someone with long, white hair and feminine looks walking around with a bandolier and sword gets around rather quickly, especially if it happens wherever you happen to be at the time."

After more blinking, Dumbledore elaborated. "I was visiting your dear old headmaster at Dragonscale, and we had taken a detour into Alturist. During said detour, we stopped into that branch of Gringotts- and the goblins were going on and on about the people who had come to visit their long-unused vaults recently." He winked. "Really, I had no idea that you people were over 5000 years old!"

Yugi blushed while Ryou pointedly muffled a cough, both not meeting the headmaster's eyes. Dumbledore just chuckled, popping a lemon drop into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully.

There was a few moments of silence before Katie Bell walked through the door, head held purposefully high as she set down the tray. She stood to leave when Ryou grabbed her hand. "Really- stay. Dinner can take care of itself, so just relax…?"

She wasn't sure if it was a command or an invitation, but she gratefully sat and transfigured a small pillow into a tea cup with her wand. She acted as though she expected either Yugi or Ryou to be surprised, but they just grinned, and Yugi raised his cup of tea to everyone in the room in a kind of toast, before sipping it ceremoniously.

They sat in a peaceable silence for a while, Katie eyeing each of them- including her old headmaster.

Yugi was first to finish his tea and put it down with great flair, Dumbledore catching his eye and quickly doing the same.

"Delicious tea, Bell-san. Forgive me, but I'm still a little tired from our trip. If you'll excuse me- Albus, could you help me unpack and show me where the guest rooms are? No, Bell-san, you stay here. You're not done your tea. Good afternoon, everyone."

The two hurried out of the room, leaving Ryou and Katie staring at the now-closed door, then at each other before sharing a small chuckle.

"So, Bell-san-"

"Katie," she corrected immediately. Ryou raised an eyebrow, and she blushed but held her ground. "We'll be living together, so call me Katie."

"And I am Ryou."

"Ryou…" she paused, rolling the name over her tongue a few times. "That's not English, is it?"

He smiled, shook his head. "No. Although my parents were English, they had a fascination with names from other cultures- Egyptian, Indian, South American, Native Australian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and… pretty much every other language and culture there is. Ryou is actually Japanese, meaning 'completed' or 'finished'- or, in a more derogatory fashion, 'skilled'."

Katie nodded. "My parents gave me my first name- Katie- but I never did find out what their last name was. When I first met Madame Bella, I told her my first name, and she told me hers. When she asked what my last name was, I just… took her name, and shortened it."

Ryou smiled. "Madame Bella must have been very kind, then."

Katie snorted, but grinned. "She was strict, demanding, annoying, gave me ten tasks to do at once- probably the worst employer ever. But, underneath it all, she did care about my welfare- that's why she paid for so much of my Hogwarts stuff."

Ryou nodded to her, then raised his tea cup to an old portrait of a younger Madame Bella that hung on the wall. "To Madame Bella- the worst, but best, person."

Katie smiled after him and did the same, before they clinked their glasses together and sipped.

When they both finished their cups, Ryou moved to stand to head up to his room (Dumbledore hadn't left him any of the lemon drops, and he was falling asleep). Katie reached out to tug his hand, and he looked at her.

"Erm… I'm sorry…."

Ryou blinked. "What for?"

Katie blushed. "I… I overheard part of your conversation with Professor Dumbledore."

Ryou sat down, almost wearily. "Ah."

They sat in an awkward silence, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Ryou sighed, looking Katie straight in the eye as she raised her head to see what he was doing. "What did you hear?"

She looked away, out the window. "Something about… Abhorsen, I think. And something called the Sectrum Distalfios- and are you really 5000 years old?"

Ryou chuckled. "No, I am not. Thankfully- then my hair would be grey, not white."

Katie blushed, but smiled. "Ah, so- how old are you?"

Ryou paused for a moment, offering her a smile. "Would you believe that I didn't remember?"

She offered him a faint not-smile, and Ryou laughed. "25, actually, last September."

"Ah. Well, I'm newly 18."

"So you just just graduated from Hogwarts?"

Katie smiled, reminiscing. "My last year was probably the craziest one yet. The DADA teacher taught us all theoretical and no practical. That was bad. We've also had DADA teachers that taught us mostly practical. That was pretty good, but for the most part we learned only for that situation specifically, not the theory that would make that certain counter or whatnot work in other situations where it could be useful."

Ryou looked thoughtful. "So- a balance between practical and theory is good. But mainly practical?"

Katie nodded, smiling. "It keeps a student's attention."

"What, 'Pay attention or get sent to the hospital wing by my little friend'?"

"Pretty much."

There was a companionable silence between, each enjoying the peace. There didn't seem to be any more words spoken between them- they had reached a tacit understanding (somehow), and as long as it worked they wouldn't bother changing anything.

Ryou smiled appreciatively as Katie refilled both of their tea cups. 'At least there will be some kind of barrier between Bakura and myself now.'

If there was one moment Agni could point and say, "That's when my life started to get messed up!", it would have to be when he was eight years old, and playing around with his friends. Of course, they were playing where they had been explicitly told to not play, and doing what they had been explicitly told not to do should they ever find themselves on the edge of the old swamp-forest.

Their parents, as they had gone off, had told them: "Don't play anywhere near that old forest! And if you go near there, leave immediately, unless you want your life to be cursed forever!"

They had thought the adults were just acting like the usual, paranoid adults, and had happily ignored the warnings.

Then they had found that old temple, and they just had to go into it. Then they had each found a separate little medallion, and- well, Agni still wasn't sure what had happened, but when he woke up he found himself spouting fire. His friends had all changed- not outwardly, but soon everyone was showing some signs of elemental influences- Misa's house was constantly flooded, Kuna's parents kept complaining about electrical problems, Tinnyo's house was permanently air conditioned, and Kattrinathe's bedroom constantly looked like a tornado had blown through.

Konnin was obsessed with his looks, bouncing light off mirrors, and creating strange, random designs on the walls- also by bouncing light. He also developed a fetish for shiny, bouncing things, especially ball bearings. Ritu- who had normally been the worst person around with plants, suddenly had a seemingly magical green thumb, helping plants grow to the point where they began taking over the area.

The twins, Sunyin and Damyin, seemed to be fine, unless someone decided to try and separate them- then they would struggle and fight with the strength of a hundred men each. If they were (eventually) separated, they would fall into bouts of insanity, causing wide-spread destruction by mostly invisible means.

It didn't take long for people to realize why these things were happening, and they were gathered together, had a good talking to, then sent off to deal with the Guardians of their small country. The Guardians quickly found uses for each of their abilities, and in turn sent them off to be trained.

Thankfully, the Guardians refused to use him as a heat source for their homes, so he and Kattrinathe were sent off to the barracks, to learn to be 'good fighters'. Both rose to the occasion- and the top of their training groups- and were quickly assigned into patrol groups. When the southern towns reported border raids, he and Kattrinathe were sent as the leaders of a small troop of armed personnel to disband the raiders and reclaim some of the stolen goods.

"Hey, Katt?"

She looked up from her bowl of soup, offering him a weak expression that was supposed to be a smile around the faint scar running down her face from her ear to the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, Eled?"

He shifted slightly, looking to the east. "You know home isn't too far from here."

She followed his gaze, then turned her gaze back to the soup in her lap. "I know."

He noticed her reservation and frowned. "What's wrong?"

She sighed, leaning back. "It would be awkward to go back there. I mean, my parents didn't even want to-" she cut herself off, shaking her head. He frowned, reaching over to take her hand and offer some comfort. She smiled at him gratefully, then sighed again and continued. "They- when everyone was in an uproar about what trouble we got ourselves in, my parents just tried to pass it off as that my room was always like that, or it was just unnaturally breezy, or- or something like that. They didn't want to accept that I was… was possessed by these elemental spirits, and when they finally did, they didn't want me to leave. Just everyone kept telling them that I had to go, or they would be punished by the Guardians, and- and, well, I just caused them so much pain."

He squeezed her hand, trying to help her relax. "I think- I think we caused everyone a lot of pain." He whispered, remembering the twin's parents' reactions when they were told that their sons had to leave as well.

She nodded, wiping away tears that had yet to fall. She finally looked up at him again. "So… we never did discus what spirits we have now."

He smiled, glad to make her happy- Kattrinathe had probably been the most affected by their leaving than anyone else, probably because she hadn't been so outwardly rejected by her peers and family. She had been either been sad, depressed, asleep or violent since then, and to see a smile was rare.

"Well…" he started, thinking back to her question. "For the most part it's fire. Small flames, big flames, droughts, famines, heat waves, overcooked meat, candles burning faster than they're supposed to- you name it, it's probably my fault."

She giggled at his relaxed attitude, and smiled. "It's wind with me." She told him after a moment's debate. "Including barely noticeable breezes to tornados and twisters."

"Hmm…" he mimicked scratching his beard (which, at the ripe old age of 12, he did not have). "So we have wind and fire." He offered her a rather large smile. "What's say we flush out those raiders with a nice, pleasant, fire-twister?" He offered her an outstretched, open hand.

She placed her own hand into it, putting down the soup bowl as he placed his other hand over their joined ones, and she placed her other hand overtop of the three. "I say that that is an excellent idea, Agni." She replied, using their Old Tongue's word for fire.

"I would have to agree, Kazille." He replied, mocking her with the Old Tongue's wind word.

They would see the rest of their friends only one last time- most of them had been put into the manufacturing business.

"We didn't need wind, and we have enough fires. If we could have fit you in, we would have, Agni, Kazille," the Guardians explained to the two patrollers. Everyone had begun using the Old Tongue names for them, since they now refused to respond to their given names, Eledon and Kattrinathe. "We have also erased all evidence of you two as normal humans, as both you and your families and town requested."

