/Yami + Yugi/
!Marik + Malik!
(Bakura + Ryou)
Title:
Ch. 1- You're A What?
Yugi scrambled hither and thither, tidying things up; his friends would be over later, and his house still was quite messy.
/I wish they'd give me more of a heads up on these things, I'll never get this place tidied up in time!/ Yugi stopped what he was doing to swipe a bead of sweat from his forehead; he looked up at Yami who was floating, while watching his Hikari work.
/I wish I could do something to help you Aibou/ Yami sighed, his hand passing through a nearby lamp as he tried to pick it up. The taller male glared down disdainfully at his hand; as though it was the appendage's fault he couldn't make contact.
/Please don't worry about it Yami, I didn't mean to sound as if I was complaining. You do so much for me already, you should just relax/ Yugi hovered his hand on Yami's partially see through one, and although he couldn't feel the touch it still meant a lot to Yami. Yugi's darker half smiled down at him, and nodded before retreating to the Sennen Puzzle that hung around the smaller one's neck. Yugi resumed his cleaning, finally getting finished, he plopped down on the couch, thoroughly exhausted and ready to relax while waiting for his friends. Yami joined him, and they both sat there in silence, with Yugi teetering on the edge of unconsciousness when the doorbell rang.
"Oh look, it's Goldilocks," a deep voice could be heard snickering through the door,
/Just great, they're here already!/ young Yugi's exasperation could be felt through the mental link, and Yami sensed it.
/Would you like me to deal with it Aibou?/ The concern showed in the taller man's features, he really didn't want to have Yugi put through too much more today.
/No it's fine, I can take care of this/ On the Motou door step stood two blondes, neither of which were Yugi's friends, but instead their darker halves.
"I wouldn't be talking if I were you… Fluffy!" Marik was the taller of the two; his hair was a beautiful golden color and he had deep purple eyes. He looked exactly like his light counterpart except Malik's hair was a little less spiky and his eyes not as dark. It was the same way for the white haired Bakura who was currently spewing a rainbow of cuss words. His spiky pure white locks fell just past his shoulders around mid-back. Neither even paused in their bickering when the front door opened.
"My name is NOT FLUFFY!" Bakura seethed, and the pair continued to glare at each other.
"Would the both of you shut up, you're bothering the neighbors!" Yami stood just outside the doorway; arms crossed, you could see the annoyance rolling off him in waves of black energy.
"Anyway why don't you both come inside?" Yugi asked trying to be polite, and lighten the mood. Both blondes entered under the fierce glare of Yami, they could tell he was in one of those 'mess with me and you die' moods. All three boys now stood in the front living room, with Yami floating protectively behind Yugi. Bakura and Marik shot dirty looks at each other before finally retreating to their respective millennium items. In their places stood the slightly shorter forms of Ryou and Malik, who both gave Yugi apologetic looks. Seeing the younger would be fine, Yami also returned to the millennium puzzle. The three small boys ran together and hugged, it was so rare that they all got to spend time together like this. No duel competitions to win, no evil villains to defeat, and no countries or people to save. Just them and a couple days of free time; all three were so happy that they didn't realize that their millennium items were still faintly glowing from when their Yamis had disappeared.
"Man sure feels like forever since we last saw each other!" Malik plopped down on the couch, and stared up at the ceiling.
"You can say that again!" Yugi smiled at his two friends, "You guys hungry? Want something to eat?"
"Heck yeah, I'm starving here, whatcha got ta' eat around here anyway?" Malik said, his stomach grumbling.
"A little something would be nice, if you don't mind that is" Ryou replied politely, "But before we eat, Malik didn't Ishizu tell you to do something as soon as we arrived?"
"Did she? Ah yeah, I remember now," the tan blonde reached down into his backpack and pulled out the Sennen necklace and waved it around a bit. "Yeah she said she has had enough of looking into ta' future, and it's time this was sealed away with ta' rest."
"Ok, I'll bring them right out" Yugi smiled, that was one less item they had to worry about falling into the wrong hands.
"I'll lend you a hand" Ryou trotted up beside Yugi and they both walked to the back of the cardshop. Behind the counter, on the floor underneath some boxes of duel monster cards, was a trap door leading to the secret room that was now the house for all the millennium items. Together Yugi and Ryou hefted the sarcophagus through the opening and carted it to the living room. "This thing is too heavy!"
