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.'

13. Enter Drop

Title: Return to the Old Ways

Chapter 11: Enter "Drop"!

Disclaimer: "My eyes are blind, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me…!"

Warnings: Don't. Take. Me. Seriously. You'll just seriously get confused (I love Adrian in chapter… 9 I think. "But there's fake stuff, but that feels normal, so the normal stuff feels fake, even though it's not….") I actually had to re-read it because I got confused… heh. I'm such a loser.

MAJOR WARNING: THERE IS A RATHER GORY SCENE. IF YOU DON'T LIKE DISMEMBERMENT, OOPS. IF YOU DO, THEN I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE IT. I DO.

---

Yugi wiped his hands on his pants, standing up and stretching his back, neck and arms. He had been sitting, crouched over one of the Fal Hammund elders, for the last three hours. Kicking everyone else out of the room, he had set to work trying to see what was wrong via magic. That didn't help much- the old man had a number of burns all over his body. The local 'hospital' didn't have the tools required- they dealt mainly with severe sicknesses or dehydration.

'I am so glad that Ryou at least knows what he's doing.'

He walked out of the room, shutting the door softly. Niyern and Laern Fal Hammund were the only two still awake and waiting. He gestured for them to follow him into the cool night air, before turning to them and explaining the situation.

"I've cleaned all the wounds and wrapped them with salve and linen bandages. I can't say how well they're going to heal, but I've done the best possible. The bandages need to be changed every few hours- let's say four or five- and the wounds wiped down and more salve applied- just a light coating, not too much." He handed over the jar of salve and a few more rolls of the linen fabric, nodding to them. "There's three sets in total here, plus the ones already being used. These bandages can be washed- and sterilized- and reused, but if you should need some more of anything-"

"Just send Shea or Al. Alright- thank you so much, Yugi." Niyern told him, a small smile on her face. Laern nodded, not trusting his voice.

Things had considerably changed since that first encounter outside the gates. The town of Tunaydah had come to not only accept, but extremely appreciate the presence of the Walls and the complex (which was now widely called Khemet). However, since it did take between two and three hours to get to the 'city' itself, either Yugi and Atemu came to them, or Shea or Al were sent on Sunlight Lediah, allowing them to get to the main complex within minutes instead of hours.

"Good night then, Niyern, Laern. See you on the morrow."

"Good night, Yugi!"

As Yugi mounted Astria, he felt Atemu's presence inside his heart, causing him to frown. (Yami? What's wrong?)

((What? You mean you don't want to see me?))

Yugi rolled his eyes as he urged Atria into a run, wanting to Shift back to Khemet. (Of course I want to see you- but I'd see you anyways in a few seconds, Yami.)

He felt a tug on his mind, and allowed brief flashes of memory to assault his vision as Astria prepared to Shift. (Ah…)

((I thought that staying out of sight while we have two unbelievers in our midst would be a good idea.))

(So what should I tell Shea? That you had to go up to England for a bit?)

((More or less.))

Yugi bit his lip to keep himself from laughing, feeling the Shadows gather around the Arabian. "Astria, I still haven't heard how you and yours know how to Shift!"

Astria snorted, straining with her neck- and then they were through, standing beneath the glass protrusion of the complex. "Because, little Pharaoh, we have been bred for you and yours. Our natural abilities are part of the Shadows- and that is why we declined as the Pharaohs did. You and yours are back, and so too are our abilities."

Yugi dismounted, leading Astria around to the stables. He smiled as he saw Shea and their two guests sitting under a tree even though it was just past midnight.

"Oy! Shea!" He called, watching with humour as she jumped up and ran to him, the other two men following her.

"Yugi! How is-"

"Your grandfather is fine, Shea," he told her, laughing as she glomped him.

"Oh, thank you!"

Shea pulled away from him, finally getting her bearings. "Sorry! Yugi, this is Marcus Jameson and Muhammad Al Rishni. Marcus, Al Rishni, this is Yugi Mouto."

Yugi bowed in the traditional Japanese style, which Marcus and Al Rishni hurried to imitate. "It is wonderful to meet you, Mr. Jameson, Mr. Al Rishni."

"And to meet you, Mr. Mouto." Marcus replied, only straightening after Yugi did so.

The light merely waved the comment aside, chuckling lightly. "Oh please call me Yugi. 'Mister' anything in regards to me makes me feel old."

Marcus smiled right back. "Then it has to be 'Marcus' for me as well."

Yugi nodded. "Well then, won't you come inside? And Shea, you could have brought them in with you."

Shea nodded, shrugging. "I know. I just wouldn't know where to bring them."

Yugi rolled his eyes, leading them into the main room and up the staircase to the floor with the mural room. Instead of heading in there, he brought them into one of the other rooms, this one filled with plush couches and beautiful wooden tables and displays.

Yugi and Shea made a point of falling as ungracefully as possible into one of the couches, while Marcus and Al Rishni tried to not imitate them. "So Marcus, Al Rishni- what brings you to the middle of nowhere?" Yugi asked calmly, asking Atemu to call Lasine to make some tea and coffee and maybe find a few cookies or something somewhere.

Marcus shrugged, sighing. "Well, one Isis Ishtar decided to ask me to help build some kind of open-air complex around here for someone. In a circle design."

Yugi raised his eyebrows, eyes laughing with surprise and excitement. "Oh really?"

Marcus nodded, rolling his head on his shoulders. "Yeah. Why a circle, I have no idea."

"I don't suppose that you were asked to build something called a 'Weyr', hm?"

Marcus started, sitting up straight. "That's it exactly! Why? Do you know-"

Yugi held up his hand. "A Weyr, from what I gathered, is generally circular- or at least oval- in shape if it has a structure. Otherwise, it seems to just spread out randomly over the land."

Al Rishni frowned at him. "From what we saw, this place in generally circular, isn't it?"

Yugi nodded, carefully looking elsewhere. "Er, yes- it is. This was supposed to just be a temporary shelter from that sandstorm a few days ago, but the builders seemed to have gotten carried away…."

Marcus frowned. "So you mean this is what I was supposed to design and build?"

Yugi noticed the hurt tone in his voice and he held up his hands. "Trust me, there is a lot around here to build and design. All those buildings out there, for example, are just the outer walls. There's nothing inside whatsoever! And then there's that large area that I believe is supposed to be the hatching ground, but has nothing in it and is just random, empty space…."

Shea looked at him, surprised. "Empty? You mean that big hole in the south side of the complex?"

Yugi nodded. "That one exactly. Of course- ah, Lasine. Thank you!"

Lasine had just walked into the room, following her master's energy signature as she didn't know the way around the complex. She was openly staring at everything around her, and only realized that there were other people in the room when Yugi spoke.

This caused her to round on him, glaring. "Master! You said that we could all help build this place- and since when do you actually use Egypt's resonance? Sandstorm or not, last time I checked you were all for leaving it as it was!"

Yugi frowned, which turned into a pout as her tirade went on. Finally, Lasine stopped, breathless. Yugi took this opportunity to explain. "First of all, I did say that. Secondly, I said that when we thought just a simple complex would suffice. Thirdly, I said that before the sand storm. Fourth, I said that before I realized that the Devonshires would be leaving their Arabians here. Fifth, I didn't actually know we were using Egypt's resonance until after this thing was built!"

By this time Lasine had regained her breath, and was eyeing Yugi suspiciously. Finally, she plopped down beside him, setting out the tea and coffee and pouring the cups to whatever specification she felt inclined to, serving the tea or coffee to each person.

Marcus was surprised to find his coffee exactly as he liked it- black, with a ton of sweetener. Al Rishni found his coffee exactly as he liked it as well, and Shea, who had never tried tea before, was pleased with the slightly sweet taste.

After a murmured thank you to Lasine, she nodded and set to work preparing Yugi's tea-coffee mix, and then her own cup of tea.

Yugi nodded to everyone, gesturing with his free hand to Lasine. "Everyone, this is Lasine. Lasine, this is Shea Fal Hammund, Marcus Jameson and Muhammad Al Rishni."

Lasine nodded to them, inclining her body in a slight bow. "It is wonderful to meet you."

Shea imitated her, smiling at the older girl. "And you, Lasine. Since when have you worked for Yugi?"

Yugi coughed, but Lasine just smiled. "Oh, I don't work for him per say. He helped to save my life and the lives of two of my friends. Although I know I could go back with my parents, I like living with Masters Yugi, Atemu, Ryou, Bakura and all of the others. I like being able to travel the world, see things that no one else except maybe the dead or the gods have the ability or chance to see, become a part of something more than what I would have been. And, of course, I get the chance to yell at Master Yugi and Master Atemu to my heart's content. Really, it can be a full-time job taking care of these two."

Shea blinked, but smiled back at Lasine.

Marcus took up the role of questioner, smiling gently at the young woman. "So? When did you meet? Where? You don't look Japanese or English- actually, you don't look like any nationality I've ever seen."

Lasine laughed. "I was born in Spain, near the Portuguese border. My town was continuously plagued by people going missing, lifeless bodies being found in alleys- everyone was afraid to go outside, even during the day. But we had to, to fish and work and support ourselves. So, every year, we would send a boatload of people across to an island that was continuously shrouded in a strange fog. We believed that the cause of our problems came from that island- and that the people sent over would either figure out what was happening, or be sacrifices to… delay the disappearances.

"It was almost a year ago now, and I was one of the ones chosen to go across. The night before we were sent we were chosen, so that the weight of our responsibility did not hang over our heads- and so that there wasn't much chance for those chosen to get away. The morning of, everyone to go across went down to the docks and we all said prayers and did whatever ceremonies we thought would help us. I met two other girls- one older than me by three years, the other younger than me by four. We decided to stick together, and wanted to see our families for as long as possible. We were the last ones on the boat across- which, unfortunately, meant we were the first ones off.

"When we got there, the three of us stepped off the boat at the same time- we all blacked out, everyone said. But, we weren't- I wasn't, at least. Even though I couldn't see anything, couldn't move, I could still hear, still smell, still feel, still taste- as the salt-water proved.

"Then, for some reason, the fog dissipated, and we were brought back across to the mainland, no one being able to figure out what had happened. We were lucky enough that Master Yugi and his friends, Masters Ryou and Malik, had decided to visit the coast that day, and they revived us, while helping to strengthen our other abilities.

"We were all given our choice of what we could do after- but, I think we had all decided that we would stay with our 'saviours' long before the choice was even mentioned. If we stayed in our village, we would be called cursed and live separate lives. If we stayed anywhere in the surrounding area, that would probably happen. We could go off and live somewhere else- but we were only eight, twelve and fifteen- not old enough by any means to make it by ourselves in the world. There really wasn't much of a choice- but I'm kind of glad. This way, I have gotten to see and experience so many things that I would have never thought possible!"

Lasine took this opportunity to wink up at Yugi, who was cautiously avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room. "You could say that they've been some rather… interesting out-of-body experiences, hm?"

Yugi coughed into his cup, refusing to even slightly tilt his head.

Al Rishni glared at him. "What are you, a pedophile(2)?"