They both bowed to the Guardians. "Thank you, Great Ones."

"Unfortunately, we have to split you two up for your next assignment. You'll both be escorting two separate groups of prisoners to the Far North prison. Agni, you'll head out first, since you have a bigger group and have to pick up a couple others along the way. You'll use the north-west track through Silvna and Oride to get there. Kazille, you have a smaller group and don't need to pick anyone up, so you'll head out one week after Agni. You're taking a north-east route through Itumeda and Torendas. Thankfully, you have a month before the prisoners you'll be escorting arrive, so I hope that you two enjoy yourselves."

That was a dismissal, and they left the Main Chamber together, headed to the outside courtyards of the Central Palace.

During the next month, they went to those courtyard gardens and tree-lined paths once a day, spending time just enjoying themselves like they hadn't been able to before.

The day before Agni had to leave, they were walking through a rather secluded part of the gardens, enjoying each other's company. They had taken to holding hands on these walks, and Agni used that to his advantage to jerk Kazille towards him and kiss her gently. She had been surprised, but responded, separating only with the need to breathe.

"Kazille…." He murmured, pressing his forehead against hers.

They both knew what he was going to ask, but it would be rather hard to pull off- their jobs and assignments kept taking them further and further away from each other, since they were now declared fit to do said jobs and assignments independently. Besides that, elementals mated for life, and since they were elemental-hybrids, that rule applied to them as well.

Instead, they finished their walk, retiring to Agni's rooms for Kazille to help him finish packing for the morning. They both fell asleep- exhausted- on Agni's bed.

The morning they left, Kazille returned the kiss with a definite, "Yes", before sending him on his way. The prisoners were actually a rather lively bunch for a group of people who were being escorted to where they would probably end up dying.

"But hey, at least we don't have to work for our food!"

Agni rolled his eyes, but paid special attention whenever a place called the 'Axis' was mentioned. Eventually, he reached the prison, a whole three days ahead of Kazille's prison train. A message had come from the Guardians that requested his presence back at the Central Palace as soon as he could manage it. He somehow knew that this assignment would be a lengthy one, and made his decision.

He left a message for Kazille, then headed to the Far North, which was mainly wastes. He found the seemingly abandoned train station the prisoners had talked of, and waited for a whole night and day before a train arrived. He boarded it, paid for his passage, a room, and some food, and then curled up.

Two mornings later found his disembarking for the first time in the Axis- and he knew, with barely a glance, that he would never go back.

Now, Agni had kept that promise relatively well, even when he was called in by the Sovereign a number of times to try to convince him to return to his homeland where he was needed. Fortunately, Agni was a member of the Guard, which not only provided a legitimate excuse for not returning, but also a legitimate excuse for Kazille not returning (as bound mates, one had to go wherever the other went).

However, he was now faced with another problem. Two extremely important diplomats were flying in from who-knew-where, and as Agni refused to go back to the Central Palace and report for his old monotonous tasks, the Sovereign decided to assign both him and Kazille to new, Axis-style monotonous tasks.

Like leading around visiting diplomats.

The question inevitably rose that, as the Axis had no airport and it was generally closed airspace from foreign flyers (residential flight-propelled people like Kazille and her wings were allowed), how would these diplomats be flying in?

The Sovereign had laughingly told Agni and Kazille that they would be coming in a very beautiful, probably startling manner.

Agni and Kazille hadn't believed him- even when he said to look for two great shapes in the air, one bronze and one gold.

Neither hybrid believed the Sovereign until the actual appearance of said diplomats, and that made their jaws drops. "You have got to be kidding me…." Agni muttered as they watched the two great dragons land on the roof over which they were currently hovering on Kazille's wind currents. (1)

Yugi cast a quick glance at Atemu, who sat regally beside him. The lights of the bar flashed in his eyes, as the fast-paced music caused countless people to swerve by them, occasionally dragging the two into the dance. They would, of course, dance- right back to their seat, then sit down, offering the other an apology, and get back to their nervous waiting.

It wasn't so much that they were nervous- it was more they were worried for the person they were meeting. Making one's way through London's entertainment district could be a royal pain sometimes. Yugi sipped his coke-sake mix, eyes darting over Atemu's lean frame. The dark appeared relaxed, leaning back almost casually in his spot in the small booth they had snagged, but there was a tenseness to his posture that told Yugi he would be able to whisk them out of there should danger appear.

And danger there was a plenty of, though not the kind they were used to. Yugi had never seen a woman wear as little as some of that gender did here. Nor had he ever been witness to acts better preformed in a bedroom being acted out in the next booth over.

Atemu had not wanted to come here, but their connection refused to meet them anywhere else, saying that he would definitely be there that night- it just so happened he didn't know when he would be arriving.

The main reason for Atemu's protest of the location was exactly what had caused Yugi to blush the moment they had set foot in this night-club-slash-bar. The same people making out in the next booth over (all five of them) had previously been located by the door, and were the first thing anyone who entered was sure to see.

Yugi had grown accustomed to the loud, erotic noises coming from them, although occasionally a particularly loud moan caused him to jump and move closer to his darkness, which in turn made Atemu smiled reassuringly down at his light and glare at the unsuspecting people beside them.

One of said abnormally loud moans was let loose by a young woman, whose head was currently resting on the top of the wooden divider between the two booths. She casting a calculating eye over the two of them, then turned completely around and brushed her fingers through Yugi's hair. "Aw, hello there. Don't suppose you two would want to come and join the fun?"

Yugi's blush intensified, and Atemu grabbed him closer to his side, glaring at her. The American accent had surprised him at first, but he quickly got over it, deciding to act the part of an offended lover. "How about you just stay over there with your orgy, and we'll sit here and ignore you?"

She continued to smile invitingly at Yugi, and Atemu realized he would have to do something rather drastic to get her to leave.

((Yugi?))

(…yes?)

((Forgive me?))

(What for?)

((This.))

And Atemu tilted his light's head up to his, and caught Yugi's lips with his own, pressing him back into the booth. Yugi froze, but let his eyes close and react to the kiss. They heard catcalls and whistling around them, and continued only until they could not keep this act up further without going any further.

The woman continued to grin at them, Yugi as he was catching his breath, and Atemu as he returned to his typical have-Yugi-glued-to-my-hip-so-I-can-protect-him stance. "Aw, you two make such a cute couple. Sorry for disturbing you."

And then she was pulled down again, and Yugi felt his blush only increasing as her delicate, long-fingered hand appeared over the divider to grasp it as she began to moan and pant.

(Yami?)

((Yes, aibou?))

(Do we have to meet him here?)

((It's too late to change our plans, aibou.))

(…alright.)

((Is something bothering you?))

Yugi inwardly cursed- sometimes, having someone who could read your mind got really annoying when they 'accidentally' decided to probe for personal information.

(Like what?)

((…are you angry with me for that kiss?))

Yugi nearly laughed. That's all Atemu thought it was? Well, he would certainly play along with that! (Dear Re, no! You got her to leave and go back to… um… what she was doing! If we had to make out to get her to leave I would have!)

Atemu shot him a startled look, cupping his face to turn it completely towards his own. ((Yugi.))

Yugi gulped, hearing the note in his yami's voice. (…yes…?)

((Don't you ever say or do that again!))

Yugi quailed under the furious stare. (Do what? Say what?)

((That you would give up your body to get people to stop annoying you!))

(That's what it sounded like? I mean- I wouldn't do that! Not with anyone else, especially!)

((Say that you'll never do that with anyone, period.))

(What? Why! Jii-chan said-)

((I know what jii-chan said, aibou! But you are too precious to simply throw something like that away! First times are especially important!))

Yugi felt tears pricking his eyes, but he left them, returning Atemu's fiery stare with one of his own. (First times are important, hm? Did it ever occur that you just took my first kiss- in the middle of the most raunchy, sex-driven, disgusting night-club-bar thing I have ever been to!)

Now it was Atemu's turn to quail under his partner's fury. (Do you have no sense! I'm uncomfortable, I hate it here, I want to leave because if I don't I swear I'm going to do something that everyone involved will regret- from a one-night fling to completely burning down this club, I don't care and screw it all! And then you- you, who said that you would gladly die to protect me from all the 'evils' of the world, come along and ask me, all nonchalantly, if I would forgive you for taking my first kiss, and then don't even give me a moment to say 'yes' or 'no'!)

Atemu looked at him, surprised and hurt, but didn't try to play it off as a little thing or calm Yugi down- he was not that stupid. The first kiss, as romantic as it might be, was very important to many people- and it was not a little thing. And calming Yugi down right now would be near impossible without burning the bar-club down.

So he sat there, taking Yugi's wrath, while around them people continued with their good times, not noticing the two, nearly-identical people silently arguing in the booth beside the one with the people making out.

Finally, Yugi burnt himself out, and he leaned back heavily into his seat, wondering where all that energy had come from, to rant like that for five minutes- and, where had it gone.

Atemu placed a tentative hand on Yugi's, but the light just jerked it away, glaring at his darkness.

"Erm- might you be two Levis and Atra?" They both looked up to see a handsome young man standing there, his Russian accent very thick.

Yugi growled. "He's Atra- talk to him. I'm leaving."

"Yu-aibou-"

But Yugi was storming off into the nearest dark corner, certainly not heeding his darkness' words, and the other man slid silently into his place. "I'm interrupting not, I am?"

Atemu shook his head, knowing that performing this duty was above any personal matters right now. "No, it's alright. I'll talk to him later."

"Ask you so about Horcruxes?"

"Yes, I did indeed ask about Horcruxes. You also mentioned you had a sure-fire method to track them…."

Yugi had not wanted to return to Domino, nor to Ryou's house- now generally called "Abhorsen's House", by those who knew of its existence and occupants. He didn't want to have to face anyone right then, so he headed to the one place where he was sure he could get some kind of solitude- the Dominion.