"I'll help then," Malik began to make his way over to the two struggling boys; but before he could reach them he tripped over the leg of the coffee table, and his Sennen rod fell out of his back pocket, rolling under the foot of an unsuspecting Ryou. Before too long all three boys were sprawled out on the floor, the sarcophagus empty, and the millennium items scattered throughout the room. "Ow ow ow" Malik cradled his head in his hand wincing at the throbbing pain that came from colliding heads with the sarcophagus. "Whoa, guys get a load of this!"
"What are you talking about Mal-" Yugi began but stopped as he took in the sight of all the millennium items glowing, including Malik's rod on the floor, and the Sennen ring around Ryou's neck. The strongest source of light in the room however came from the Sennen puzzle in Yugi's hands. All three boys sat and stared in awe as the lights in the room dimmed and went out, and the walls and house around them were sucked down beneath them like liquid up a straw.
"Whoa whoa where's the room going?!"
"I'd be less worried about the room and more worried about us" Ryou piped up,
"Why is that?" Malik asked,
"Because if the walls are disappearing, so can the floor" as Yugi said this the floor beneath them disappeared sending them plummeting downwards, screaming. All three figures glitched, crackling like static on the television; screams of terror and pain rang above the howling of the wind, as the glitching stopped there were now six bodies plummeting into the seemingly endless swirling colors.
"Hurry grab onto each other!" Yami screamed, latching onto the jacket of the nearby Ryou, both Bakura and Marik nodded each grabbing a tight hold of their Hikaris, and then onto each other. Yami squinted through the powerful wind trying to find Yugi. After a minute or so of frantic searching he finally caught a glimpse of the familiar tri-colored hair. "Yugi!"
"Yami?" Yugi looked up at the pile of bodies slightly above him, noticing Yami's outstretched hand, without thinking he reached back. They were just about to touch hands when a light appeared at the end of the tunnel of colors. Growing brighter every second, they were running out of time, Yami realized this and frantically swung his hand around trying his everything to grab ahold of Yugi's. Finally grasping onto something he held on tight as the light enveloped them and everything disappeared.
*Harry*
Harry and the Weasleys stood around the portkey disguised as a boot waiting for they time when they were finally able to be transported to where the Quidditch world cup was being held. None talked and Mr. Weasely kept looking at his watch, ticking off the minutes; everything was silent, even the usual nighttime sounds seemed to be missing as dawn came upon them, that is until a loud shrieking noise rang through the air. Startled quite a few people pulled their hands from the portkey with a jump, the sound becoming increasingly louder the girls sidled in by the guys. Harry took out his wand, followed shortly by Mr. Weasley and Cedric. Not long after a bright beam of light shot down from the sky illuminating the ground beneath, turning everything white before fading to a small sliver and disappearing entirely. The ground where the light had landed shimmered and seemed to give off swells of magic waves.
"Bloody Hell!" exclaimed Ron, "Look there" the redhead directed his finger to the sky, Harry's eyes followed, staring up into the inky blackness. He could barely make out a speck in the distance that was a little darker than the rest of the sky, and it was quickly getting bigger. Mere moments later he could pick out the distinct outline of arms and legs, helping him realize the being was humanoid at least. The group watched in awe as the body plummeted towards the earth slowing mere feet from the ground, and coming to a halt. Floating about two feet up was one of the most peculiar looking people Harry had ever seen! Which came as a surprise, all things considered; this boy seemed to be no taller than four foot five, still quite young maybe ten or eleven, and had spiky tri-colored hair. Consisting mostly of black, but it was purple tipped, and his bangs were a bright yellow. Weirdest by far however was the strange pendant he had hanging from a thick chain around his neck. It looked to be a golden pyramid, and it was giving of a bright light source. Harry took a cautious step forward; the floating young boy did not move. Judging by the steady rise and fall of his chest, Harry assumed he was sleeping.
"Careful Harry" said Mr. Weasly, as he too walked closer,
"We are running out of time, the portkey will transfer us soon" Cedric's dad piped in nervously. Harry turned his head and gave a nod before stepping right beside the sleeping form and wrapping his arms under the knees and around the shoulders. For a second or two the body weighed nothing in his arms, but soon returned to normal weight, which was not really all that much. Harry compared it to carrying three or four of his Hogwarts's textbooks. The pyramid's light dimmed, and the pendant fell softly back against the boy's chest. Harry carried the sleeping form back over to the huddle of redheads and replaced his finger on the portkey, his backpack, and now the body in his arm making things quite difficult. Hermione, Harry and Ron's brown haired friend, took the strange boy's arm and placed it also upon the portkey, making it just in time. Harry felt a strong almost magnetic pull, and his finger was held firmly in place, as they were transported through a tunnel of colors.