Yugi choked on his tea-coffee, Shea helpfully slapping him on the back while Lasine looked both affronted and outraged. "Of course not! How dare you even think so! As a rule I don't think about such things, and Master Yugi just plain never seems to! Anyways, he has Master Atemu- anything like that could be just as easily satisfied with him."

This caused Yugi to turn an interesting shade of red, nearly gagging on the sip of tea-coffee he had drunk to try to counter-act his coughing fit.

Lasine laughed at him while helping Shea to get him back to rights while Marcus and Al Rishni exchanged amused, if confused and slightly disgusted, looks.

When he was able to breathe again, Yugi rounded on Lasine, pinning her with a glare. "And since when have you been thinking of that? Do you not realize what it would mean if he- if we- if- oh dear Re, if that happened?"

Lasine shrugged. "Sure, Narcisincest, but what's your point?"

The red returned as Yugi buried his head in his hands. Marcus frowned at the pair of them, picking over that word. "Narcisincest… that's… what, Narcissism and Incest?"

Lasine nodded, looking slightly proud. "We came up with that word all by ourselves!"

Marcus shot her a dry look. "I suppose you know what each other those terms means then?"

Lasine nodded. "Yeah. I know it's wrong, but really, Master Atemu is the only person that Master Yugi would ever really look at in any way other than a friend, and it's the same for Master Atemu. For either to go with anyone else would be like… like cheating on your wife."

"Wrong example, Lasine," Yugi groaned, matching his exhausted expression with Shea's.

Lasine blushed, nodding. "Anyways- sorry, why are you here?"

Shea spoke up, refusing to let the American speak for her. "I live in the town of Tunaydah just outside the Walls, and have been given the Arabian mare Sunlight Lediah to take care of with my brother, Ali Fal Hammund. We're like the messengers from here to there."

Lasine nodded, smiling at her. "Really? Then we're sort of similar! Except I have to take messages all over the world… and be back for dinner."

Shea giggled, nodding to Marcus.

"Er- I was hired to be the builder of… well, I'm guessing this place- could I possibly get some clarification on that?"

Yugi nodded, shrugging. "Might as well tell you now, Marcus, especially if you're going to be hanging around with any other little projects we can think of- like, oh, redesigning the city around this place."

Marcus moved his mouth for a moment, stunned. Homes, apartments, office buildings, sure, he had done those. But a whole city….

"Wait, shouldn't you clear that with Miss Ishtar first?"

Lasine shot him a pained look. "And why would he do that? Isis takes orders from Master, not the other way around."

Marcus felt his mouth go dry as Yugi lightly whapped Lasine over the head. 'Well, that explains how he was able to disappear for so long….'

"Er, well, yes then. The whole city- and how was this built?"

Yugi shrugged nonchalantly, trying to pass whatever he was about to say off as unimportant (though his nervous shifting gave away he was slightly uncomfortable with the subject).

"How to say this? Well, there's a certain amount of energy need to support life- human life, animal life, plant life. When you die, although there's no set process for exactly what happens, most of that energy has to go somewhere. Generally, it becomes a part of what is called a Natural Resonance, which is essentially spare energy- potential energy, really- just sort of… floating around in a certain area. Long story short, some people have the ability to tap into that resonance to help do things that would otherwise take a lot of manpower, a lot of time, and a lot of currently-being-used life energy."

Lasine nodded proudly. "And that's how Master Yugi helped to save me- he can tap into that energy in any part of the world, not just Egypt. Though Egypt has the most."

Marcus eyed his suddenly uncomfortable appearance. "So… this 'resonant energy' grew plants and animals and buildings and water out of desert in the middle of a sand storm? I find that rather hard to believe."

Yugi frowned at him, ice clear amethyst eyes meeting Marcus's own hazel from across the table. He leant forward, accidentally spilling the sugar onto the dark wood, though he took no notice of it. "It didn't need to grow anything. The basic plans and layout for this entire place, including every single wall, was laid five thousand years ago by a dynasty of Pharaohs that history excludes, because they made history exclude them. The ruins of the Palace and main city of the Original Dynasty are beneath our feet, and the Walls built to protect the original capital of Egypt merely buried beneath the sand. There was no building to it- merely digging, uncovering, and strengthening."

Marcus hadn't noticed Yugi's hands moving, although everyone else did. As Yugi leaned back to sit, he finally looked down at the snow white crystals that were supposed to be laying haphazardly on the coffee table- and gasped, eyes wide, as he saw how they now were stacked and arranged into a perfect, mini-model of the entire complex, including all the land to and around the Walls, some sugar piled into small buildings in one corner to represent Tunaydah.

"Wha- what- how-?"

Al Rishni quickly stood and backed away, glaring at Yugi. "That is not anything of this world! You are a demon, a monster- how dare you show your face to Allah?!"

Yugi stared at him, nonplused. "Even if you didn't say in so many words, you wanted an example of energy manipulation. So here it is- and it wouldn't take much effort to, say- make your clothes a bright, lurid green."

And they were- bright and striking and painful to the eyes, causing Al Rishni to fall into a dead faint. Lasine tutted, shooting Yugi an unamused look, while walking over and picking up the large Egyptian with barely any effort.

Marcus didn't know what to do- normally he would have already been out of there, faster than you could say, "AAAHHHH!". And yet, this was Yugi Mouto, and Egypt, and his curiosity was into full overdrive, and Shea's brief summary earlier about the reincarnated Great Pharaoh (that was apparently more of a bed-time story told to the children of her town to make them obey their parents, as the majority of the population of Tunaydah were in fact actually part of the Ishtar clan and had split from the main branch some two thousand years ago) was sounding more and more likely as time passed.

Actually, he realized looking at Shea, she didn't seem to be surprised- more proud, like she had known that Yugi had had great power all along and was just hiding for modesty's sake.

And then everything that Marcus had ever heard about Yugi Mouto came crashing down on his head, and he let out a long, hard laugh. "So much for those theories… alright! I'll stay- yes, definitely, I'll stay. And I'll make sure Daniel and his father, Luke Bremmin, the botanists-slash-farmers-slash-breeders stay too, and I can guarantee we'll make you proud of our work!"

He didn't know if it was the sugar or caffeine, but everything seemed to be so ridiculous and crazy that- miracle of all miracles- it made perfect, crystal-clear sense.

Marcus held out his hand to Yugi, who smiled and shook it. "And Marcus, although this most certainly is not my place to say, you can make Khemet your home for as long as you wish."

Marcus nodded, his loopy smile becoming more subdued. "Thank you. And am I to assume that this 'resonant energy' thing is all… hush-hush? As is your presence here?"

Yugi nodded as well, smiling as Shea put her hand over their joined ones. "And I'll make sure it stays that way Yugi, Mr. Jameson."

"Marcus," both corrected, grinning at each other. Shea nodded, also smiling. "Alright! Can we go to bed?"

"Of course! If you want to stay here, there's extra rooms…."

Marcus and Shea gladly accepted, finding the rest of the complex they got to see was absolutely gorgeous, as were their sleeping rooms.

"To keeping really big secrets!" Shea had proclaimed, trying out what English she had learned in the past few days, her toast becoming almost undecipherable with her thick accent.

Yugi and Marcus nodded, holding their hands up as well to imitate Shea. "To keeping really big secrets!"

---

Luke and Daniel Bemmin and their crew had been stunned when they first laid eyes on the Wall. Shea and Al rode with them on Sunlight Lediah and Moonlight Wiayun (who was the first foal birthed from Levian and Astria), mainly to open the Gates for the trucks and vans to pass through.

As this was the first time that Marcus had seen Khemet all the way from the first Wall to the Inner Wall, he was struck just as speechless as the rest of the crew by the lush diversity of all life-forms that had exploded out of nowhere during a sand storm.

"Wow… I'm sure glad that I signed up for this…." Luke whispered, staring wide-eyed at the scenery. Daniel, sitting up front beside Marcus (who was driving) only nodded, smiling as he looked out on his new domain.

The fourth member of their group was an older man who had yet to give them a name, but was suggested by the Egyptian government after Al Rishni refused to remain in Khemet for one moment longer. He nodded, silent, and just as glued to the windows as everyone else.

Marcus was glad that not only had the Bremmins signed up but were still willing to come after the morning's incidents. Upon waking and finding a wonderful breakfast set out in the parlour room they had occupied the night before, Marcus and Shea scarffed their meals down as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to Tunaydah. Al Rishni, clothes back to their normal, white-beige colour, glared at the both of them, refusing to touch a scrap of food.

He also refused at first to ride Lediah, until Shea told him the other option was to walk- on foot- to Tunaydah, which was a three hour ride from the main complex.

Al Rishni, not wanting to spend another moment inside the 'demon walls', hopped, somewhat gingerly, onto Lediah's back.

The moment they were within sight of the town, Al Rishni jumped off Lediah mid-stride, nearly breaking his legs. Marcus and Shea arrived back in the town just as Daniel and Luke, after (apparently) a very hearty breakfast, stepped out from their hotel to find where the architect-builder had spent the night.

They both spent time admiring Lediah, who welcomed the praise, then talking to the owners of the hotel they had stayed at- Laern and Niyern Fal Hammund, Shea's parents. Marcus thanked them profusely for making their daughter run to get Yugi, which they just laughed off and said that they were just lucky it was possible to do so.

"Wait- you don't mean Yugi Mo-" Marcus cut Daniel off, steering the father and son to his hotel where he-finally- checked in and went up to his rooms, changing into new clothes and packing up everything else as he explained what had happened the night before to the two.

Luke and Daniel stared at him for a moment, before both burst out laughing. "No… way… Marcus, did you hit your head or something? There's nothing like this… 'resonance' stuff in the world, and you just happened to find the most wanted person in the world by chance?"

Luke agreed with his son, although he didn't say in so many words. It was more like, "You're insane. Simple as that. Insane."

Marcus rolled his eyes, calling all his workers together in the small lobby of the inn. "Alright! I've already done the prelim last night- we're not going to have to build what we thought we were." There was some cheering- Daniel and Luke knew why somewhat. Marcus Jameson's plans were amazing, but required such perfection in each and every part that any sort of building was a complete pain to build.

"However- don't groan, you'll be happy about this if you want a nice big paycheck- we have instead been asked to… er, redesign parts of what is already there. We have been offered stunning living quarters- yes, better than you'd find at a five star hotel- while we work, and we (I think) could, if you have any, bring your families here. No, not Tunaydah- where we're building. There's already a rather large complex there that-"

"DEMONS! MONSTERS! MAY ALLAH NEVER FORGIVE YOU PEOPLE FOR ENCOURAGING THEM!"

Marcus rolled his eyes, stepping out of the inn onto the street, where Al Rishni's ranting and raving was drawing some amused- if bored- looks from passers-by. "YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD NEVER FORSAKEN ALLAH!"

Marcus sighed, leaning against the doorpost as all the other foreigners gathered around, wondering what had set off their building inspector. Daniel and Luke stuck their heads out the window beside Marcus, frowning at the large Egyptian man. Not many people knew what he was saying- Marcus was rather glad.