Unfortunately, he ran into Bakura almost the minute he got there, the thief grinning from ear to ear. "Ah, it's my lucky day- someone decided to drop by and say 'hi'!"

Yugi growled, pushing past him. "Leave it, Bakura. I'm not in the mood."

"The mood for what? Saying 'hi'?"

"The mood for anything involving people!" Yugi finally snapped, whirling around to face down Bakura with a glare reminiscent of Atemu when he had first been freed and was on his killing and soul-crushing sprees.

Bakura momentarily recoiled, then shrugged. "Although I do want to know what that bloody Pharaoh did to get you pissed off at him, I won't ask. If you care, the baths are free."

Yugi hadn't had any real direction in mind when he had stormed in here, but now the baths sounded like a very good place to unwind, and scream out his frustration at the world in peace.

He walked down the marble steps to the changing bench/wall, stripped down to nothing and threw all his clothes over the stone divider. Pushing some of the draperies out of his way, he reached the steps down to the bathing pool. Glad that the water was only a bit warmer than room temperature, he gratefully slid all the way into the pool, leaving only the top of his head remaining above the liquid.

He swam around a couple pillars and draperies, until he could barely touch the ground and he was out of sight of the doors. He cursed himself, thinking he should have hidden his clothing if he didn't want to be found, but decided against climbing out of the water to fix it as he swam around another pillar, the ground dropping off sharply. Yugi found himself treading water to stay afloat, but he didn't move back to the shallower water. He needed to think- and exercise was a good way to do so.

He had been losing his temper more and more lately- first with that Re-damned charm around the middle of November, now with his own yami. Although his anger with Atemu, he reasoned, was certainly well-founded, it shouldn't have been that explosive, and his frustration with the charm was completely pointless.

'Is something wrong with me?' Yugi asked himself, frowning. He dove under the water, swimming around a couple of the longer draperies and swinging himself around the great, marble pillars that supported the castle. 'I shouldn't have been so harsh with Yami… should I?'

Surfacing for a moment, he considered whether or not to run up to his chambers and grab some gillyweed. No, it was too precious a commodity to waste on swimming around in the bathing pool. Instead, he chose to sit on the small ledge that some pillars had carved into them.

He leaned back against the cool marble, stretching his back out and sighing in contentment as he heard the cracks and pops and felt his stress lessen. He frowned then, unable to enjoy himself- not with the large, gaping hole in his heart.

"Oh Yami… why did you do that?" Yugi asked the room, thoughtfully touching his fingers to his lips. He had had his life all nicely planned out: teach for a while at Hogwarts, participate in a few tournaments, then let someone win, hand over his title, and disappear back to the Axis where he, Atemu, Ryou and Bakura could work and live, and all the weirdness in their lives would be considered normal.

But then Sugoroku had died, and Ryou and Bakura found that bandolier, sword, and Book of the Dead, and suddenly they were the Abhorsen- whatever that meant in a modern-day context- and probably couldn't go back with them. And Dumbledore's hand, horribly blackened (how had that happened?), and then that kiss….

Not once had Yugi factored in a romantic relationship. There was just no way it would work: he would want to be completely faithful to whoever he loved, be able to say that they were the only one in his heart- but that would be a lie. Atemu would always hold his heart, always be a part of it. And he knew, somehow, that he held Atemu's heart as well, and neither of them would ever really, seriously, look for another life companion, since there was no need to.

So they would be two bachelors, stuck together for the rest of forever, alone. There had always been the option of a relationship between the two of them, but neither had ever really given it much thought. They loved each other, in every way possible, and they shared a kind of intimacy that only four other people could ever come close to understanding, and another two who might, if they accepted it, come close to the other's level of understanding as well.

'I convinced myself there was no way I could ever really have a relationship with anyone else after that time when Anzu kissed me on the cheek. She's the only person I ever saw as maybe more than a friend, and even that just turned out to be a lonely boy's crush.' That kiss had had nothing to it- no feeling, no sparks, no amazing clarity or heavenly voice saying, "This is the one!"

He touched his lips again, frowning. That was probably why- the only one that he could ever love was Atemu. Everyone else would just end up being ex-girlfriends (since he was pretty sure he wasn't attracted to men, although some, he had to admit, were beautiful). No fiancé, no wife (or husband), no children.

'And I can't blame it on anyone except myself. And I can't even do that, because it's not my fault the Pharaoh's soul was split in half!'

That kiss had been everything he had expected from his kiss with Anzu- everything and more. He actually didn't mind that as his first kiss, since Anzu's didn't count (it was actually on the corner of his mouth, mostly his cheek, and although it was just a little peck, it was a rather heart-felt peck).

What bothered him the most was that not only did he enjoy it, but he wanted to be kissed like that again- and the person that he wanted to be kissed by was Atemu.

'There's no way that is happening. We have our agreement- no romance- and there's no really… no really important reason why we need to be closer! We're as close as we can get! Romance wouldn't change anything! Or if it did, it would just make it worse!'

He nodded, sure of his resolve- and then a small wave from his movements splashed over his lips, and he immediately thought of the kiss again-

'I'm acting like a love-struck teenage girl.'

Well, it was his first kiss.

'That doesn't mean anything!'

Another ten minutes of soul-searching brought him the answer to a question that he had wanted answered, but never wanted to ask.

'Okay. I'm cool with being bisexual. Doesn't bother me. I think. And how dare Atemu just try to play it off like it was nothing! Okay, so he didn't actually play it off like it was nothing- but he did it so carelessly! How could he do that to me! And at least he could have told me what he was going to do!'

But Yugi was just getting himself worked up over mostly nothing, so he ducked his head under the water again, pushing off from the pillar. He swam along the bottom, eyeing the occasional randomly-growing plant. One in particular looked interesting- he swam down to see that it was like an underwater version of a fruit-bearing tree called ambrisac that the Dominion grew many of (the fruit itself could be poisonous for normal people to consume, but Yugi found it delicious, and the wine and cordial produced from the juice just as much. The juices were also used in a number of pain killers and healing droughts that Ryou liked mixing up).

He was careful not to touch it- the barbs looked deadly- but as he swam away, one of the stems reached up to brush against his chest: directly over his heart. He hissed in pain, watching as a black ink-like liquid was pumped under his skin, forming a small circle with three spars extending off of it.

The stem pulled away ('Almost like a normal plant', he realized with some annoyance), and left the blank tattoo-like mark on him. He frowned at it, but suddenly realized that he occasionally needed to breathe, and pushed off the bottom. He looked around for a second, getting his bearings, then began to swim back to the platform in the centre of the bathing pool where his clothes were.

He felt different, less irritable and less annoyed at his yami. He felt a lot more relaxed, not nearly so stressed, and perhaps all these all-nighters researching Horcruxes weren't such a good idea.

He needed to go visit Ryou, see what was up with this rather random tattoo, maybe take a break and use Bakura as a distraction for Atemu while Yugi got himself together. And then some Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley.

Katie was rather surprised to hear the doorbell ring. She had been working on mixing a special concoction that Ryou had asked her to make while he was playing with some kind of fruit-based poison and mixing it with different amounts of veritaserum. Dropping the ladle onto the magic-protected plastic sheet that had been made for exactly such a reason, she ripped off her gloves and ran to open the door. The day had been miserable (hence the playing with poison), and she didn't want anyone willing to come out all this way to stand on the doorstep in this weather.

Opening the door, she was partially relieved and partially amused at the invisible umbrella of air that Yugi had created around himself. He weakly smiled up at her. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

Katie blinked, looking outside. "What time is it? It was this dark around noon…."

Yugi shot her a slightly exasperated look. "It's two o'clock in the morning, Katie."

"Oh!" She blushed, realizing that she still had him standing on the doorstep. "Please, come in- I'll get Ryou for you."

He nodded, removing his boots and letting himself into the same parlour Katie had led them on their first day here. It had already been a month since then… He mused how quickly time flew by, but shook his head. Talk to Ryou- and maybe Katie, she was a girl, she should know something about this- ask for help about the odd tattoo, maybe see if it was poisonous, though that was unlikely. Every animal (and plant) he had ever met liked him.

Ryou stumbled into the room, rubbing sleep filled eyes as he barely stifled a yawn. "Oh, excuse me." He mumbled in apology, sitting down opposite Yugi.

Katie walked in with a tray of tea, tea cups, and biscuits. She placed them on the small wooden table in the middle of the room, nodding to Yugi and turning to Ryou. "Shall I start dinner?"

Ryou chuckled, waving her to sit down. "I think it's a bit late for that. This should be fine- and then, we're going to bed." He told her seriously.

Katie nodded, ignoring Ryou's command for her to sit. "I need to clean up what I was doing in the lower still room- if you'll excuse me?" She left the room, skirts flaring around her.

"Having fun, Ryou?" Yugi asked cheerfully.

Ryou shrugged sleepily. "We argue, we rant, we scream, we eat, we talk, we get a tonne of work done- the only thing I could complain about is that we both get so wrapped up in whatever tasks we're doing, we keep forgetting to do things like eat, sleep, and go to the washroom."

"Ah. That's what that smell was." Yugi commented light-heartedly, as Ryou threw a pillow at his face.

Ryou's expression turned serious, however, as he watched Yugi from the corner of his eye while he poured drinks. "You know that I like sleep- when I sleep. What brings you around to this pit in the middle of nowhere at a time when only the insane or extremely intoxicated are awake?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Ryou- it's Atemu."

"Ah- so you're finally going to tell me what happened a month ago?"

Yugi shot his white-haired friend a mocking glare, but gratefully took his tea from Ryou's hands and leant back into the soft, comfortable couch. "It's… it's sort of that, but it's something else, too…."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "Sure, make it easy for me to understand. Alright! Alright!" He held up his hands in mock surrender as Yugi honoured him with a real glare. "I'm listening! No more sarcastic comments!"