*Yami + Co.*
Yami found himself far above the earth below, and falling rapidly. Thinking fast he reached down to the card holster strapped to his thigh, and using his magic pulled the Redeyes Black Dragon card from it. The card began to glow a dark reddish black color as Yami fed his magic to the creature beyond, summoning it from the card. The dragon swooped swiftly beneath them, breaking their fall; Bakura grasped onto one of the large ridges with one hand and pulled Ryou snugly between him and the creature with his other arm. Marik on the other hand pulled Malik unwillingly up near the neck; straddling the scales like a saddle he placed Malik in front of him and held on tightly; arms on either side of the smaller blondes exposed midriff blocking him in, eliminating the chance of him falling off.
Yami looked around for Yugi, and freaked when he didn't see him, "Where's Yugi!?" the ancient pharaoh swiveled side to side, almost losing his balance and falling off.
Bakura and Marik looked around, neither seeing hide nor tail of the runt anywhere. Bakura felt Ryou seize up beneath him, "Oh no!" Ryou squeaked, and the thief Bakura did his best at comforting his Hikari as he felt wetness against his shoulder. Yami sank to his knees, this wasn't the first time he had lost Yugi due to his own powerlessness, and this time, it seemed he had lost his light for good.
"Master, I did not see the young master Yugi when you summoned me, I do not believe he is here with you, he might be ok, you must remain positive." Red eyes comforted his master in his deep bellowing voice. Sitting back on his heels, Yami looked into his closed hand, noticing for the first time that clutched in his grasp was the broken leather from Yugi's bracelet, it had most likely snapped in the transport. Yugi probably got sent somewhere else entirely, Yami felt more relieved at this, but he would not relax until his sweet little Aibou was back within the safety of his arms.
"You are most likely right, thank you Redeyes." Yami took in a deep breath and gripped onto the dragon scales; knowing everyone was firmly secured, Redeyes dove, reducing the amount of time the flight took, meant less strain on his master from having him out for so long. As they dove Yami looked over to his other two friends and their Hikaris, and felt strong pangs of jealousy, and firmly wished that he had his little Yugi to hug tightly to him as well.
*Harry*
Harry landed with a thud; Ron however lost his balance and fell into the brunette. Sending them both crashing to the ground, Harry did his best to tuck the slumbering body into his own so he wouldn't hit the floor. Looking around, the Gryffindor golden boy noticed that everybody else was still standing. Ron scrambled up, before helping Hermione hold up the small boy, allowing Harry room to get to his feet himself.
"Would you like some help carrying him Harry?" Hermione asked,
"No it's fine; I'm the one who decided to bring him with anyway,"
"Speaking of which, are you sure that was a good idea?" Cedric's father eyed the boy warily as he spoke.
"Well he fell from the sky, I can be pretty certain that he is not a Muggle." Replied Mr. Weasely; Harry took the boy from his friends after repositioning his backpack.
"But don't some Muggles jump from high places as a game?" asked Cedric, "I read that somewhere"
"That is true, but in either case you are attached to a parachute or bungee cord. They can't float, so without such equipment they would die upon hitting the ground." Hermione explained,
"I'll take responsibility for whatever happens, but we couldn't exactly leave him there. It would be even worse if Muggles found him floating like he was. At least this way, if he is Muggle, then we need only a single memory charm to wipe away any evidence."
"Very true Harry, that was quite brilliant!" exclaimed Mr. Weasely; Harry didn't know why, but he felt a strong urge to protect this child, he hefted the boy closer, as they made their way towards a couple of men. Mr. Weasely gave them the portkey, and both they and the Cedrics were told where they would be staying.
Picking their way over to a small cottage; Harry's group came across a man who seemed to be eyeing the tents suspiciously.
"Morning" called Mr. Weasely,
"Mornin" replied the Muggle,
"Might you be Mr. Roberts?"
"Aye I would, who're you?"
"Weasely, two tents for a night, booked a couple days ago"
"Aye, here you are" Mr. Roberts said, consulting the guest list, "Your up there by the wood, if your only staying one night, would you care to pay now?"
"Ah… Right… Certainly" Mr. Weasely walked a couple paces away, motioning for Hermione to follow. "Help me count this out; I have a tricky time with Muggle money." Harry could barely hear their whispers from where he stood next to Mr. Roberts, who was giving Harry a strange look.
"He alright?" said the man motioning with his thumb at the bundle in Harry's arms.