"Al Rishni, what in God's name are you doing?"

The inspector whirled around to face him, eyes blazing. "You! You vile, demon-loving, Allah-hating-"

"Hold on there," Marcus cut him off, frowning at him. "I don't hate Allah- as Allah is god, and god is God, and I'm a rather happy, God-fearing man. I just happen to also embrace the sciences- and if part of science says that people can use the energy of dead people to build stuff, then I'm all for learning how and using it."

Al Rishni's face turned a rather odd shade of red as he tried to hold in his anger and not make a bigger fool of himself. Marcus smirked (he hadn't really liked the man, anyways), and waved his hand calmly in the air. "And besides, the people here follow Tem and Re and Heliopolis. And as Tem and Re are part of that 'one is many' thing…."

Al Rishni turned on his heel, screaming his rage at the morning sky as he stalked over to where his own, personal jeep was parked, hopped in it, and drove away.

Marcus turned his head back to the people staring at him, shrugging indifferently. "Who wants to bet how soon he'll realize he left his clothes behind?"

There were some chuckles (Al Rishni hadn't been popular with any of the crew, especially the ones who could understand them), and everyone dispersed to grab their stuff and throw it in their own trucks and jeeps.

Daniel and Luke followed Marcus back up to his room to collect his stuff, another few members of the building-botanist-farming-breeding crew trailing them as well. "Marcus, what was all that about?" Daniel asked hesitantly, Luke glowering at those who had followed them.

Marcus shrugged. "Al Rishni seemed to have a problem with the idea that some things in life can't be explained according to Allah, but according to science."

The one person from the building crew that had followed cautiously poked his head around the door frame. "Mr. Jameson? Is it alright if we ask you about-"

"Of course. What do you think these two were doing?" Marcus dismissed his hesitation easily enough- it seemed both he and Yugi preferred to have those they were in charge of like and be easy around them instead of fearing them.

"Well… what did Al Rishni mean, by 'demons'? And that whole 'using dead people's energy to build things'… and what about Tem and Re?" The four others who had followed nodded, agreeing with the questions.

Marcus winced slightly, really wishing that Arabic wasn't such a common language around here- and therefore, so easy to get translated.

"Well…."

Daniel frowned. "You mean that whatever Al Rishni was ranting about is what you're making us walk into?"

Marcus turned to look at Daniel, unsure of what to say to convince the young man. It didn't really matter, but he knew that Daniel would really appreciate the opportunity, as would Luke and everyone else on their team. Deciding with the truth, the architect tried to organize his thoughts to provide a decent summary.

"Er, well… lessee… right. Hrm. Er- every person and, er- plant? Yes, plant- needs energy to live, but when they die most of that energy is returned to the natural world to help with whatever might be alive in the future. And this creates stores of energy that are called Natural… Reconfigured? No… er, Resuming? No, wait- right! Natural Resonance! Yeah… completely scientific, had the whole thing explained to me, actually makes sense. Oddly enough. Oh, right- and some people can use these stores for certain things, and stuff. Life or death situations, you know. Important stuff."

Daniel dimly recalled the fact that Khemet was originally supposed to have been a temporary shelter from a sandstorm until the winds had blown over, and quickly informed those gathered around him of that as well.

Luke glared at Marcus, nearly seething. "I came here to do my job- and better than anyone else has ever done it! I will not sit here and listen to you trying to feed crack-pot stories to me about magic- whatever you call it- and what sounds like ancient spirits!"

Marcus had to bite his lip, unable to hold in his next comment. "Yes, Yugi Mouto is most certainly an 'ancient spirit'."

"Oh really? Then prove it to me!" Luke roared, face purple with rage.

Daniel led his father from the room sighing and glancing over his shoulder in a way that clearly said, 'Sorry, he can be an idiot'. Minutes later he returned with his father, both looking white and satisfyingly shocked.

"At least part of your story has credit!" Daniel gasped out, dragging Marcus and the rest of the crew down and out to the street.

Marcus blinked, then laughed at Daniel's reaction. "What? Never seen a properly bred Arabian horse before?"

"Not one that runs like that!"

Before them stood Sunight Lediah, with Shea sitting proudly on her back, the dust only now settling around them. Saddle bags were slung over the mare's rump, and Shea grinned down at the group at her feet.

"Hello!" She called down in her heavily accented English. "I am to escort you to Khemet!"

Marcus laughed, nodding to her. "Thank you, Shea Fal Hammund!" He replied in English, turning around and nodding to the rest of his crew. "Here- everyone!" His voice echoed down the street, and the rest of the crews came running over. "We're about to leave now, so get ready to go!"

Turning back to Shea, he addressed her in Arabic. "Will the gates open if we bring motorized vehicles?"

Shea nodded, shrugging. "Yugi came by a few moments ago and told Al that he had something to allow the gates to open. It has to be worn by a horse that hasn't learned to Shift yet, so Al's going to be riding a newly broken mare named Moonlight Wiayun. We're to escort you there, and then stay for some 'proper' training in technical skills from you. So says mother, anyways." Shea grinned at him. "I'll probably get the kitchens all to myself cooking for you brutes."

Marcus looked affronted, before approaching her, offering an apple he had stolen earlier to Lediah. She happily took it, nodding to Marcus. "If you want, you may ride with Shea for as long as you wish."

Marcus looked surprised, then smiled. "Thank you, Lediah." He attached his small suitcase to Shea's saddle bags, slinging both small and large knapsacks over his shoulders as he vaulted to Lediah's back. The sunlight mare shifted on her feet, snorting as she waited for the cars to come.

Marcus nodded to Daniel and Luke, who were quick to jump into a special jeep that had pulled up. Inside was an old man, who Daniel called up to Marcus was another Egyptian official that Miss Ishtar had sent down, as she didn't trust Al Rishni with such a 'sensitive project'.

Al had met them at the gate on Wiayun, a beautiful, golden charm hanging from around her neck. He passed a silver charm to Shea to put on Lediah- apparently, Shea would open the gates, and he would close them.

It was at this point that Marcus had opted to drive the front jeep- more comfortable than riding bareback, more control, and less interference for whatever else Shea had to do when opening the gates.

Thus they began their journey barely an hour after sunrise, and now, at only nine o'clock in the morning, the final Walls were in sight, maybe an hour more until they reached the Inner Wall.

Daniel whistled his appreciation as they took a pit stop for a bit of a break (none of the trucks or jeeps had air conditioning, and it was hot in direct sunlight). The botanist ran his hands down the trunk of a tree, testing the lower and- in the numerous times he deemed the tree strong enough for him to climb- upper branches.

"Completely healthy- no side-effects, no problems, just… nature. And you say all this was buried?"

Marcus shrugged, stuffing a piece of fruit into his mouth as he tossed one each up to Lediah and Wiayun, who had taken position beside him, Shea, and everyone else in the first few cars who had opted to sit beneath a small tree grove on the side of the road.

Al came walking up to the front, grabbing the next piece of fruit Shea was going to eat from her hands. "Everyone in the back is either awed, scared, or running around saying how they knew there was magic."

Shea rolled her eyes while Marcus snorted and Daniel smiled. Luke refused to look at anyone- he was of the latter opinion, although he didn't say anything aloud.

It was about then that Lasine, on Astria, came riding up to them, nodding to everyone she didn't know before turning to Shea and Marcus. "Hey. Master Yugi had to go do… something. I'm not really sure where (he's never all that clear even when he's not in a rush, anyways), but he told me to tell you to make yourselves at home and just relax and… stuff, for the rest of today. Tomorrow there should be the rest of them down here, so you'll be able to find out actual information- if, of course, they don't kill Master Yugi for starting (and, for the most part, completing) construction without them."

Shea nodded, offering Astria a whole fruit, which she gladly took. Lediah and Wiayun both looked reproachfully at the young girl, and she sliced up half a fruit, giving each one of the slices. "You get half because Astria is your elder sister," she directed this comment to Lediah, who only munched louder, "and your mother." Wiayun imitated her aunt, purposefully ignoring the rest of the humans.

Lasine slipped off Astria, grabbing a whole fruit that Al was about to dig into. He had been introduced to her earlier, so, although he hadn't been present the night before, was completely comfortable around the young woman.

Daniel and Luke leaned over to Marcus, the old inspector doing the same. "Er… who is she?" Daniel asked, slightly worried.

Marcus flapped his hand nonchalantly, pulling out some cold-cuts that were supposed to be for lunch and digging into them. "She's a friend-slash-servant-slash-daughter-slash-sister of one Yugi Mouto. Treats him like a god, though- I though I told you that he helped to save her life?"

Luke's jaw dropped. "That's this 'Lasine'? The supposedly-Spanish, doesn't-look-like-any-nationality girl?"

Al plopped down beside them, watching her chatting amiably with Shea, Astria, Lediah and Wiayun. "I think she's hot. I know I have no chance with her-" he replied to Marcus' warning look with a dirty one, "-but you gotta admit, for a thirteen-year-old, she's got some talent."

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Marcus. "Translation?"

Marcus rolled his eyes, wiping his hands on his pants as he stood. "He thinks she's hot, but as she refuses, point-blank, to look at anyone in that way, he might as well be thinking of a brick wall. According to Al, a very hot, thirteen-year-old, brick wall."

They set out again, making good headway now that they knew they had the rest of the day to come back out and explore.

By ten the entire convoy was waiting outside the Inner Wall, while Lasine, Shea, and Al had proceeded up a small, nearly invisible, side door to the ramparts. Five minutes later, the three Arabian mares proceeded as one to the Gate, tapping first their left, then their right front hooves on the wood-rock slabs.

Automatically, the Gates opened, parting not inwards nor outwards, but sliding into the Wall. They didn't open the whole way- just enough for two trucks or three jeeps to fit through at once. Five minutes later, everyone was inside, staring at the sight before and around them in wonder.

Marcus, having already been treated to such a sight, was the first out of the jeep, looking around for their guides. Seeing them on the stairs coming down from the Wall, he called up to them. "Oy! Where do you want us to park these things?!"

"There is a parking garage beneath the mural room." Lediah informed him, walking past easily enough as Wiayun followed, the charms swinging easily from their necks.

Astria followed them, pausing by Marcus as Lasine jumped the last ten feet to the ground, walking over to get the mares and bring them around to the stables. "Lediah means that glass protrusion. Once you enter it, go around the center ring and there should be a gate to your right. It will open automatically, and it should be big enough to fit these truck things inside."

Lasine nodded, gesturing to the main complex. "You all will stay there until you set up your own apartments- which, I believe you already know, are yours for as long as you wish."

Marcus nodded. "I don't suppose that I could just… completely demolish most of the city and rebuild it? I wouldn't trust some of these shells to stand up against the next sandstorm."

Lasine shrugged, smiling at him. "If you want them down, we can always try for an earthquake and see what happens. Maybe a giant pit for them to fall into…?"

Marcus laughed, shooing her on. "We'll see you later, Lasine."

"Sure. Ja!"

Marcus jumped back into the jeep, pressing the horn to get everyone's attention. He headed off towards the complex, everyone else falling into place behind him. Daniel looked at him, then laughed, somewhat worriedly. "Dear God, I don't think I want to know what you're planning."