Yugi sighed, leaning back further and letting himself fall into the comfortable folds. Maybe he could just take a little nap-

No, he had to stay awake. He didn't know what the black thing was, and he didn't want to have to face Atemu tomorrow with no idea about how to act or feel.

"Yami… he… we were at that bar, waiting for the 'contact' to show up. Russian, it turns out, too. Oh, right. The people in the booth next to us seemed to not understand that certain activities should be only done in a bedroom, and it was rather embarrassing." Ryou nodded in sympathy, a slight blush on his own face.

"One of the girls- an American, by her accent- asked us to come join them. Yami told her no, but when she kept after us, he just grabbed me and- well, he kissed me. Hard and passionate, like a lover would. Afterwards she said we were a cute couple and left us alone. But- well, we got into a fight, and I just really don't know what to do or say to him now."

Ryou jumped on the part of the story that had been left out. "Why the fight, and what's got you so worked up over a kiss?"

Yugi blushed, motioning Ryou to sit closer to him. He knew that Katie wasn't in the room- he also knew that she occasionally decided to use that ear-thing from her school friends and eavesdrop. Ryou obligingly sat down beside Yugi, looking worriedly at his friend.

"I- he took my first real kiss, Ryou, without even asking. And the scariest thing- is that I want him to do it again."

Ryou reeled back as though he had been slapped, but immediately leant forward again. "Yugi… you know why, right?"

Yugi nodded. "I know. I've gone through everything- the 'double heart' thing, every time we ever talked about this sort of thing. There's no reason for it, life would be better without this complication, but… I just can't help it." He absent-mindedly touched his lips again, shook his head. "And then what jii-chan said to me before he died keeps running through my head. He told me to live- not to just exist, but live, and experience every emotion, every feeling, because then I really would know what it's like to be alive."

"Including lust and passion?"

Ryou didn't even need to ask, but Yugi nodded anyways. "It's been four months since jii-chan died, but I still hear those words like he just finished speaking to me."

Ryou gently held Yugi's hand with his own, setting down their teacups onto the table (he could clean the stains later)(2). "Yugi… I don't know what to tell you. I would say 'follow your heart', or something corny like that, but that would lead into a romantic relationship, which we've all been trying to avoid.

"So the best I can say is weigh your options. Forgive him, forgive yourself, and get on with life as you were living it. Or maybe do the forgiveness thing, but try it out- whatever 'it' leads to- and see where that takes you. Or maybe after you forgive him and yourself, you could aim for a real relationship. Or, you could not do the forgiveness thing, and still choose from the above options." He teased Yugi a bit, poking him in the side and causing Yugi to yelp. "You never know, right?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Thanks for all your help."

Ryou grinned. "No problem."

He poked Yugi again- but this time Yugi's yelp wasn't from surprise. He had a definite wince on his face, and Ryou obviously frowned. "Yugi?"

The other light looked up at him through pain-clouded eyes. "That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about…." And he collapsed forward, Ryou barely managing to reach out and steer him into his lap instead of the steaming hot tea.

He stood up, picking up Yugi bridal-style and striding quickly to the doors, his momentary exhaustion forgotten. "Katie!"

She came running in from the still room through the kitchen (no Extendable Ear in sight), and froze when she saw the diorama before her. Ryou growled, stalking up the stairs to the room they had decided would be Yugi's (and Atemu's) whenever they stayed with them.

"Katie, grab whatever medical-looking things you can find in the lower still room and in my own, personal, room. Even if it doesn't look medical, bring it."

She nodded, running back to where she had been cleaning up and throwing things into a bag.

Ryou hurriedly lay Yugi down on his bed, ripping his shirt open and staring for a moment at the large, black symbol over his heart. Yugi's breathing had shallowed, his eyes clenched in pain even in sleep, and sweat was pouring down his face and body.

Having no idea how else to get in touch with the Pharaoh, he reached out for the disused link between himself and Bakura (who had taken to staying in the Dominion and wrecking havoc where so ever he felt like causing panic.

(Yami!)

There was silence for a couple of seconds, before the hesitant reply. ((Yes, hikari?))

(Get me Atemu!)

((What am I, a fucking operator?))

(Yami, something's happened to Yugi. I don't have time to explain, but you need to find the Pharaoh for me. I don't know what's going on, but I have the feeling leaving Atemu out of this is the worst decision we can make.)

More silence, then Ryou felt something just behind his eyes, and he closed them for a moment, letting Bakura get adjusted before her opened them again to let his darkness look over Yugi.

As the thief retreated, Ryou blinked a couple of times. ((The midget's aura is a lot worse off than it was earlier. Before, he was just distressed. Now it looks like he's antagonizing, in pain, distressed and just plain stressed.))

(Thank you for the wonderful summary, now please get Atemu!)

Ryou felt Bakura fortifying his body with more Shadows before he finally started preparing to Shift. ((I'm going, hikari. And I'll send Anriel and Delta along with some of the stuff that you left here.))

Ryou had never been more grateful that he had a yami, and sent all his emotions down the link to Bakura- in muted amounts, as the King of Thieves had a distinct grudge against such unnecessary things like emotions.

Bakura grunted, causing Ryou to stem the flow. ((That's nice, now can I live with you again?))

Ryou almost cried in relief. He had hidden it, but it had hurt, living without his darkness. (Of course! We just need to tell Katie….)

((You can tell her, I'm busy.))

(Thank you, yami!)

((Stop with the emotions!))

Ryou was barely able to manage to stifle a chuckle as he return to the real world and began to strip Yugi. He heard movement behind him, and looked back to see Katie setting up whatever bottles, vials and droughts she had grabbed. Many of them were already organized in the way he liked them, and he briefly wondered how long she had been in the room already.

Ignoring those thoughts, he concentrated on Yugi. As he didn't know what had happened, nor where this… odd marking had come from, he couldn't do much. Getting Atemu here to fill in the missing pieces was of critical importance, and he made sure to send that through the link to Bakura, who grunted and waved his worries aside.

An odd stretching feeling in the natural fabric of the world told him that Anriel and Delta were on their way up to the room, and he turned to Katie to inform her. She, however, was already helping the two carry all their things into the room, simply accepting that they were there to help.

Ryou smiled at her ('All that time in Gryffindor with the infamous Harry Potter must have made her used to unexplainable things…'), and turned back to the young light on the bed.

"Delta, full analysis. Anriel, I want each kind of simple and complex vaccines prepared. Show Katie how to do so- you'll need help. Before you start, Katie- hand me a small syringe?"

Katie dubiously handed him the small needle used for taking blood, and he gently removed a small portion of the black tattoo (which was quickly filled in, in a rather painful-looking manner). He injected it into a test tube, extremely glad for all his advanced science training, especially in biology and chemistry.

He felt a surge of pain and annoyance through the link, causing him to pause his actions, before a highly uplifting feeling made him roll his eyes, the wonderful feeling of Bakura being back in his heart overruling any annoyance he had with the dark spirit.

((That bastard just punched me- with Shadows- in the middle of a damn bar, for 'daring to lie to him and say that Yugi was in trouble'. Dammit all, I'm a better yami than him- at least I know how you're doing.))

Ryou sent every kind of praise (and one or two of submission) to his darkness, adding a drop of a certain chemical to the black liquid in the test tube as he heard the first noises downstairs. (You really are the best yami ever, Bakura-sama.)

((Now that's the kind of respect I like to get!))

Ryou rolled his eyes, concentrating on what he had in the tube when he heard the first sounds of running footsteps on this floor. "Atemu! In here!"

The darkness rushed in, surprised Katie and almost making her drop the vial she was holding (Anriel grabbed it from her before it could slip out of her hands). "You- you look like-"

"Ryou, what's wrong?" Atemu asked worriedly. "I didn't feel anything happen, it couldn't have been an attack-"

"It wasn't." Delta told them, staggering back. "That is some kind of poison from the underwater version of ambrisac. We call it black amber- and it's eight times as poisonous as fruit juices from the ambrisac fruits."

Ryou paled, and Atemu hurried over to Yugi's side. "Aibou, please wake up. Please!"

Ryou felt sympathy for the Pharaoh, but pushed him aside. Yugi was able to eat the ambrisac fruits (which were apparently around three times as poisonous as the venom from a King Cobra), so this shouldn't have such a pronounced effect on the light. Unless, of course, there was something else to it.

"Atemu," he finally called out, needing to break up the heart-wrenching scene, "we need room."

The Pharaoh nodded, but couldn't find the strength to move from his light's side. Ryou sighed, making a quick decision. "If you're not going to move, go through his memories of the last hour. Try and find where, when and how this… thing got on him."

Atemu nodded, for once accepting orders, and, closing his eyes, concentrated on his light's memories. During the five minutes he searched, Ryou and Delta applied themselves to helping Anriel mix the cures, vaccines and anti-venoms, while Katie watch and helped where she could.

With a slight gasp, Atemu struggled away from Yugi, face pale and shocked. He tenderly traced a trail down the side of Yugi's face, before looking up at Ryou. "When he was down in the baths, he found the underwater ambrisac. The plant itself put this… this thing in him, though for what purpose or to what end I have no idea."

Ryou nodded, hurriedly mixing up the last of the cures- and stopped. Ambrisac wasn't normally poisonous to Yugi- the fruit, or the wine. The underwater version's two possible nectars were called white and black amber- white was perfectly fine to drink as it was essentially a slightly-flavoured, heka and magic-filled variety of water, but black was, as already stated, 24 times as poisonous as the venom of a King Cobra- and extremely deadly if ingested.