"Ah yes, we had an early rise, being so young he couldn't quite make the entire trip" Harry replied with a small smile. Mr. Roberts seemed pleased with the answer, and turned to eyeing the two figuring out the small slips of paper in their hands, trying to see what they were doing.
"Foreigners are ya?" he asked,
"Yes they are family friends who dropped by for a visit," Harry replied, trying to sound casual.
"I have had plenty of foreigners recently, all having the same trouble with money." Mr. Roberts grumped, "Some even tried giving me gold coins the size of hubcaps earlier."
"That so," Harry asked nervously, hoping Mr. Roberts wouldn't talk too much more. His hopes were dashed as the man continued on, whilst rummaging for change in a tin can.
"Aye, seen plenty foreigners round here. It's like a rally; everybody seems to know one another, not to mention I've seen a couple of real weirdos walking around. One was wearing a kilt and a poncho," he was now eyeing now the kid in Harry's arms and raised an eyebrow. The brunette shifted uneasily under the gaze, "Now that I see him, he's pretty strangely dressed as well" looking down, he noticed it was true. On the way over to the cabin, the boy's blue jacket had fallen open revealing the black, skin tight shirt underneath; around his neck was a leather collar complete with metal buckles, and on his left wrist a leather wristband could be seen, it too fastened with metal studs and a bright silver buckle. Harry's palms were sweating, how would he explain this when he himself didn't understand the strangers appearance.
"He is wearing the costume from one of his favorite heroes, we told him people would think it's weird but he insisted upon wearing it" Hermione jumped to Harry's rescue; letting out an almost audible sigh of relief Harry wordlessly thanked his friend, feeling he could have kissed the brilliant girl. Mr. Roberts grumped and gave Mr. Weasely his change and a map. As they were about to leave, a couple of wizards came up to the cottage, one yelled "Obliviate" and Mr. Roberts took a dreamy look upon his face, smiling a goofy smile, and wished them a good time.
"It takes about 10 memory charms a day to keep him happy, course' it doesn't help when Ludo waltzes around talking about bludgers and quaffles, not a care in the world for anti- Muggle security. Blimey I'll be grateful when this is all over. With that he disapparated and was gone.
"I thought Mr. Bagman was head of Magical Games and Sports, shouldn't he know better than that?" Asked Ginny, Ron's younger sister, in surprise,
"You would think, however Mr. Ludo has always been a little lax on security, we couldn't have a more enthusiastic head of sports department though. He was the best beater the Wimbourne Wasps have ever had you know."
The group trudged across the misty field through many rows of tents, many of which looked almost normal; a few however were very obviously magical, and Harry was hardly surprised that Mr. Roberts thought something was amiss. They passed one that had its own front yard complete with a bird bath and chair, even further down was one that appeared to be made out of stone but moved like fabric should when caught by a gust of wind, the most obvious one so far however was one that seemed to be made out of silk, and had live peacocks tethered to the front.
"It's always the same, when we get together we can't help but show off," Mr. Weasely sighed as they finally arrived at their plot of land, marked with a sign that read Weezly, "Alright everyone, no magic allowed, let's get these tents up!"
"I'll help put up the tents, but somebody else is gonna have to hold him," Harry said motioning with the bundle in his hands."
"We'll watch him" the twins said almost immediately, both trotting over and holding out their hands. Harry gave them both a skeptical look, but seeing as everyone else was already occupied he agreed, handing over the small child to the two older boys.
"No funny business however," he tried to put as much emphasis and warning into his voice as possible,
"Us do something funny? Never" Harry rolled his eyes, but the twins weren't paying attention, their minds were otherwise occupied with their newly found charge. Fred sat on the ground legs apart, and out in front of him, then placed the kid in his lap, his back resting on Fred's chest, and the head slightly rolled back, resting on the taller's shoulder. George knelt on all fours in between Fred's legs and was hovering over the small boy; he had a couple strands of the yellow bangs trapped between his fingers and was twirling the hair around. Shaking his head Harry walked over to the mound of cloth and rods that were soon to be tents to help Mr. Weasely and Hermione.
Finally getting the tents erect, everyone stepped back to admire their handy work. Nobody would have guessed the tents belonged to anybody other than Muggles. Harry and Hermione both exchanged glances, although the tents were of decent size, once Percy, Bill, and Charlie got here they would be a party of eleven, there was no way the tent was going to fit everyone.