Marcus smirked, picking up speed to get to the complex faster. "How about… demolition?"

---

Yugi sighed, stretching his shoulders again. "I seem to do this often, hm?"

The ones standing before him, slowly fading into the shadows of the shrine, merely smiled down. (-(That is why you do not need to kneel before Me/Us, like normal mortals.)-)

Yugi bowed to Them, standing. "Thank you."

(-(No one has ever said Egypt does not take care of its own for a reason, Halahkti. Go with My/Our grace.)-)

As They finally left, Yugi smiled, calling out into the gloom, "I'm not going to be glowing like Moses, am I?"

He received no response, but didn't expect any.

Yugi bowed once more to the shrine before backing out of the ruins, turning once at the Pit wall and following it around until he came to the small, thin series of ledges that made up the 'stairs'. He climbed them, careful to keep his attention on where his feet went (although it really didn't matter- they were actual steps, just with an illusion).

The small landing at the top was reached with ease, as were the actual steps up to a small, hidden panel in the garden-atrium. Slipping out, he walked over to the main pond, sitting down in the gazebo and downing the goblet of coke-sake he had asked Lasine to leave for him there.

Watching, amused, as it instantly refilled itself (he hadn't understood why Dumbledore had said he would enjoy his Christmas gift at first), he decided to nurse this cup, walking over to one of the small bridges to the gazebo over the pond, standing in the middle and looking up at the skylights, hundreds of feet above him.

'Hm… almost dinner time. Excellent timing, I'd have to say.'

((As would I.))

Atemu's presence startled him, causing him to almost drop the goblet. He was able to catch it, rolling his eyes as he made his way over to the stairs. (What have I asked you about reading my thoughts?)

((Not to. But you were broadcasting.))

(So… what you'd get out of that meeting?)

He felt a faint sense of nervousness, but it was immediately covered over, so he wasn't sure if he was imagining it. ((The usual. It's your duty to balance Ma'at as no one else will… it's your duty to protect your light, the 'Light of Nations'… it's your duty to not talk back and listen when I/We tell you something, as it's probably for a good reason… it's also your duty to be as respectful as your light is to Me/Us, etcetera etcetera. Oh, and- although those are ruins, there's nothing to be learned from the city ones, so please demolish them, as I/We want My/Our city to be perfect.))

Yugi bit the inside of his lip, deciding to head up to the kitchens first and see what Shea was cooking. (You know that part about listening? Maybe you should try it some time.)

((Ha ha. Not funny. I listen- when it's important.))

Yugi ignored the last comment, resting his hand on the door to the kitchens. Suddenly, on impulse, he twisted away and walked over to the first shadowy corner he could find- which wasn't that hard, considering that no one had bothered to turn on any lights yet.

((Aibou?))

(I- I don't know, Yami. Something feels kind of… weird. New. Different.)

Atemu considered leaving his soul room, instead opting to look and sense through his light. He pressed their shadows out, testing the weft, examining all the auras and energy signatures that surrounded the complex. ((…there has been more people here. Marcus, Shea, Al, Lasine- and others. Two always around Marcus, the rest coming and going as they please. They're all outside, by the feel of it- eating dinner, by my guess.))

Yugi hesitated before asking, (Should we go out and introduce ourselves?)

((As humble hosts? Of course. Honestly, I'd prefer to retire to our rooms, maybe grab a bite of something for later.))

Yugi stopped, sent a quick glare to his darkness, and walked into the kitchens, moving towards one of the pantries to grab a few loaves of bread, jam, cheese, and some cold cuts. He considered making some sushi- decided against it, as that was considered 'cooking'.

Within seconds they were up in their rooms, sitting around a small table by the windows. Atemu stared out absently at the setting sun and the group of people below him. Yugi thoughtfully chewed his food, head cradled by his hands.

"Perhaps, aibou, we should go down there and introduce ourselves."

Yugi paused, lowering his (third) sandwich, examining his darkness, looking as deep into Atemu's eyes as he could possibly go.

Shaking himself out of the trance, he raised his head to the ceiling, standing and stretching. "Perhaps we should just take a walk, 'accidentally' run into someone… that sort of thing."

Atemu nodded, about to follow Yugi out of the room- and grabbed his light's hand, dragging the surprised hikari over to their bed and throwing him on it.

"Yami… what-?"

Atemu was at their closet, rifling through it. "Aibou, perhaps when you go to speak to them, it would be good if you wore normal clothes."

Yugi finally glanced down at the outfit he was wearing, decked out in traditional Egyptian royal styles and colours, gold adorning arms, waist, neck, calves, wrists, fingers, and a soft layer of gold dust had been sprinkled in his hair (apparently, Hathor and Nepthys had thought it would look good on him). He blushed, imagining what that would look like.

"Er, yeah… help me change?"

Marcus hadn't expected to run into their host at any time during this day. In fact, he hadn't expected to see Yugi's face anywhere near Khemet or Tunaydah with so many outsiders around.

When he finally decided to look at all the other guest rooms with the rest of the crew (and figure out who was sleeping where) and had turned a corner, he had also not been expecting for there to be a solid wall on the other side.

"Marcus!"

"Aibou!"

The rich voice caught his attention as he looked up from where he had fallen. In front of him was definitely Yugi Mouto- looking worse for wear and more than a little tired, but there nonetheless. Behind him, helping him stand up, was- to Marcus' surprise and confusion- an older, more mature, Egyptian-looking Yugi Mouto.

A darker, probably more violent and sadistic Yugi Mouto, Marcus corrected himself as he finally gazed into blood red eyes.

"I'm alright, Yami. Oh, Marcus! Sorry, I didn't see you there!" Yugi stood with Atemu's help, pulling Marcus to his feet and bowing in apology.

Marcus bit his lip as the dangerous, angry eyes softened and the faint growling stopped with only the slightest, barely noticeable glance from Yugi to the other. 'Yugi's got this guy whipped.'

Instead of laughing, he hurriedly imitated the young man, gesturing for everyone behind him to do the same. "It's alright, Yugi. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Then I guess we're both at fault. And please- stop bowing."

Marcus nodded, straightening. He turned back to the crew, Daniel, Luke and the inspector immediately behind him and staring openly at the young man. "Everyone, this is our current host- Yugi Mouto. Some of you might have heard of him before- be nice. He's the one who offered us room and board for as long as we wish."

There was a ripple of muttering as everyone stood on tip-toe or kneeled closer to the ground to see the young man.

'Well… at least it's not leather.'

Marcus found himself almost nodding as he looked Yugi over. That puzzle still hung around his neck, and the loose, white pants hung off his waist, white slippers still on his feet. Instead of a full shirt, there instead was a very light, very loose, very transparent white cotton tank. Faint black markings on his chest were visible through the thin fabric, the full bold strokes showing when he moved and the fabric clung to all the right areas, while revealing some skin. Still that abnormally pale skin, still the same, stunning eyes, still the rim of dark kohl around his eyes- and was that gold glitter in his hair?

Golden arm bands, necklaces, rings, anklets and earrings were the only other accessories, the silver industrial chain the puzzle hung on oddly not looking out of place.

"Thank you for coming and lending your support. Behind me is probably the most aggravating person in the world- Atemu, Atra, Yami, take your pick of names."

Atemu shot his light a look, before turning back to the group in front of them. "However, if you call me Atra, you have to call aibou 'Levis'."

Yugi poked his darkness, frowning up at him. "Yaaamiii, stop being mean."

"Only if you do, hikari."

Yugi sighed, shrugging his shoulders to say 'I give up' before looking up at the ground in front of him. "Oh! Have you had dinner yet?"

Marcus nodded. "Shea and Lasine cooked for us- Lasine said she had somewhere to go for a moment, and Shea and Al had to return home. Oh, Al said that he left Wiayun in the stables."

Yugi nodded, smiling. "Alright then. Well, you're free to choose any room or rooms you wish until you get your own apartments set up, and if you ever feel in need of a snack, the kitchens are on the ground floor. If you come down the staircase on the side that leads directly to the front doors, it's the third door on your left."

Marcus nodded, and there was another rumble of noise (and hopefully approval) from the group behind them. "Well then- I guess we'll see you later? Don't want to keep you from anything important now, do we?"

Yugi raised his eyebrows, smirking a bit. "Important? Surely seeing that my guests and contractors are comfortably settled should take precedence over everything else. If I had known that you were coming today earlier, I would have been down sooner to see you all."

Daniel, feeling completely comfortable now that Yugi had stopped being so light and was obviously well-versed in sarcasm, decided to speak. "Ah, but if there was something terribly important that you had to see to, then surely that would take precedence over us?"

Yugi blinked at him, then laughed slightly as Daniel backed away from those searching eyes. When amethyst met blue again, they were star-bright and typically stunning. "Yes, but there wasn't- just the usual monthly check-ups and whatnot. Nothing that couldn't be postponed for such honoured guests gracing Khemet. I do hope that Shea, Al and Lasine were perfect hosts for you, seeing to your every need…?"

Shouts of, "Hell yeah!", "Better cooking than my wife!", "That boy knows his stuff!", and "better than best!" came from the crowd, and Yugi lost his sarcastic demeanour, now acting properly gracious.

"Then I'm glad. Any rooms that are unoccupied are yours to take. There are some on other levels that are occupied- er, taken, as the occupants are currently elsewhere- but anything on this floor is free to enter, examine, and stake as your own."

Nods all around, and Luke stepped forward. "Mr. Mouto-"

"Yugi." Yugi, Atemu, and Marcus chorused, grinning at each other.

"Er yes, Yugi- my name is Luke Bremmin, and I'm the head farmer here. I was wondering- I don't suppose you know the Devon-"

"Enough, father." Daniel cut him off, nodding courteously to Yugi. "I'm his son, Daniel Bremmin. Father has a grudge against the Devonshires, though we think it's rather… childish."

"He ruined my life!" Luke roared at his son.

Daniel shot him a pained look as Marcus hid his face behind his hand. "He gave up dragging your ass into jobs you didn't want. You ruined your 'life', which was really just one, single, high-paying job, anyways."

Luke grumbled, turning back to Yugi and Atemu- who were smirking rather eerily. "Er, Mr- Yugi?"

Yugi snickered as Atemu looked straight into the man's eyes, crimson clashing with brown. "Mr. Bremmin- Luke, if I may call you as such- you do know that those Arabian horses we keep in the stable are bred by the Devonshires, yes?"

Luke's face paled slightly as Daniel finally caught onto what Marcus had been sniggering about since he had shown everyone the stables and read one of the plaques near the back wall.

"And, Luke," Yugi continued, letting Atemu chuckle rather darkly, "you do happen to know that not only are the Devonshires our next door neighbours in England, but have also signed up as work hands for Khemet?"

Luke's mouth was moving like a fish, as everyone else around them started to snicker or (in one or two cases) laugh outright.

Daniel took his father by the shoulders, nodding to Yugi and Atemu as he pushed the elder through the doorway, Marcus and the rest of the crew following. "Come on, dad. We should find a room for you- maybe a couple of bottles of whiskey, too."