He ran through the facts again and turned to Katie. "Remember what I was fooling around with earlier? Get it." She tore from the room the hallway to his own private still room, and was back with the vial containing the ambrisac-veritaserum mixture. He frowned, and turned instead to Delta and Anriel. "Grab me a fresh sample of the ambrisac fruit, white, and black amber."

They were gone, and Ryou looked again at the odd little mixture he had perfected. Meant originally to be a 'silent killer', as ambrisac was naturally fragrant and had a distinctive taste (excluding white amber), this had turned into a rather odd, rather inexplicable potion that had no obvious effects. There was something about it that made him consider it a catalyst for the other forms of amber, and eyed the black markings on Yugi's chest.

White was non-poisonous, black was what they were trying to counteract, and the fruit-veritaserum were what they were using as a catalyst. The wine was just wine, with no special properties. The fruit juice itself would just get mixed in with the fruit-veritaserum, which wouldn't do any good.

So, logically, the only option left was mixing the catalyst with the white amber, hope for a good result, and try it out.

Anriel and Delta returned then, mainly with white amber. Ryou thanked them profusely, and, grabbing the white amber, set up a contraption he hadn't used since his University chemistry course- a stop cock attached to a graduated cylinder, suspended over a small, Erlenmeyer flask which held the fruit-veritaserum.

He turned the clasp on the stop cock so that only a small drop of the white amber would be added to the flask approximately every five seconds. He waited for something- anything- to happen, the others gathering around and watching what he was doing. Finally, he noticed the fruit-veritaserum, which until that point had been opalescent and a cloud-coloured white, turn a sudden, definite shade of black.

He yelped, reaching forward and swirling the flask, sighing in relaxation as he watched the color dissolve back to the original white-opalescence.

This happened a number of times, and he watched each time as the color returned to the white. However, once it didn't turn all the way back and was a greyish color, he shut the clamp of the stop cock and puller out the flask- and a syringe.

Atemu growled at him as he realized what Ryou was about to do and stepped between his hikari and the thief's hikari, but Ryou just scowled at him. "Either we give him some of this, or he stays like that."

Atemu took a moment to weigh his options, then let Ryou through. The Abhorsen signalled to the three behind him to start packing up- those other cures wouldn't be much help in this case. He pulled some of the new potion into the new syringe, and gently administered it directly to the tattooed area. It took a few minutes, but slowly Yugi's coloring went from the sickly grey-white it had been to a healthy tan (or as tanned as Yugi got), his breathing evened out, and the black tattoo-

Ryou frowned at it as the three spars separated themselves from the main circle, and extended their own feelers up and over Yugi's shoulder, slightly onto his neck and across the rest of the left side of his upper chest, sneaking their way under his arm and onto his back.

It was only after this that Ryou pronounced he was satisfied with Yugi's condition, and helped the three girls to finish packing up as Atemu sat down, ever so carefully, on the side of Yugi's bed. As Ryou was the last one out, he alone got to see how Atemu lovingly traced the contours of the hikari's face, gazing longingly at his eyes as though willing him to wake up.

Ryou smiled sadly, softly shutting the door on the sad scene, even as beautiful as it was, framed by the moon shinning in through the wall of windows.

The girls waited for him down in the parlour, and Katie, too tired to cook anything, summoned whatever was laying around in the kitchen for them to eat. Delta and Anriel looked politely on as the two humans devoured their slices of apple pie.

Finally, Katie sat back, casting a worried glance up at the room two floors above them. "I don't suppose anyone could explain what that was about?"

Ryou felt a twisting within his own soul, then in the area around them, and he sighed as Bakura took form. Katie stared, slack-jawed, at the other man who had shown up- but hurriedly tried to feign disinterest in what was going on on the couch across from her. For the new man had picked Ryou up, sat down in Ryou's spot, and then situated the young man in his lap, hands held loosely around Ryou's waist.

The young man smiled apologetically at Katie, but she shrugged, grinning. "Is that a yes?"

Bakura chuckled. "I think I like you, mortal. All you need to do is learn to rob properly, and-"

"-and learn to ignore him, and you're set." Ryou cut Bakura off, shooting the yami a glare. Bakura shrugged, indifferent.

"I guess we should start at the beginning…."

The next morning Katie woke up surprisingly early, considering they had stayed awake until five in the morning, talking about their collective history- 'their collective history' meaning anything and everything that had been influenced, caused by, and including, the events of five thousand years prior in Egypt, which they (none too affectionately) called the War of a Thousand Years.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just call it the 'Millennium War' or something?" Katie had asked, and Ryou chuckled, explaining that that would be easier, but it didn't get the point across as well.

She had stayed awake for the rest of the morning, thinking over what she had been told. It made too much sense to be made up. Anriel's parting words seemed stuck in her mind: "Just remember that, as much as we might want to join in this dance, we are nothing more than spectators, supporting characters in a story. We get to watch and observe and judge and laugh at all the poor fools who are the main characters- and, as much as we might want to be one, we are stuck with the cameo roles, with playing the music instead of dancing to it. We're not the heroes- we just help and aid the heroes in any way we can."

Katie had decided that that was a good way for her to live. The house that had once been Madame Bella's had become the new Abhorsen's House, her new housemates were the Abhorsen, a 5000-year-old King of Thieves, a 5000-year-old Pharaoh, the young man around whom all their lives were centered and the reincarnation of said 5000-year-old Pharaoh, and (eventually, she was sure) the leader of Egypt's last surviving clan and guardian of both the Pharaohs and the darkness that said Pharaoh had sealed away.

Somehow, in all this mess, being an 18 year old graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed a little petty, and not near enough to be considered 'hero' status.

So when Ryou asked her if she wouldn't mind popping down to Diagon with Anriel and Lasine (she had been rather shocked to discover that they had once been humans, were no longer, and had been saved on the verge of death and torture) to get some supplies- like real food- she had happily accepted, needing to get away for a bit and clear her head.

The three of them walked quickly down Diagon Alley, Katie easily picking out the shops she needed and Anriel and Lasine helping to carry everything. The velvet, ruby cloak that Ryou had given her as an early Christmas gift swirled around her legs, making it appear she was floating instead of walking. Lasine was clad in a stunning sky-blue dress, usual sword-belt around her waist, and diamond sparkles in her long, straight hair. Anriel was a bit more conservatively dressed, her white long-sleeved shirt and long skirt matching with the typical black border, black boots clicking on the cobblestones on the street as Lasine's dainty blue slipper did nothing to help her stay warm. Not that it mattered- a twist of their will was all it took, and then neither of them felt any kind of weather.

Katie found herself wishing that could happen to her, but quickly changed her mind. What these two young women had gone through- and the third, Shimasu, who she had yet to meet- was more than enough to make her wish that Voldemort was tortured half as much.

"Alright- next we need some kind of vegetables." Both girls moaned, but Katie grinned and dragged them into the appropriate store. It was her job to help make sure everyone stayed healthy- there was no doubt in her mind that Dumbledore was planning something big for Voldemort, and that her new housemates were a big part of it.

Yugi sighed, stretching out on his bed next to Atemu. It had been two days since 'that' incident, and they had agreed to, for the time being, ignore it. If it should lead anywhere, then they'd follow, but only should 'that' come up again of its own will.

Of course, being able to stretch out and wrap his arms around the Pharaoh whenever he wished was a definite good thing, and having Atemu sleep beside him instead of inside his heart made all the difference when it came to peaceful dreams.

He pushed himself up on his elbows, feeling his newly-acquired tattoos flex slightly under his skin. It was taking some getting used to, but it provided, he and Atemu had realized, a dam against his magic and heka overflow, like what he had created, and what Jounouchi had become, for Kaiba.

He looked out at the sun, halfway to its zenith. They really should have been out of bed hours ago (and they had been, for the dawn prayers to the gods), but today seemed to be filled with lethargy. Yugi, however, was determined to get down to Diagon Alley and see what they had in the way of Christmas presents.

He poked Atemu awake, and slipped out of bed. Throwing a tunic over his head, he slipped the chorded belt from his under-cloak around his waist, the bright sky blue a distinct contrast against the pale white of his tunic and the shimmering gold of the Sennen Puzzle.

He slipped on the felt sandals he had taken to wearing around Abhorsen's House, and quietly treaded into the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen. Ryou, he noticed, had been up for a while, and was probably in the fields if the faint aura pattern left in the air was anything to go by. Yugi grabbed a large mug from one of the cupboards and filled it halfway with highly sugared coffee, the other half with highly sugared tea.

He sat down at the small table by the kitchen window, which looked out on a large vegetable garden around the back of the house. The kitchen itself was furnished with wood- and lots of it. Mostly stained oak, the backsplash of gentle greens, yellows and browns was welcome against the stark white of the appliances, counters, cupboards, table and chairs. It had a very country, yet homey feel. Different from what the Kame Game Shop had been like- but Yugi, for the first time since Sugoroku had died, felt completely at peace, sitting there and looking out at the grounds, the occasional droplet of sunlight trickling through the thick cloud cover and casting it's brilliance over the garden, or the trees, or the roof of the shed where all the gardening tools were kept.

He pulled the day's paper over to him- both the muggle and the wizarding papers- and skimmed through the headings. To his surprise, a number of them were similar, although the wizarding paper had a magical spin on things, and the muggle papers had a scientific spin.

He found the 'opinions' sections, and sat there reading them, often laughing about both muggle and wizard's perspective on things.

There was one letter that had been sent in that caught his attention. It was in response to an article in the muggle papers three days before, and brought up some interesting facts:

The Truth Don't Lie

RE: Snail or Man (December 14)

The police have been really slow following up on all those attacks and deaths lately, but it's not completely their fault. The government has put up a 'confidential' and 'restricted' status on these attacks, so no one can investigate. And those supposed sightings of people flying on brooms and dragons following them is probably somehow connected. From what we know, all those people who have been found dead had no markings on their bodies- it was like they just dropped dead. Literally. If the government allowed interested people to investigate on their own, then it would be our necks if something happens. There's been a lot of 'weird occurrences' lately, and I, for one, would like to eventually get to the bottom of this.