A number of people looked back over their shoulders at the two who remained by the first corridor. Everyone who did were struck speechless by the odd halo that surrounded the two from the light through the windows, and the superimposition of Yugi and Atemu- and the stained-glass scene of Tem creating the world behind them.

---

Ryou had been wondering for the last few days when Yugi and Atemu would call them down to help with the building. All stores and medical cures and vaccines had been replenished, fresh produce grown/bought, more supplies in general gathered. Bakura lounged on the seat next to him, Katie curled up in a separate love seat on his right, all of them watching (with some fascination) an older movie titled, "The Mummy".

Bakura often snorted- whether at the theatrics, or the historical inaccuracies, neither Ryou nor Katie were sure.

Anriel walked in then, two large bowls of popcorn and three tall, frozen mugs of pop balanced in and on her arms. Katie helped to distribute the food stuffs, before both relaxed into the seat.

"Honey! I'm home!"

Ryou rolled his eyes, looking up from his spot curled against Bakura as Malik, Isis and Rashid walked into the TV room. "We were wondering where you three got to."

Isis finished dusting off the last of the soot from her cream-coloured dress, sitting down elegantly on another long couch, as Malik flopped into it and Rashid gingerly sat down on the edge, as though uncomfortable. "Well, after our meeting with the Prime Minister, we decided to visit the Minister for Magic, Mr. Scrimegour. Unfortunately, our meeting didn't go too well. Fortunately, I have never met anyone else as repulsive as the current Minister, and sincerely hope to never experience that displeasure."

Malik snorted in concert with Bakura, eyeing the movie even as he listened to the conversation. "Scrimegour's an old bat. Has no idea what he's doing- just copying what was done last time and hoping that some miracle, like another 'boy who lived' or something will come along and solve all his problems for him."

"So… what did they think about our defensive ideas for Voldemort and the Death Eaters?" Katie asked quietly, wincing as one of the men on the screen was turned into chop-suei.

"The Prime Minister agrees with most of the options- especially the enforced curfew and extra patrols. He didn't have any outward qualms with any ideas, though he said that he was reserving judgement on a few for Parliament. When we left at lunch, he was heading up to Wales to meet with the Queen and other such important people." Isis took a sip of pop that Malik had stolen from Ryou.

"Scrimegour, on the other hand, was convinced that they were doing everything perfectly, they do not need to do anything else as, as long as people follow the rules set out for them, everyone should be safe."

"I guess he's never heard of 'breaking and entering' Ryou mused, finally noticing his drink was missing and reaching down to take a sip of Bakura's. Bakura turned his head from the TV screen only long enough to frown at his light, before shrugging and ignoring everyone else again.

"Have you heard anything from Yugi or Atemu?" Malik asked, eyes alight with excitement. If they could start building soon, he wouldn't have to spend so much time in the cold and wet….

Ryou shrugged imperceptibly, attention focused back on the TV screen. "Nope, though I get the feeling that we'll be hearing something in the next few minutes."

Malik blinked at him. "Why's that?"

Ryou and Bakura absently pointed over their shoulders at Lasine's slender form in the doorway behind them, silhouetted by the setting sun that trickled in through the blinds.

"Wow! Lasine, when'd you get here?" Anriel jumped up from her spot, running to glomp her 'sister'.

Lasine laughed, hugging Anriel back. "Aw, did big sis miss me?"

Anriel laughed as well, poking the younger girl in the side. "About as much as I miss cockroaches!"

Ryou stood up, grabbing the TV remote and hitting pause. Bakura growled at him, as the screen had been frozen on a man sans eyeballs. "Lasine, what's up?"

Lasine smiled up at him, eyes aglow with mirth. "Oh, nothing. Just checking up on you guys, seeing what you were doing, wondering why none of you had felt that ridiculously big surge of energy not seven hours after you left."

Malik, Katie, Isis and Bakura bolted out of their seats, Ryou automatically taking another step towards the young girl. "Lasine, what happened?"

She flapped her hand, completely unconcerned. "Oh, nothing. There was just a really, really bad sandstorm, and they appealed to the gods for some kind of help. Turns out the gods let them use Egypt's Resonance- and voila, impossibly big mansion-y city."

Bakura frowned. "City? The Pharaoh's don't like excess, though."

"Oh, well, it wasn't really their doing. The gods just wanted the original palace from Master Atemu's reign to be uncovered and rebuilt, but they needed someone to work through. And they seem to be completely okay with having these two friends of Agni and Kazille's living there and having the run of the place."

Isis frowned. "The gods themselves want outsiders to rule a palace of Egypt?"

Lasine smiled up at the elder woman. "Not rule. It's pretty obvious that Masters and all of you are supposed to have at least slight control over everything, since They put Masters into the best, biggest and highest chambers in the whole complex. But there's over eight hundred smaller… I think they're called weyrs with a small 'w', right? For individual dragon riders? Yeah, there's over eight hundred of those. Including one really, really big one that has a couple other rooms besides the standard great room, bedroom, bathroom and opening to outside."

Anriel grabbed onto Lasine's arm, calmer and more relaxed than her younger sibling, who was excited to be delivering the news. "Everyone's okay then? What about the builders? And you said it was similar to a city… oh, Agni and Kazille went back to the Axis and are waiting for some kind of signal from Masters Ryou and Bakura to return with their friends."

Lasine shrugged again. "There is a city, but most of it is run-down from its five millennia spent under the sands, so my Masters will probably ask the builders- Marcus Jameson is the head one I believe- to rebuild the city itself. Other than that, everything is all set up for them to come. For you to come, too."

Anriel nodded, running off and out of the House to the stables.

Isis rose an eyebrow at Ryou, who shrugged. "We'd said that we'd get the Devonshires when everything was ready, right? And they don't really like cars…."

It didn't take long for the Devonshires, including Adrian's schoolmates Jessica, Timothy, Kendall, and Brandon, to arrive at the House, completely prepared for some kind of long, strenuous journey and, afterwards, long, strenuous hours of building and hard, manual labour.

When they found out that the complex had already been- for the most part- built, they couldn't say they were all that depressed or downhearted.

By the next morning everyone was ready to go, and parents informed of the out-of-country trip (the students having an excuse to not be in school, as it was March Break).

Ryou looked back at the House as they proceeded into the shade of the forest behind it in preparation to Shift. Bakura looked back at his light, still somewhat annoyed that he hadn't been able to see the rest of the movie. ((Hikari, stop it. You'll be back here soon enough- it'll be like you never even left.))

Ryou frowned at the yami, walking over to stand pointedly beside the thief. (I know. I can't help but worry, though.)

((About what?))

For that Ryou didn't have an answer, and instead continued to stare at the House until the Shadows had replaced that scenery with Egyptian sand.

---

Yugi had been somewhat surprised to walk into the kitchens and find eight different sets going. He had been even more surprised when the entire crew, headed by Marcus, Daniel and Luke, and everyone from the House had appeared seemingly out of nowhere to greet him and Atemu, and start trying to shove food down their throats.

"We really, really, really appreciate this," one of the workers told Yugi, ladling some hot cereal spiced with something or other into the light's bowl. He looked to be in his late thirties early forties, although his hair was already beginning to be speckled with grey. "A lot of us, I guess, were expecting to sleep outside and have to eat campfire stuff and just be really uncomfortable and sore all night- not that we'd ever miss the chance to work with Mr. Jameson."

Marcus, although being usually dense about people talking about him and having 'selective hearing', could, somehow, hear someone call him 'Mr. Jameson' a mile a way.

"For the millionth time, it's MARCUS!"

"Yessir, Mr. Jameson."

"MARCUS!"

The worker winked at Yugi, hurriedly dolling more of the porridge into his bowl as Yugi finished off his last helping. He held up a tentative hand, stopping the flow, and nodding to the man as he went on his way.

Atemu had- somehow- managed to avoid most of the 'thank you's (probably because of the slight glare on his face), and carefully seated himself next to Yugi, eyeing the porridge with some slight interest.

((Since when you do eat that junk, aibou? It can't possibly be healthy for you.))

Yugi frowned at him, eyeing the spoon that was just about to enter his mouth. Atemu pressed on, not getting quite the reaction he wanted from his hikari. "Surely you can't actually stomach that- mhf!"

Yugi had stuffed the spoon- spiced-porridge and all- into the yami's open mouth, causing Atemu to not only be unable to speak, but have to swallow the hot cereal. He stared, slightly frowning, at Yugi, who only smiled and, picking up another spoon, continued to eat his food.

Marcus had watched the whole exchange with Daniel and Luke, all three noting that something had happened that they hadn't heard.

As the two continued to eat, the three crew leaders turned back to their own breakfasts.

"Think we should tell them yet of those others who arrived last night?" Luke asked his son and co-worker, glancing at the 'twins' over his shoulder.

Marcus and Daniel didn't look at each other, didn't even to seem to acknowledge the other's presence. And yet, simultaneously lifting a spoon of the porridge to their mouths, they chorused, "No," and left it at that.

Yugi and Atemu didn't find out anything about visitors until, in fact, they called for a small meeting after breakfast in one of the attached buildings that seemed specifically suited for construction, beside the one suited for farming.

"Shouldn't we wait for everyone else?" One of the workers had asked, and had started laughing at Atemu and Yugi's stunned and confused looks.

It took only a few minutes for everyone else to enter the impromptu meeting room, Ryou, Bakura, Malik, Isis, Dumbledore, Agni, Kazille, and two other people that neither Yugi nor Atemu had ever seen before leading the way.

Lasine ran around the group that stopped behind the crew, glomping Yugi and Atemu. "Masters!"

Yugi, coming out of his stunned shock, gave Lasine a look, at which she immediately corrected herself. "Ma- Yugi, Atemu, we think you should meet someones."

The crew watched, fascinated, as the young woman led the light and darkness over to the two unknowns. The man was tall, broad-shouldered, and definitely muscular. His dark brown hair was between short and long, one lock hanging into his face. He was clothed in simple, light breaches that Yugi recognized from some of the clothes that Agni kept in his loft in the Axis, and a thick tunic that didn't follow the pattern of the norm. Calm, brown eyes regarded them without emotion, the body language clearly stating that, yes, he would treat them with respect- if he had to.

The woman seemed a bit different than the man. She had long, brown hair draped over her shoulder in a loose braid, the black color shining elegantly. Only a bit taller than Yugi, she also wore the light breaches from Agni. Her 'tunic', however, was more like a dress, with long slits going up each side to the waist, where a light, woven belt of brown fabric was tightened. Light brown, almost hazel eyes, regarded the two in front of her exactly like her companion.

Yugi and Atemu bowed to them, knowing that these were the two that this complex had been built for. "It is an honour to meet you. Our names are Yugi and Yami. If you have need of anything, we will be happy to get it for you."

Again that cool regard, and Yugi wished he had said something else too, something to break the ice and ease the tension.