Signed, Incensed Activist

(That's true, but if anything were to happen to the private investigators, the UN would be after the government for allowing such investigations to take place.)

Yugi frowned, almost missing his mouth as he tilted the coffee mug too early. Catching himself, he took a careful sip, putting the paper down. Grabbing a pear from the bowl of fruit in front of him, he bit into it, only to spit it out again. It wasn't rotten- but, for some reason, it tasted like sand in his mouth.

He glared at the fruit and walked over to the fridge, absent-mindedly grabbing one of the ambrisac fruits Anriel and Delta had brought when he was sick. He bit into that, smiled a bit as the slightly sour juices trickled down his throat.

He walked back over to the table, sat down at his spot, and stared at the papers spread out before him. So, muggles were finally catching on that something was up (he couldn't imagine why the paper hadn't edited out the part about dragons and people on flying brooms, though). He was worried about the 'private investigations' thing, though. If people did start with that, it could lead them- and everyone else- into a whole world of trouble.

Casting his hand around in the air, he pulled a piece of paper (not parchment, he was happy to see), and a fountain pen over to him. He eyed it- the pen was tradition, with the slanted, chisel tip that such pens had. Practicing using it on a corner of the paper, he smiled at the definite flair and flourish with which he could write and set to work.

Seeking the Truth

RE: The Truth Don't Lie (December 17)

Although there have been a number of 'weird occurrences', would it not be better to just let things lie? Although the government has barred the police and investigations team from looking further into these situations, who's to say that no one else has been assigned- or volunteered- to take up the case? If we keep ourselves out of these investigations, there's less chance of getting caught up in it, or being another casualty to look into. You might discover the 'Truth', but what price would it be worth? Torture and/or death? The pain of your loved ones? Something will be done, and soon- but no one can move when there's no clue where to move to. The attacks- if that's what they are- have been random, with no clearly defined pattern. People better suited, and trained, will be chosen to handle this- all that takes is time.

Signed, Levis.

Smiling, Yugi put the pen down, grinning at the letter. Hopefully, people will get the point that rushing straight into something like this would not be a good idea- then again, they might not even realize how dangerous it is, and rush into this war of mages anyways.

Casting his hand as he sipped his coffee-tea, he pulled an envelope over to him, and quickly wrote down the address of the paper on the front. He hoped his letter would make it- if people got too incensed, they might do something really stupid.

He blew on the ink on the letter to dry it, and folded it carefully into thirds before placing it neatly inside the envelope. As an added touch to the envelope, instead of sealing it the usual way (with licking the paste on the back flap), he Casted a candle and matches over to him, and called the Shadows of the House and his own to make him a coat of arms for Abhorsen's House, invert it, and make a seal for him to use.

He tried out the seal on a scrap piece of paper a few times, getting the hang of using it. Smiling as he saw the impression (a shield with the five different symbols of the Charter- a spade, a tower, a seven-pointed star, a key, and one of the Great Charter Marks for Life- centered around an arabesque 'A', with a scroll at the bottom reading 'Ubi honor ibi sum'), he sealed the envelope with it, put the appropriate postage on it, and Shifted down to the post box on the country road that normally would be a half-hour's drive. Looking around to see if anyone else was there (which they weren't), he placed the envelope into the box, and Shifted back to the House as Atemu walked sleepily into the kitchen.

Yugi smiled up at him, and Atemu returned the smile, stealing Yugi's mug and downing its contents, before finishing up the pear that Yugi had rejected.

"Well, aibou? What do we do today?" He asked, slipping his own tunic- black with white trim- over his head and tugging it into its proper spot. Yugi helped him, pulling one of the pointed corners down over the baggy pants Atemu had taken to wearing, that he would occasionally wear when he was Pharaoh.

Yugi patted the seat beside him and held out the seal he had made. Atemu inspected it, nodding in appreciation- and the quality of seal that was obvious on the scrap paper before him.

"I was thinking of getting everyone Christmas presents- including the Hogwarts teachers." Yugi told him, stretching back in his chair.

Atemu waved the seal at him. "And this is to be one of them?"

Yugi nodded happily. "Yup! I want to make a whole set- you know how people used to wear their seals as rings, right? And maybe get another fountain pen- and an ever-lasting quill with the appropriate colors…."

Atemu laughed, placing the seal on the table. "Alright, so that's Ryou. What about thief- and everyone else?"

Yugi thought about it, smiled. "Magic for the muggles, muggle stuff for the mages?"

Atemu shook his head, smiling at Yugi. "And that wouldn't offend the mages?"

"Oh! No- we'll spell some of it for the people who are anti-muggle-objects, but for the most part this should be fine!"

"So- should we buy now and do seals later, seals now and buy later, or go out somewhere and do the seals there?"

Yugi tested the aura of the House- Ryou was pretty far out still, although he had started heading back. "Let's do the seals quickly, and hide them in our room. Ryou will be back here in half an hour- we can go out shopping with him!"

Atemu laughed, Casting around for more scrap paper to test the seals on. "So- ring, pen, quill- stationary?"

Yugi's eyes glimmered with excitement. "Yes!"

Half an hour later found the stamp-seal, ring-seal, pen, quill, and personalized ink bottle and stationary carefully placed in a wooden box in a corner of the Shadow Realm (the possibility that Katie or whoever decided to clean their room and find the box was too great). The box itself was lined with navy blue and crimson velvet, and the wooden lid bore an engraved and enlarged seal, this one coloured with lapis lazuli, diamond, amber, ruby, turquoise, gold, silver, electron, and obsidian.

Ryou found them back in the kitchen, relaxing with the papers and sharing a mug of the odd coffee-tea combination that Yugi had become almost as fond of as his sake-coke (the scrap paper they had perfected using the seal on was currently burning in the fireplace).

"Finally decided to get up, hm?" Ryou asked sardonically, a teasing note in his voice. He hung up his cloak on a small peg by the kitchen door out the garden, through which he had entered- apparently, the front door was for special people, like guests.

There were a number of exists and entrances to Abhorsen's House (most of which were both). The kitchen door, the parlour doors, the main still room door, the indoor greenhouse doors (which led to the outdoor greenhouse, which had another set of doors), the windows of every room on the ground floor (including the ones that weren't floor-to-ceiling), the balcony doors on the second floor, the windows that weren't balcony doors, but were situated above the shed that was against the outer wall of the still room, the large windows in the library- which was in the round tower- and the even larger windows in the observatory, which was the dome on top of the round tower.

Yugi still wasn't sure why there was an observatory in this House. According to Katie, Madame Bella had never been sure either. They weren't high enough to get any good views with the high-powered telescope, except on very clear nights- and those weren't much better than what one could see with a normal telescope.

Regardless, the only doors (and windows) that they weren't to use except on special occasions (the Royal Family coming to visit, a major fire) were those in the foyer- the main reception room- and the main doors, which opened into the 'mudroom', which was essentially another foyer, only a little more bare- for those raining days when mud was likely to get everywhere, but they still had special guests.

Yugi looked up at Ryou, about to ask if they would ever have any special guests, when Atemu coughed- they both looked over to him, surprised (spirits, as a rule, don't get sick). "Didn't you have something to ask, Yugi?"

Yugi grinned, remembering why they were waiting for Ryou. "We're going to go Christmas shopping. Do you want to come with us?"

Ryou smiled, but shook his head. "I've done most of mine, and for the ones I haven't bought something for, I'm going to make something."

Yugi smiled at him, standing. "Then we won't keep you from your beautiful works of art. Come on, Yami- I want to actually see Diagon at least once!"

Atemu chuckled, standing and following Yugi to the still room, where they left their cloaks. In passing, he pulled Ryou to him, and whispered in his ear, "If Bakura troubles you, we'll be seconds away."

Ryou smiled up at the Pharaoh. "Don't worry, Atemu- he won't."

Atemu shrugged, leaving the room. "If we're not back in time for dinner, we'll call!"

"Dinner's at seven!"

"…then we won't be back for dinner!"

Ryou rolled his eyes, but laughed as he heard the arguments about where they would be going to dinner, then.

A tugging on his heart made him look up- straight into amber. When he was younger, he would have jumped back, shocked and scared. Now he leant forward, greeting Bakura with a loose hug. "Have fun tormenting the children?"

Bakura barked out a laugh. "Children? Yadonushi, did you forget where I was?"

Ryou pouted. "The government acts like children, though."

Bakura smirked, gesturing to the papers, where Yugi had left the one he had responded to open on the table. "They don't care about the public's opinion- as long as they can make it look like they're doing something, they'll stay in power, even if more people die and no cause is found. The Prime Minister, at least, seems to understand the gravity of the situation, but his party won't support him and the opposition want them to stay in power, so that the other parties can blame the ruling party when election time rolls around."

Ryou sighed, falling back into the chair that Yugi had vacated, Bakura pulling up the one Atemu had sat in. "Looks like Yugi found this article, too." Ryou idly commented.

Bakura looked over the table, and smirked. "And looks like he's done something about it- there's paper here, and a pen. He probably wrote back to this 'Incensed Activist' and reamed them out."

Ryou laughed, nodding. "And that will probably work better than going to the government, anyways."

"To ruining the government's image and fuelling public unrest!" Bakura mimicked clinking glasses with Ryou in a toast, then stood.

Ryou blinked up at him. "Hey, you just got back! Where are you going?"

Bakura chuckled. "Apparently, Malik's getting more and more frustrated about this non-magical, non-homicide murder pit. He's decided to call in the expert, and see what he can find."

Ryou stifled a laugh, standing with Bakura and moving to the stairs. "Then bring the bandolier. Just in case- you remember all the patterns?"