Ryou stepped forward, nodding to the two who were silent. "He is F'lar, once-Weyrleader of Benden Weyr, rider of Bronze Mnementh. She is Lessa of Ruatha, once-senior Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr, rider of Gold Queen Ramoth."

Yugi hurriedly bowed again, Atemu, slowly, following his light.

The two Weyrleaders (both of whom didn't look any older than twenty) suddenly turned on their heels and left the room, conversing in low voices, in unmistakable- if accented- English.

There was silence in the room after that, Yugi sighing as he felt the cold slap of 'rejection' across his face. He nodded to the crew, then gestured to the group in the doorway. "You should take your orders from them- Marcus, I still hope that you'll have full control over reconstruction of the city. Luke, Daniel, good luck. Everyone else-" the light suddenly felt a bit weaker, and the need to leave Khemet grew in his chest just as quickly.

He sighed again, lifting a hand in a half-hearted farewell, before walking out the outer door of the building, heading to the stables to say 'good-bye' to the Arabians. Atemu fell into step beside him after a quick (vocal) good bye to the crew and their friends, and- surprisingly- Dumbledore following.

The headmaster waited until the shock and strain of such an obvious dismissal had faded from both their faces before he spoke. "When we first met them last night outside the perimeter of that big, outer wall, they seemed impressed, amazed by what had been built for them." He told his 'younger' listeners, blue eyes glowing in the morning light.

Yugi sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Then what was the problem? Yes, we took over management, but if we hadn't-"

"It wasn't that we took over management aibou- right, headmaster?" Atemu looked over his shoulder at Dumbledore, crimson eyes softening to a more steady and relaxed ruby-garnet.

Dumbledore nodded, weighing his words carefully. "I believe that Agni and Kazille accidentally told them that you were… adverse to building this… 'Weyr' for them. From what I have seen and heard while talking to them, their dragons- Mnementh and Ramoth- are the most important things in the world to them, and the idea that you would place anything at a higher value than their safety and the… er, 'clutch' I believe it was called…."

Yugi turned slightly teary eyes to Dumbledore. "Well, we're going to be working up at the school anyways in a few months. We wouldn't have been able to stay here forever. This place is their domain- and, from what little I've heard, I'm sure that they will be great leaders."

"But you belong here with us! As Tem and Shu and Re and Tefnut and Isis and Osiris and Horus and-"

Yugi frowned at Astria and Levian, unable to determine exactly who had spoken to him. "Unfortunately, this place was specifically built for the- the Weyrleaders they are called. We have no place here. So you are all to obey and honour F'lar, Bronze Mnementh, Lessa and Ramoth just like you would us or the gods. Understand?"

Faint, unhappy whickering, but, as horses, they didn't have much say in the matter. Yugi sighed, running his hand one last time over Astria, then Levian's coats, remembering how much their entire extended family had helped.

"Good. We'll miss you- be safe. Don't let any dragons eat you." Louder whickering that sounded suspiciously like snickering and snorts of denial. Yugi nodded in appreciation, then turned walked over to Dumbledore and Atemu, both of whom had been staring at him, slightly amused.

"So, Dumbledore," and Yugi himself was even amazed at the speed with which he had changed gears and set new priorities, "found any more clues to Voldemort's Horcruxes?"

---

Marcus had been more than slightly surprised at the terse dismissal of their two hosts, as was the rest of the crew. They had also been surprised when the old man with ridiculously long white hair and beard, dressed in a- well, essentially in a dress, had followed the two 'twins', leaving another young man with silver hair standing at the fore, shoulders quickly slumping.

"Great… Agni, Kazille, do you not know how to keep your mouths shut?"

The two he was addressing- a young woman with blonde hair and a young man fire fiery-red hair, glared at him. "Excuse us? If Yugi had just agreed to build this place right away, none of this would have happened!"

Most of the group whirled on the two immediately after that comment. The young silver-haired man suddenly seemed to be the most intimidating to the two young people, brown eyes narrowed into a fierce glare and-was that a spark of amber in the chocolate depths?

"Don't you ever insult or blame either Yugi or Yami in my presence," he growled, hands clenching into fists, desperately wanting to smack something. "You have no idea what they have to consider before they finally say, 'yeah, let's build a frickin castle in the middle of nowhere for two people who we know nothing about because some people we might have worked with in the past asked us to for no properly explained reason!!!"

Neither Agni nor Kazille winced or shirked away from the explosion- they stood their ground, but their squared shoulders slumped, eyes were lowered to the ground.

Ryou continued, eyes locked onto the still forms of the two hybrids. "Maybe if you had actually told us something about this whole thing there might have been a different reaction. Yugi and Yami built this place nearly single-handedly, and you think that you can just stand there and say that it's their fault that the Weyrleaders think them ungrateful wretches? If it wasn't for those two, Ramoth wouldn't have even the chance of clutching here!"

Isis put a tentative hand on Ryou's shoulder, which he shrugged off irritably- but calmed down anyways. He fell back into a seat, head in his hands. The room was still silent, everyone watching what the young man would do next.

"I- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that."

Isis frowned, opening her mouth- but Marcus beat her to it, his long stride reaching the chair that Ryou was sitting in within seconds.

"Listen, you did nothing wrong. Anything that is built in the desert needs careful planning, consideration, thought- you can't just rush into it. Any sort of immediate acceptance is just asking for trouble."

Ryou had lifted his head out of his hands, but still looked dubious. Kazille stalked over to them, temper flaring.

"What you have forgotten to mention, my dear Abhorsen, was that Yugi flat-out rejected the idea at first!"

Ryou was on his feet, hair flinging out into pointy spikes as his eyes turned a bright, amber colour. Not many noticed these differences- his voice was only a shade richer, a touch deeper, and only slightly more twisted.

"And what you have forgotten to mention, hybrid, was that not only Yugi getting over one of his worse bouts of sickness yet at that time, but we just so happen to be in the middle of a BLOODY WAR!"

Kazille really did shirk away this time, closing her eyes and turning her face away, as though expecting a slap. Ryou was able to take over in time, though not much about his appearance changed- if anything, his eyes narrowed more.

"You asked him to make a decision with little to no information. Would you willingly spend most of your free time- and possibly most, if not all, of your energy- on a project that may or may not be important? Just look at the size of this place!"

"No one asked them to make it this big!" Kazille retorted, refusing to take any sort of blame in this argument.

It was not anyone of the Terran group (which outnumbered the Axis-based hybrids by a lot to a very little) in the room that replied to Kazille's newest debate point.

"But, Kaz'- you know just as well as I do how unpredictable the desert can get. To do anything less than this for these people would be… would be just like asking them, 'come here, isn't this a nice, pretty grave?'."

The wind-hybrid whirled around to stare at her mate, shocked that he would take the opposite side. But, slowly, her rage calmed, and she retreated to Agni's side, thoroughly ashamed.

Ryou took a deep breath, burying all his rage. "It's not our decision, and it's not useful to argue about the past. Right? If the Weyrleaders see fit to succumb to prejudice against their greatest allies, then that isn't any of our business." He turned to Marcus, holding out his hand. "Sorry about all this."

Marcus shrugged, though he let his eyes flick back to the outer door, hoping- even though he somehow knew it was impossible- that Yugi and Atemu would return. "It's nothing. I argue with my siblings like that- except we usually end up punching each other out."

Ryou offered a small smile that Marcus returned, shaking hands firmly. "The name's Marcus Jameson, head of the building operations around here. Last I heard, that city out there has been buried for the last five thousand years or so, and should probably be torn down ASAP- and, of course, rebuilt."

Ryou nodded, struggling to get it into his brain that he would have to deal with the work crews now. "My name is Ryou Bakura, Abhorsen- though you probably don't know what that is. Well, I get the feeling that I'm going to be taking over Yugi's job until everything gets settled between them and the Weyrleaders, so… when and where do you want to start?"

---

The two silhouettes on top of the building were completely still, the only thing moving being loose capes and robes, billowing in the faint breeze. One leant back slightly into the other, merging as though becoming one single, large blemish against the starry, night sky.

(Hm… you think this might be a group down there?)

((They just apparated in, are wearing black cloaks, and skull masks. Tell, my own, who do you think they are?))

There was a paused before the answer came. (…Shadow mages wannabes?)

The second hard to work hard to suppress his laugh, but suppress it they did, and continued their silent observance. They used the Shadows to follow the Death Eaters silently, stealthily, thanking their training from the Axis for their proficiency. As the Death Eaters moved, so did they, and as the Death Eaters stopped to wait for the opportune moments for their movements, so did they.

It wasn't until the rather large group of Death Eaters started heading for one of the windows of a small, downtown London flat that the first felt the first stirrings of surprise- and anger, seeing where the Dark Lord's servants were heading.

(Yami! That's the Johnson residence!)

It was at that moment that Angelina herself came into view of the window, walking through what appeared to be the TV room into the room beyond that, which was out of sight.

((Aibou, help me find somewhere-))

The Death Eaters were about to make their move when-

-a forest suddenly loomed around them, the small clearing they had all be transported to illuminated now by starlight and moonlight only, instead of the yellow glare from the street lights.

"Hey!"

"Where are-"

"What are we-"

"We should get back to our Lord right away and inform him of-"

"You aren't going anywhere."

All eighteen pairs of eyes turned, fearfully, to the branches of the trees, high above their head. As their eyes continued to adjust to the limited light, they were finally able to make out a single silhouette in the tree tops, crimson eyes glaring down at them, promising them a-hopefully painful- early demise….

"Do it quickly- let none suffer under such rule and impudence for a moment longer than need be. Ignorance is their only sin."

All the Death Eaters looked fearfully around the clearing; most of them not even twenty five and this being their initiation into the Dark Lord's service. The first voice had all the taint and anger of the devil- the second, all the innocence and weariness of the purest soul of heaven having passed this judgement one too many times for its liking.

Some looked for a way to leave- others for the creature that promised their death to fight and hopefully kill before it killed them- others for that second, pure voice, to plead their case and hope to leave alive.

It was the second group that found themselves lying on the ground first, slowly dying as blood poured out of numerous wounds inflicted upon their body from the suddenly moving shadows.

It was the first group that found themselves lying on the ground second, their death having been swift and as merciful as the devil could make it.

And it was the third group, made of only five of the eighteen, that found themselves on their knees, having finally located the second shadow and wishing, with all their heart, that this Host would allow them their lives.

They felt the crimson-eyed demon at their backs, but dared not turn and face him- he was an honourable demon at least, not killing them while their backs were turned.

The second shadow came to stand before them, looking at them in sympathy. But beautiful clear amethyst only saddened as he looked at each bowed body in turn, feeling something in him being disgusted with the darkness he could see, not all of it their own.

((We could have saved them, but to willingly pledge themselves to such Darkness….))

(Perhaps they were forced- their families threatened, or something! Maybe-)

((Aibou.)) A gentle caress, and softest violet closed, leaning further into the mental embrace. ((There are always other ways than giving one's soul to that thing that calls himself human.))

(But-)

((No, aibou. Even you see it- all these men have erred in their choices, strayed from what might have been fulfilling, promising lives. We can do more for them than- AIBOU!!!))