Bakura snorted. "You've had me studying that Book for the last four months, hikari." The unspoken message was clear, though- "If I don't, I'll search your memory or ask you."

He was back in seconds, carefully handing the leather bandolier to the yami. "Be careful- and try not to kill Malik."

"No promises, hikari."

And Bakura Shifted to Egypt, and Ryou was left alone in the House. "Well…" he muttered, looking around. "I guess I should probably get back to the still room and mix up some more of that amber stuff for Yugi…."

Three days later, Bakura was still not back, Yugi, Yami, and Ryou had done all their Christmas shopping, Malik, Isis, Seto, Jounouchi, and Mokuba were coming to the House on Christmas Eve to spend a week in England- and Yugi had the great 'fortune' to see that his letter (which had been run the day after he had sent it in) had invoked a response.

Times are Changing

RE: Seeking the Truth (December 17)

How do we know that there is a group of people who are looking into this? The government itself has even blown off all attempts to investigate these Occurrences. We have to take a stand for what we believe in- especially the Right to Live in a safe country. If there is a group investigating this, they are a private investigation team- why should others not be allowed to form one as well? It sounds almost as if you are afraid of encountering the people who are committing these atrocities, and are trying to force your views onto others. If people want to look into these incidents themselves, why should they not be allowed to? If they want to endanger themselves, the UN should respect that as well, as every person has the right of choice.

Signed, I.A. (Incensed Activist)

(It's a good point, but Levis isn't forcing his opinion on anyone)

Yugi was grateful that the editorial editor had added something in his defence. He frowned, though, worried about I.A. Finally, he decided to go ahead with another letter- and try to calm down. He would need another one of those amber shot things- which Ryou had been making a lot of, lately- and it had only been a week.

The Right to Live

RE: Times are Changing (December 20)

Every person does have a right to chose- good from bad, right from wrong, living from dieing, attempting a homicide investigation from letting the professionals do one- and yes, there are professionals on the job, though the government refuses to actually say anything. If I am forcing my views on others (which I'm not trying to do), then forgive me, but it seems that because people have gotten so wrapped up in these Occurrences, they seem to have forgotten the important point- people's lives are being lost every day. And you might lose your life, should you attempt to reach the bottom of this. The UN is already looking this way, as these Occurrences might spread to other countries. If something should happen to someone who is part of a private investigation team (especially one not sanctioned by the government), the UN would have to stop all investigations, as it would be considered a breach of the government's authority. The only thing that the government is actively doing right is dissuading people from looking into these Occurrences themselves- if any lives are lost, this could end up being considered a breach of the basic Human Rights Charter that most countries have accepted into their Constitution. Start a team if you wish- but don't be surprised if you should have people threatening you to stop your investigation, and don't be surprised if a man or woman comes through your door with the intent to kill. Everyone wants the same thing- to be safe in a country that acknowledges Human Rights. By ignoring these warnings, your only making yourself more vulnerable.

Signed, Levis

Yugi signed off with a flourish, grinning at the fountain pen. He couldn't, of course, break into his already-wrapped Christmas present for Ryou, so he made his own little seal and sealed the back of the new envelope.

Five minutes later the new letter was on its way to the London newspaper, and Yugi was sitting again in his chair in front of the kitchen fireplace. It had been snowing- well, more like blizzard-ing- outside, and he was really, really glad to be able to put his feet up and warm up inside.

Two more days, he noted on the calendar. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, and the day after Christmas Day. His gifts to the teachers had been given to the portraits, spirits, house elves and Peeves, to be deposited in each teacher's room on the day of. His other friend's Christmas presents were stores safely away in their corner of the Shadow Realm, as was Atemu's present.

Yugi wasn't sure if Atemu had really wanted it, but when they had been shopping for Bakura's present, he had caught Atemu staring at it, as though Remembering it….

Yugi sighed, looking out the window at the blizzard. The girls would definitely be apparating back, Bakura would be Shifting with Malik, Isis and Rashid anyways, as would Ryou from London. Atemu- he wasn't sure where the Pharaoh was now, but it couldn't have been all that far away. Since they had spent that day out, the yami had made a point to be near, if not visible, to his hikari at all times.

Yugi cast back his thoughts to the look on Atemu's face when he had first seen what had become his Christmas present. Although they had- for the most part- recovered his memories from 5000 years ago, those memories had been visions, like dreams- accurate to a point and no further. They were comprised of two memories- which would give them bias anyways- which had warped together to create a single history. Then Yugi-tachi had snuck in, which further warped the events, and then modern-Bakura, deceived by Zoku Necrophadisu all those years….

Needless to say, those memories weren't completely accurate (Yugi doubted they would ever find out exactly what had happened- when had Seth revolted, for example?). Occasionally, something they would stumble upon would trigger a True Memory as they were being called, and cause Atemu to Remember something that had actually happened, that hadn't in the Memory World.

Yugi felt Atemu's mind brush against his own inquiringly, and he sent easy, laid-back and calming thoughts to the darkness. Apparently, he was out of practice, because Atemu Shifted into the room within seconds and stood over Yugi, face a picture of worry.

"Yami- don't worry, everything's fine."

"It's not, you know it, please don't lie to me." Atemu hadn't actually said those things, but the look on his face and the emotions emanating from his side of the link spoke for themselves.

Yugi had to look away- but his eyes were inevitably drawn to the burning crimson inches from his face. His breath caught- one week was not sufficient time to burry feelings better left untouched. He finally relented, if only so that Atemu might remember the concept of personal space.

"I… I just feel like I failed you."

"You did not fail me." Atemu countered swiftly, pressing his hand against the side of Yugi's face. Yugi leaned gratefully into the touch, sighing slightly to attempt to release some tension.

"I did. Not all your memories are back- some of them are just warped versions of what did happen. They're not-"

"I once said that I did not need my memories, as long as I could stay with you." Atemu told him, in almost a warning tone. "I promised you that, if I could do without them, I would, so I could stay by your side and have you forever by mine. I broke that promise, simply because I was tempted with the offer of knowledge- like this 'Adam' and 'Eve' people from the Christian Bible and Jewish Torah.

"I have made another promise- a pledge, witnessed by the powers of the Realm of Sakura: that I would protect and stay by your forever. If that same apple of memories was to be offered again, I would gladly reject it. I know all I need to, and I have all I need- everything I need."

Atemu leaned forward to nuzzle Yugi's neck, helping to further release some tension.

"But it is the Puzzle Holder's Duty to be the Guardian of Darkness and help restore the Pharaoh's memories, and the Pharaoh to his rightful place." Yugi mumbled, still worried though some of that stress had been lightened by Atemu's coddling.

"You have been an excellent Guardian, Yugi- and I know you will continue to be for the rest of your mortal life, and whenever you should join me in Tuat. You have helped restore my memories- which would be biased and not exactly as they once were, anyways. And you have helped restore me to my rightful place in Tuat and the Realms of the Gods. And now, aibou- now I have decided to deny my place, deny what is rightfully mine, so that I could stay with you."

"Why?"

"You are my light, my sanity, my heart, my kindness, my salvation, my love. You are to me as a saviour like Christ or God is to the faithful. To be able to touch you, feel your emotions, help you as you helped me- it is like the sweetest reward for whatever else I have done or endured. Eternity spent in the Puzzle would be worth a moment spent with you."

Yugi felt his blush- which had never gone away- darken, and he gulped, trying to ease the tension that he felt by making a joke. "You speak like a lover would to his partner before- well, before that."

Atemu chuckled, continuing to nuzzle as he slid himself slowly onto Yugi's lap. "I do? Too bad we aren't then, hm?"

Yugi laughed also, but it was wavering and rather weak. Atemu immediately picked up on it and pulled away to look Yugi in the eyes. Tentatively, he lowered his head to Yugi's, their lips millimetres apart and-

"We're home!" Atemu nearly fell off his light's lap, saving himself by Shifting out of the room into their own private room two floors above. Yugi coughed, trying to get rid of his blush as Lasine, Anriel, and Katie ploughed through the door from the parlour, which had the only fireplace in the whole House connected to the floo network.

Lasine immediately noticed the blush, however, and quickly put down her groceries to place her own face inches away from Yugi's. "Why's your face red, Master?"

He shot her a look, his blush disappearing. "What have I said about calling me 'Master'?"

"Sorry!"

Katie walked over to see what was wrong, and when nothing was (except for his wet clothing from outside) she sent him up to his room to change into some nice, warm clothing. He left the kitchen gratefully, stretching as he walked up the stairs.

They had just gotten back on a non-romantic basis too….

He shook his head, preparing himself to face Atemu. Reaching out a hand for the door knob, he was surprised as Atemu opened it for him, pulled him into the room, and shut and locked the door again after his passing.

"Yami?" Yugi asked, watching as the darkness paced the room.

"Yugi, I'm sorry. I was just so caught up-"

Yugi walked over to him, pushed him to sit in one of the chairs. "Hush. Hush," he repeated more gently, stroking the side of Atemu's face with his hand. "We decided that if… 'this' caught us up, we'd follow, but if it didn't we wouldn't worry about it. I don't have a problem with it, and I know the only reason you're nervous is because you're afraid that I'll go stalking off again, all angry at you."

Atemu laughed, pulling Yugi into his lap and burying his face into the crook of the light's neck as he held Yugi like one would hold a new born baby. "I'm sorry- it's just so soon."

Yugi nodded, hugging him back. "It doesn't matter. Nothing in the past ever really does if it isn't given much thought."

Atemu shot him one of those looks he reserved specifically for when someone said something that he either wasn't expecting, was offended by, or was awed by the wisdom of the statement.