As they had conversed, one of the remaining Death Eaters had taken his chance, and threw a Cruciatus curse at Yugi. Not noticing the movement, unable to dodge, Yugi fell to his knees, screaming in pain. His body writhed, trying to throw off the invisible tormentor….

Atemu was immediately after the ones who dared hurt his Light, killing the other four who happened to be in his way in such fury that he didn't notice the incomplete job- nor the Shadows who came to feast on the souls of those damned.

The darkness took great pleasure in dismembering the man, finger by finger, toe by toe, leg by leg and arm by arm. He was about to continue (ear by ear, eye by eye, lip by lip, etcetera), but something in him suddenly snapped out of his rage- the man still had his wand pointed at his light (his arm had somehow fallen that way), and Yugi would therefore continue to be in pain until-

The dark spirit grabbed the man's torso, his screaming cut off as Atemu wrenched his tongue out of his head, eye balls and ears quickly following, before he quickly spun the disfigured head, causing the neck to snap and break, bones shards ripping apart the throat from the inside.

Immediately, Yugi's screaming stopped, the limp body dropping to the ground. Atemu was at his light's side, carefully picking up the barely conscious form as he carefully brushed stray pieces of blonde hair out of the pale face, made even paler by the experience.

"Aibou…."

"Mfm… Ya… Yami…." His voice was weak, cracked and hoarse from screaming like he had.

Atemu felt tears in his eyes, which he quickly blotted by burying his face into Yugi's hair. "Oh, aibou… forgive me… forgive me… forgive me…."

He repeated that single statement over and over again, whispering it through the mindlink when his own voice cracked. He sat there for hours, doing nothing but holding his light's worn body in his arms, close to his chest. Such a fool he had been… a good-for-nothing fool, couldn't even protect his light….

His light, who was now starting to come round again. Atemu waiting patiently for the eyelids to crack open, that sweet, gentle voice to say that everything was alright, he had done right in killing the tormentors….

And, for the first time since the night before, Atemu looked around them at the once- peaceful clearing, now the sight of a massacre. Blood covered every available surface- and where there was no blood, bone or pieces of organ had imbedded themselves instead.

He looked down at himself, covered in the blood of his light's tormentor, some sticky substance, probably from the innards, covering his hands- covering his light, who should not be anywhere near such a horrible, evil place….

Making his decision, Atemu stood and Shifted, not caring that F'lar and Lessa, who they had been trying to avoid for the past month, would probably not appreciate a visit to the southern, outermost ring river of Khemet- if they knew about it….

---

Lessa curled further into her bed, refusing to believe that internal clock that was telling her it was time to wake up. Ramoth's sleepy grumble from the Hatching Grounds that were just a few steps down from the Weyrwoman's quarters reinforced the desire to stay in bed. And, with no pressing matters to look after, she was more than ready to fall back asleep.

-except that, as she reached around her to find her weyrmate, all she found instead was empty bed.

She sat up straight, whipping her head around the sleeping room that had been so finely decorated for her….

Mnementh, do you know where F'lar is?

Her inquiry was met with a puzzled response. He is with me. We are outside.

Lessa wrapped the white, gold-trimmed dressing gown she had recently acquired around her, slipping on soft, white cotton slippers before heading out to the Great Room and the large, open area that led to the sheltered ledge, where Mnementh was found sun-bathing already, F'lar leaning against his dragon's leg.

"Did you know, Lessa, that both Mnementh and Ramoth call Mouto 'Pharaoh'?"

She frowned at him, turning from her previous course towards the pair towards the stairs down to the Hatching Grounds instead.

"I'd rather not talk about him until after I've had something to wake me up."

Giving his bronze a final slap on the neck, the dark-haired Weyrleader followed the young woman down the stairs, watching her careful steps. Even after a month had passed here, neither man or woman had gotten over their bodies sudden relapse into teenagers of- what they guess as- sixteen and eighteen years of age.

Having been used to rather different movements as both had been past their seventieth decade before they had decided to see where some odd images in the Aivas files would lead them, getting used to the young, flexible limbs and bodies had been quite a task.

Yet Agni and Kazille, the only ones they had originally allowed to see them in their awkward state, had quickly helped out- and before the other contingent of arrivals had come to Khemet that night.

F'lar had to quicken his pace to catch up to the young Ruathan, catching her up easily, though carefully not overtaking her. Lessa could be difficult to handle on a good day. The idea that anyone would wilfully deny Ramoth a Ground to clutch had made her seemingly eternally prejudiced against Mouto. Any subsequent conversations about him, therefore, set her off on a rant about 'ignorant, disappointing young fools who wouldn't even be good as ground crew during a Fall'.

She is angry about something else, Mnementh commented from his perch high above his partner, weyrmate, and his partner's weyrmate.

F'lar nodded, although no one could see it, looking at what he could see of Lessa's face. Storm grey eyes were clouded with something he had never seen in them before- or, not to this degree.

"Lessa?"

"F'lar, you know that I don't appreciate being reminded that someone could be so selfish, self-centered, aggravating…."

He let her continue to rant, listening with only half an ear. It wasn't that he had heard this certain rant before (as he had- a number of times), but he had spoken with Agni, Kazille, Ryou, Marcus, Malik, Daniel, and Isis about the situation afterwards. He now appreciated the situation, though they still had skimped out on some details- which they said they had to, unless Yugi or Atemu told them that they could say something.

Lessa, no matter what she heard, however, refused to even slightly alter her opinion of the tricoloured haired man.

F'lar, frankly, was just glad that the two young men had put so much effort into building this place in the little time they had been given. Having Marcus, Daniel and Luke there also showed that everything was being arranged for a long-term stay.

We probably have to stay long-term now, don't we? Can't go back to Pern like this.

Mnementh rumbled in agreement, turning his head to the rising sun. I am glad. This place is good healing for you and Lessa.

And you. F'lar told his bronze, remembering how, in the last Thread Fall that Benden would ever fly- which also happened to be the last one ever- Mnementh had missed a clump that the lower wings would have eventually gotten- but both dragon and rider had decided to go after it. However, they weren't as young as they once were, and Mnementh was no green or blue. Another clump had caught one of the sail membranes, and, although Mnementh had gone between and gotten rid of the Thread and finished the Fall, getting the honour of searing the last Thread out of the sky forever, he had been injured. Not nearly to the point bronze Golanth had been down in Honshu by the felines, but enough that he couldn't fly for nearly six sevendays.

I am well now. I am healed. Golanth and F'lessan should come here- maybe they'll get better.

F'lar considered that notion for a second- his and Lessa's only son, F'lessan, had been just as injured as his bronze in the attack. He dismissed the idea completely- Golanth couldn't fly except with help from his weyrmate green Zaranth and her rider, Tai. Even without that consideration, there was no real way to get from Pern to here.

F'lar noticed that Lessa had approached the quickly-hardening eggs, and realized, with a sinking heart, what she was thinking. He walked over to her, bowing to Ramoth who was just awakening, wrapping warm arms around her body.

"Why do you think they are hardening so fast?" He asked her, brushing her uncombed hair out of his face.

She shrugged half-heartedly, staring dejectedly at the assortment of eighteen eggs. It could have been worse, she realized. If there had been more….

F'lar's grip tightened around her waist, and she leaned back into the embrace. "I just wish…."

"That we could Search?" F'lar asked her, eyes fixed on her delicate features that had- once before, when she was sixteen- been covered with dirt and grime, the product of working as one of the Ruathan drudges, her only goal to stay alive long enough to kill Fax, get revenge for her murdered family, and take Ruatha back into her Hold.

"Although we can't do that, I'm sure we could find willing candidates who would be ready to stand for Impression."

"We don't have too much longer, though." Lessa murmured, running one hand gently over the rapidly-hardening shell. "Maybe another sevenday or two-"

"Weeks," F'lar murmured in return, dropping his voice to a whisper as Ramoth, finally fully awake, stared at them touching her precious eggs. "Sevendays are weeks here, and four weeks are a month, and-"

"Twelve months are a year, ten years are a decade, ten decades a century and ten centuries a millennium." Lessa finished, frowning up at her weyrmate. She pushed him away, pretending to scold an errant child. "The months are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December. The days of the week are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The winter solstice is December 21, the summer solstice is June 21, summer equinox is March 21, and fall equinox is September 21."

She finished, rolling her eyes as F'lar just smiled at her. "Really, they didn't have to drill it into our heads!"

F'lar barked our a laugh. "Actually, dear heart, they did. We couldn't walk around saying things like 'Turns' and 'Sevendays', could we? We need to try to fit in here, not stand out more."

Lessa aimed another glare at him. F'lar just continued, ignoring the plotting look in her eyes. "After all, remember Marcus and the work crews reactions when they first saw Mnementh and Ramoth? They couldn't believe it- running around and screaming like wherries or herd beasts." At least, after that encounter, the 'locals' respected them as adults, instead of the 'teenagers' that they had been normally viewed as.

Lessa turned and started walking out of the Hatching Ground, F'lar hastily following after bowing again to Ramoth. He caught her up rounding the corner, heading towards one of the exterior doors that led directly to the main rotunda. "Lessa?"

She smiled impishly up at him, enjoying confusing him. "I believe that I might need breakfast."

They proceeded over to the kitchens, were Anriel and Lasine were already cooking up a storm. Sitting behind one of the counters, Lessa and F'lar bid the two girls good morning, to which both smiled and responded- though Lasine a bit quieter than Anriel. As Lessa had essentially banned her Masters from coming to Khemet, Lasine had been quiet and subdued, not at all her normal, perky self.

Lessa had never found a fault with the girl- she was polite, caring, and a willing worker. The Weyrwoman made sure to not judge anybody by another's faults- and Yugi Mouto, Lessa had decided, was one person she did not ever wish to be around. Lasine need not suffer for her 'Master's' incompetence- neither had Atemu, but it seemed that the other young man had chosen to side with Yugi on this one. 'Oh well,' though Lessa, 'if he ever chooses to return, he will be welcome. Mouto won't.'

On that thought, she dug happily into her breakfast, F'lar following her with slightly less restraint.

Everything seemed peaceful and quiet enough, except-

A commotion in the main rotunda caught the attention of those in the kitchen, the number of people having increased in only the last few minutes. Walking out of the kitchens, Lessa was just able to catch sight of Ryou finishing delegating what sounded like search patrols to a number of people that Lessa was sure she hadn't ever seen before.

Anriel and Lasine were immediately at the white haired man's side, who held up a newspaper for them to skim through while he hurriedly explained whatever was going on.

Lasine looked stark white, like the rug had just been yanked out from under her feet- but instead of the floor was an endless void. Anriel wasn't looking that much better, and Shimasu and Malik, when they showed up, had expressions matching everyone else's.

When everyone else had left, Ryou led the small group over to Lessa and F'lar, bowing slightly. "We are sorry, Weyrleaders, but there is something that we must attend to."

Lessa frowned, knowing that tone of voice by now. "Alright, tell me. What did Mouto set you up to do?"

Ryou straightened. He had tried to never say anything against Lessa, whether or not he was in her presence. This was one time, however, that he could not sit idly by.