Yugi ignored that he was receiving that certain look and made his way over to the large closet his room was outfitted with. He opened the doors, turned on the light, and began flicking through his clothes to find something warm and comfortable to wear- not easy when Atemu insisted on cooler, lighter clothing for their wardrobe when they travelled to Egypt or Japan during the summer.

"Katie decided to scold me, since I was wearing wet clothing in her House. She told me to get one some warm, fluffy, dry clothing." He explained, frowning at the limited amount of clothes fitting that description. "I need more sweatshirts and hoodies..."

Atemu laughed at Yugi's pouting, walking over to help him. "Really, aibou, didn't we buy you some last WinterFest?" He asked jokingly, ignoring Yugi's attempt at a scowl. WinterFest was the festival the Axis put on every winter from the Winter Solstice to New Years, having special emphasis on whatever major holidays were during that time.

Yugi slapped his arm, but stepped back and let Atemu go through the clothing. "Next time I get to organize a closet, it's going to be by season, not color."

"It was a good idea…." Atemu offered, dodging a light-heart punch Yugi sent his way.

They searched for a while, until they both got fed up and decided to don cloaks and head down to Diagon Alley ("Which normally empties around dinner time, fills up again for another hour, and then empties again at sunset. Never any severe weather there, too." Katie had mentioned).

"Katie! We're going to go to Diagon and see if we can't find some warm clothes for me to wear!" Yugi called to her as they made their way to the parlour.

"You better be back in time for dinner!" Katie called back, sticking her head out from the kitchen where she was beginning to direct Anriel and Lasine in the making of the evening meal.

A whoosh and green flames later and they were hurrying out of Gringotts and up Diagon Alley to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, passing a number of boarded up shops and restaurants.

Madame Malkin greeted them heartily, even though she had to put aside her bowl of soup. "Ah! Welcome, welcome! What can I do for you?"

Yugi smiled at her as he removed his cloak and outer cloak, neither of which was wet from the snow, to reveal his damp t-shirt and pants. "I was wondering if you couldn't help me out with some warm clothing?"

Madame Malkin tittered over him, both surprised and aghast at Yugi's slender (and small) form. "I would normally say that you're only 16, but your body muscle and structure argues closer to 25." She commented idly, walking around and measuring him.

Yugi laughed. "Actually, that's exactly how old I am."

"Really? Well now, dear. Warm clothes, hm?"

Yugi nodded. "Most of my wardrobe consists of lighter clothing for our instinctive trips to Egypt or Japan."

"Ah- that explains the muggle styles. So- what would you like?"

Yugi wasn't sure, so Atemu answered. "Traditional wizarding clothing, and possibly- if you're able, and it's not too much trouble- some simple, muggle-style sweaters and pants."

Madame Malkin tsked. "Able? Trouble? Young man, this is my life. Of course I'm able, and it is most certainly no trouble."

She set about pulling out rolls of cloth for Yugi to approve or reject, and then went into the back room to start making the clothing. "I won't be half an hour, dears! If you could keep my soup cold for me…?"

Yugi let a small spark of flame jump off his finger to wrap around the soup bowl, before sitting down beside Atemu. He looked out the window, knowing that his darkness' eyes were on him the entire time. "There really is no one outside…." He muttered, feeling dejected just for the state the alley was in.

"Aibou, there's nothing we can do about it."

Yugi sighed, nodding. "I know. Dear Re, do I know!" He laughed, but sobered quickly as a woman ran by, clutching her daughter and son to her. "I wish we could do something for these people, though. So they wouldn't have to live in fear of walking down the street and getting killed.

"The pure bloods don't need to worry." Atemu replied, frowning.

"The pure bloods that support Voldemort don't need to worry. Those that have not openly taken a side, or have gone against Voldemort, are the ones who worry the most. The muggle-born or half-bloods are resigned to their fate should Voldemort win, so it doesn't worry them so awfully much."

Atemu snorted, displaying his disagreement. "Aibou, perhaps we shouldn't get involved at all."

Yugi shot him a disapproving look. "What do you mean?"

Atemu just shrugged. "We lived our lives happily ignorant of these troubles. We can easily defend ourselves against any attack made by a Mark mage. Should we get involved, we'd be targets- either help, or die. Hand over the puzzle. The usual threats. We get caught up in this, the rest of the Mages will as well- and, in turn, the muggles. We need to stay back, not in the direct line of fire."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "And when has that ever been possible?"

Atemu smiled at him. "Can we at least try?"

Yugi frowned at him, then gave him a weak smile. "We will try- unless, of course, they do something really stupid to provoke action."

Atemu nodded, serious. "In that case, I would take great pleasure in doing said action." He stood then, smiling down at Yugi and gently touching his hand. "You are hungry. I will go back to the House and ask Katie if she wouldn't let me steal something for you to eat while we wait."

Yugi grabbed his hand. "It's alright- I can wait." His stomach's rumbling at that moment, however, provided an argument otherwise. Atemu laughed lightly, patting his light's hand.

"I'll be back in a minute."

And he left, Yugi not even having the chance to tell him to be careful.

Madame Malkin came out then, holding up the measuring tape. "Come, dear. I need some more measurements."

As she worked, Yugi could tell that she wanted to say something to him. Finally, he sighed, slumping his shoulders to catch her attention (she had been telling him to stand properly for the last five minutes).

"You overheard?"

She paused, but nodded her head. "The Weasly twin's Extendable Ears are useful when you want to eavesdrop on customers."

Yugi laughed slightly, straightening for her to continue measuring. "May I ask you to keep this secret?"

He felt her pause again, then the familiar rough hands grabbed his shoulders to keep him from slouching. "You may- on one condition."

"Anything."

"Tell me what he means by if you get involved, the other mages will."

Yugi smiled- she could have easily asked a number of other questions, all of which would be a hundred times harder to answer. "I'm not a Mark mage like you all are, and as such I lived most of my life among muggles, learning my arts in secret. I did a crash course for three months at Japan's Dragonscale, but I mostly lived apart from the wizarding world. There are a number of other people like me- mages that aren't Mark mages and generally have nothing to do with your world.

"As it happens, should myself or one other ever get pulled into something, the rest of the mages we know end up getting pulled in with us. And that, in turn, would pull more mages in, as one of my friends happens to be a very important person in Japan's economy. If he were to be involved in anything, it would be all over the news.

"And some of my other friends are muggles as well. They would undoubtedly be pulled in, since I can take strength from them should I need it. Another friend is part of the Egyptian government- and also a mage. Her brother is another mage, the head of the last surviving Egyptian Clans. We're all interconnected- what happens to one usually happens to the others, and what happens to the others happens to a number of people outside our group."

Madame Malkin was silent as she finished taking measurements, spinning Yugi around to face her. She held his face in her hands, then used the back of her fist to wipe the magical covering away from the Eye on his forehead.

She chuckled dryly, stepping back. "I guess I should have told you earlier- I am a pure blood, and my family supports the Dark Lord."

"Then I guess I shouldn't expect your discretion?" Yugi asked the question lightly, teasingly.

Madame Malkin laughed, whapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Are you kidding me? I hate my family!"

And she disappeared into the back room as Atemu returned, looking worse for wear as he placed the small basket he had with him on the chair that he set in front of the ones he and Yugi were sitting in.

"Well? What happened?"

Yugi just smiled, hopping down from the platform to easily fall into his chair and start devouring the little pastries Katie had sent him. "Nothing. Madame Malkin just needed more measurements, and she noticed the Eye. I just told her it was a cool tattoo, and that was that."

Atemu clearly didn't believe him, but Yugi was too far gone into his pastry to notice. And when Madame Malkin appeared forty-five minutes later, she had an extra five articles of clothing, including a beautiful white, floor-length vest that was to be left open at the front. The embroidery in black and red was beautifully intricate, and Yugi found himself wanting to pay double what he ended up being asked for.

Yugi changed in the store, to show off how perfectly the clothes fit him. Madame applauded and Atemu nodded his assent. Thanking her profusely, Yugi hopped-skipped back to Gringotts, barely remembering to don his cloak. Atemu followed at a more sedate pace.

Madame Malkin saw them off, then returned to looking at the beautiful, snowy owl that sat on her desk. "Well, Enima- looks like you were right. Again."

Enima hooted softly, preening herself in her pride. Madame laughed, then left Enima with a number of owl treats and went back to her now-hot soup, waving away Yugi's flame.

Notes

(1) Ha ha! My current obsession with DRoP makes an appearance! To be honest, I was laying in bed this morning/afternoon (August 2), reading "The Skies of Pern", and I was also trying to plan out this chapter, and this thing just kinda hit me in the head. It was rather fun. Oh, and just a side note for DRoP fans: every single book has made me cry. Especially "All the Weyrs". Grah… (tear).

(2) Yes, I learned this the hard way. If you leave a cold, warm, or hot plate, dish, bowl or cup on wood furniture, no matter how well varnished it is, it ends up leaving a mark. Usually a white mark. Which on dark wood is a pain, because you can't get rid of it. Ryou can, though, since he's a Shadow Mage. Poo him.

3. Oh-ho! Another twist to the plot! Well, not really- I seem to like the female characters, hm? Don't worry- more males (and the main characters of HP) will be appearing in the next few chapters. I can't believe that this one only took up one week of their timeline! GRAH!

4. Ah, yes. The 'kissing' thing (sorry, my next-door neighbour at the cottage pointed this out to me). When I started this, I made my decision that I would try to write something where the common relationships were downplayed (i.e. puzzleshipping) to the point where you could insinuate something more if you wanted to, but it wouldn't bother the anti-yaoi people. Unfortunately, that didn't work with this chapter. I tried to explain what was up with the relationships- not sure if it worked or made sense, but I tried! And then romance is usually used as a basis for humour and plot-developing in the original story of YGO, so it kind of made sense.

…heh, Atemu falling off a chair. Where's a camera when you need one!