"Yugi didn't do anything, Weyrwoman. A group of Death Eaters have reportedly attacked in England. Amazingly, no innocents were killed- just the Death Eaters themselves. Most of them were slashed in some way- one of them was so horribly dismembered and disfigured that they're asking muggle scientists to help them with some kind of identification."

Lessa and F'lar knew enough of this new world that they were able to recognize 'muggle', and its association with the term 'normal people'. Everything that was non-muggle was in turn classified by the muggle people as 'magical', which it was- but it could, apparently, be explained using science.

"Yugi and Atemu's bioreading and aura trail were picked up at the scene, so it's likely that one or both of them are seriously wounded. We're working to find them now, and we hope to be done by this afternoon. Not to mention that Ma'at has been thrown off again…." Ryou said the last comment as an aside to Malik, who nodded, preparing himself as if to run off somewhere.

Lessa glared at the white-haired man in front of her. "Isn't there some other people not involved with building Khemet that could he sent? Surely other people know or care about him."

Ryou favoured her with a long, even look, as though measuring her. Finally, he spoke, his voice deadly calm. "No, Weyrwoman. Yugi has worked hard to make it seem like he is dead- only a very small number outside Khemet know that he is still alive. If you'll excuse us?"

Not waiting for an answer, Ryou turned on his heel and walked away to one of the doors on the opposite side of the rotunda. Anriel, Lasine, Malik and Shimasu followed him, none of them looking over their shoulder at the two Weyerleaders left standing at the door to the kitchens.

Lessa whirled around to face F'lar, but he only regarded her with a nearly exact replica of Ryou's look. 'What?" She hissed, incensed.

F'lar shook his head, looking up as though looking directly at Mnementh. Mnementh, prepare for flight. We're going on a Search.

The bronze dragon seemed surprised as he struggled to his feet, as did Ramoth and Lessa. But, although it sounded like 'Search', as in for candidates for the eggs….

"You're going to join them," Lessa stated accusingly, following F'lar as he headed back up to their rooms, pulling his loose clothing free of the belt he used to secure everything.

"I am."

"Why? You know that he refused to build Ramoth a Hatch-"

"Then what do you think this place is, Lessa?!" He roared, turning to her. "That all these people working around here built this place in two weeks for us?! He was weighing his options, seeing what needed doing when, and where, and how much man power and supplies and food and clothes and money would be needed to build a Weyr in the middle of a bloody desert! Like you would do, if someone asked you to build something for someone and you had no idea who they were!

"Be glad that this is even here, Lessa of Ruatha," F'lar told her warning, hopping onto Mnemeth's back as he finished doing up his riding jacket. "Because it could just as easily have not been."

Lessa bit her lip, thinking something over. "Wait!" She called to him, running into their weyr and hurriedly changing into some proper clothes. Slipping her flying pants and jacket on overtop of the loose material, she grabbed F'lar's hand to reach Mnementh's back (although they had healed and returned to their youth, neither Mnementh nor Ramoth had gotten any smaller).

F'lar looked at her, slightly surprised. "You're coming?"

Lessa nodded, glaring at him. "Ramoth has to stay here for the clutch- but I want to see what all this fuss is about Mouto."

Her tone booked no room for discussions, and F'lar quickly signalled Mnementh to take off, before Lessa grew impatient and tried to get Ramoth to fly.

Bleary amethyst opened to see both familiar stone walls of an underground establishment, overlaid with an also-familiar scene of sitting in the tallest branches of a Sakura field. Warm arms held him close to a body that still smelled faintly of sweat and blood, but was and felt sosogood against his skin….

He drifted into unconsciousness again, trying to reach out and say 'thank you' to his saviour.

The darkness just smiled, hugging the light closer to his body, reclining in the nook formed by some Sakura branches, and yet- at the same time- in a throne in a hidden room, hidden from the world for so very, very long.

---

Notes

(1) I feel pretty, oh so pretty- $475 BUCKS ON MY B-DAY! WOOT! And a laptop, and essentially a new desktop system, and a new radio, and some fun socks (yes, I like socks. These ones are grey with red, blue, orange, purple and pink stripes. FEAR THE SOCKS!) And another few DRoP books (I'm still trying to figure out where I put my 'Skies of Pern' book… I'M NOT DONE IT YET! OH, THE HORROR!)

(2) Heh. I can't write, type, read, hear, or even think about this word without laughing. And it's all because of Religion. For our Confirmation, we all had to go for two, three hours every Sunday to this meeting-thing, and study our Religion (Roman Catholicism), including everything for and against it. We had these two speakers come in on our last day, not even a week before the Confirmation itself, and give us insights into what they've done with their lives, how Christianity has inspired them to do this and that, how they try and live Christian lives. Turns out they were married, even with a huge age gap (something like 26 years). At first we didn't know that, just that they had met when she was still in Uni, and when we found out, one of the girls from my school doing the prep looked up from her pizza, chips and coke, and gasped out, "PEDOPHILE!" We all kind of looked at her like, "Casey? What the hell are you on?" And she kinda blushed, which was odd, because Casey's the kind of person who says something first, thinks about it later (foot-in-mouth). The speakers just laughed and said no, it wasn't like that. The funniest thing was probably that she actually had some pizza and chips in her mouth when she said it, so it sounded more like 'head-o-hile' (which was funny, because Casey's best friend was Heather, who everyone calls 'Header').

(3) We did this whole 'to keeping really big secrets' at my camp, Kitchi, a few summers ago. During L&V (an all-camp competition during the weekend where the entire population are split into Lumbermen and Voyageurs), we (the Voyageurs) accidentally discovered a piece of paper two days before the comp. started, with the basic plans of where they were hiding the Axes and Paddles (tokens that, at certain times, we had to find to get points for our team). So we kinda stood around, looking it over- then we did this whole pact. At dinner that night, my entire cabin (T7, who were all in on the secret except for our counsellors) raised our glasses and said, 'To keeping really big secrets!' and then we all burst out laughing as everyone stared at us. It was fun. We lost that year- by THREE POINTS! Dern it all, we had 12, 542 and they had 12, 545! THAT'S NOT FREAKING FAIR!!!!

(4) I just realized something- a rather odd thought, really, while looking back and actually beta-ing my un-beated posts for chapters 7, 8, and 9 (also known as 9, 10, and 11). So, here's my thought: YAMI NO MARIK IS THE NEW ZOKU NECROPHADISU! …yeah, I don't really get it either. Sounds kind of like that 'pink is the new black' thing… yeesh. Okies, ignore my jibberish. Now I just have to figure out how that makes sense….

(5) Yum, gory scenes. I like that. I really, really like that. Little bits of pieces that you really don't want to know what they are and where they come from, and yet you do because they're so small and odd-shaped and last you checked in your bio text book there really wasn't anything shaped like that inside you body, as anything shaped like that inside your body would probably end up puncturing a lung or two….

(6) Hm, just realized something. Something odd. People reading this might not have read DRoP. Or, if you have, not read 'White Dragon', 'All the Weyrs', or 'The Skies of Pern'. Which would mean that you might not understand what's going on (FYI, before you read Skies, read the one about the Dolphins. I didn't, and was confused as to where this 'Eastern Weyr' and 'Monaco Bay Weyr' came from in Skies- and when had Southern moved away from the Southern Hold? Urg, right, explanations. Prepare for a lot!

One: Pernese Dragons were developed by Kitti Ping, a biologist who had studied under the Eridani, a race that colonizing humans had met. The Eridani are apparently masters of genetic engineering. Kit Ping used the already-existing fire lizard DNA and genes to engineer their bigger, stronger, telepathic, teleportation-using, telekinetic cousins. They were developed in the first place to defend Pern (originally P.E.R.N.- Parallel Earth, Resources Negligible) against a mycorrhizoid that they dubbed Thread. Thread itself is an organism brought into Pern's orbit every 250 years by it's step-sister 'planet', called the Red Star by Pern settlers. Thread devours any carbon-based life forms, with the exception of rock. Plastics and metal are the only other deterrents. The dragons range (from biggest to smallest) in Gold Queens, bronze, brown, blue and green. Gold and green are females- only golds are fertile. Bronzes fly golds to mate clutch, which just means have babies in dragon terms. Greens are small and very agile, but with little endurance. Browns and bronzes don't dodge as fast, but can easily last the 2-5 hours Falls of Thread. Dragons flame thread out of the sky, but to do so they have to chew a phosphine-bearing rock before hand, which mixes in their second stomach with some acids to produce a gas that combusts upon contact with air.

Two: When the first settlers came to Pern (that is, BTW, in the Sagittarian Sector on the edge of our galaxy, 15 light-years away), and cannibalized their three transport ships (the Yokohama, Buenos Aires, and the Bahrain), they had something called an Artificial Intelligence Voice Address System, or Aivas. When the settlers had to move to the Northern Continent because the volcanoes they had settled under- specifically Garben, but also Picchu- erupted, they had to leave Aivas behind, as it needed to communicate with the Yokohama sensors, which acted like a god's eyes watching over Pern. Lord Jaxom of Ruatha Hold, having accidentally Impressed White Ruth, and his friends found the original landing sight- called Landing- and uncovered Aivas. Aivas in turn helped the Pernese to redevelop the skills lost after 2525 years of pastoral and draconic work. Aivas' main duty before the eruption had been to find a way to stop Thread. It helped to train Holder, Rider and Craftmaster alike in the old ways, as well in ways to help end Thread. Eventually, the dragons of Pern were able to detach the antimatter engines from the three colony ships and cause explosions on the Red Star, altering its course enough that no more Thread would fall on Pern. After that, Aivas shut itself down, its final task having been completed, with the words forever displayed on it's main screen: "And a time to every purpose under heaven." (Note: The MasterHarper of Pern, Robinton, died of old age (and numerous kidnap attempts) in the Aivas Chamber, his fire lizard Zair dead on his shoulder, and that message on the screen. The whole line itself is "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.")

Three: I'm crying again because I had to reread the end of All the Weyrs to find those lines, and I always cry when I read the end of that part…. Oh, yes. Erm… dragon and rider are linked telepathically and emotionally at the dragon's Hatching, which is always a joyous occasion. It's called Impression, and once the rider dies, the dragon throws itself between- to, probably, die. Between is 'an area of nothingness and sensory deprivation between here and there' (Dragondex). A Weyr is the 'home of dragons and their riders', a weyr is the 'dragon's den'- an individual apartment that is part of the Weyr. The rider of the senior Queen of a Weyr is the Weyrwoman. The rider of the bronze who flies the senior Queen is the Weyrleader. Other Queens are Queen Riders, other bronze riders are Wingleaders and- if there aren't enough dragons- Wingseconds. F'lar (full name Fallarnon) and his half-brother F'nor (Famanoran) are sons of another Benden Weyrleader, F'lon (Falloner), who was the son of S'loner, the Weyrleader before F'lon. F'lessan (Fellessan) is the only son of F'lar and Lessa, since she almost died in childbirth. At the time F'lar became Weyrleader, Benden was the only Weyr of the six that was still occupied.