"It will be a bit of a tight squeeze, but we should manage," said Mr. Weasely walking into the tent still admiring the mallet they had used to build it. Harry followed, motioning for Fred and George to bring the mysterious kid inside as well. Stepping into the tent Harry's eyes went wide as saucers, despite the small appearance of the outside, inside the tent looked like an old fashion three room flat complete with a bathroom and kitchen. The room they were standing in had quite a few bunks lining the walls, on the farthest left the twins laid the little boy. "Well everyone, he seems to be doing alright, but he will probably want something to drink when he wakes up, there is a pump marked on the map that Muggle gave us. Ron why don't you, Harry and Hermione go and fetch some water," they all nodded and left the tent.
*Yugi*
Yugi could hear voices, though he could not make out the words nor find the owners. The young duelist could not recognize his surroundings. He stood at the foot of a rather old and decrepit staircase looking up to the landing above. The voices came again, this time a little louder, then came the loud scraping sound that was something being dragged across the wooden floorboards. Without even thinking Yugi found himself climbing the stairs, each stair groaned its protest. 'I wish these stairs would keep quiet, what if whoever is up here hears me.' He thought to himself; the voices however continued on unknowingly. The entire house was dark, the only source of light coming from an open door at the end of the hall. Cautiously Yugi made his way over to the doorway, and peeked inside, there was a large chair in front of a fire; scrape marks on the floor behind it told Yugi this was the sound he had heard earlier. The small boy scanned the rest of the room, his eyes settling on a scene he wished he had never laid eyes upon. A large snake, lay by a man who lay on the ground with his face twisted in a grotesque look of pain and terror, you could tell the man was dead. Yugi pulled away from the door and clasped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the visage of that snake devouring the dead man. An overwhelming feeling of dread weighed down the air, and even though it was the middle of summer, the room was cold enough to see your breath. Through Yugi's closed ears came a sickeningly cold voice that had him shivering,
"Wormtail" came the hideous voice,
"Y-yes Master?"
"Power," Something that Yugi could only guess was glee filled the voice, "I sensed it, new sources of power that came from nowhere"
"W-what do you m-mean Sir?"
"Along with your present mission you are to find me these sources of such immense power and give them to me" Yugi opened his eyes a crack, finding that his Sennen Puzzle was glowing in warning. 'Could this person be after the Millennium items?' Yugi thought swiveling his head towards the doorway, to find the man he guessed was Wormtail, staring though the doorway directly at him. Fear gripped at his gut, and he tried to take ahold of his Sennen Puzzle only to find it had disappeared,
"NO!" The young duelist's eyes shot open, sitting forward with a jolt, he realized he was not in his own room,
"Ah he's awake!" two voices screamed in surprise in a language he did not understand; with a jump Yugi was off the bed and in a defensive position. Eyes trained on the source of the voices. Seeing two identical redheaded boys Yugi dropped his guard a bit, but only until he saw his Sennen Puzzle in one of their hands. (AN: note that here they don't speak the same language so Yugi will be talking in Japanese for a while. Translations will be provided)
"Kaeshite!" Yugi yelled sticking his hand out, (Give it back)
"Kaiste?" The twins looked at each other questioningly "What's a Kaiste?" they returned their gazes back to Yugi, who was nervously looking between them and the pendant.
"Kaeshite kudasai" (Please give it back)
"Do you think he wants this?" The one on the right asked motioning with the pendant,
"Hmm maybe…" the other replied, "We should conduct an investigation though first." They both nodded, "you can have it back once you answer our questions" just then an older redhead and a brunette with wild un-brushed hair came walking into the tent, followed by a few others; happening upon the spectacle.
"Give it back to him" said Harry,
"It's not like it yours anyway, and quite frankly it's stupid to interrogate someone who can obviously not understand you,"
"Eigo ga hanasemasuka?" the oldest came forward past the look-a-likes, hands raised in a sign of surrender. Yugi dropped his stance, (Can you speak English)
"Watashi wa eigo ga hanasemasen… sumimasen" the smaller replied, (I cannot speak English… sorry)
"Douzo, nonde mite kudasai" Yugi was handed a glass of what appeared to be water, after taking a sip from it himself. Satisfied that it wasn't drugged he gratefully took the glass, (Please drink this)
"Arigatou gozaimasu" he took a sip and sat back down on the bed, suddenly feeling quite worn out. (Thank you very much)
"Is that better?"
"What do you mean?" Yugi gave the taller man a confused look,
"Whoah what'd you do to him, he's speaking perfect English now!" the look-a-likes cried in unison.
"I-I understand you!" Yugi put his hand to his head, he had only just woken up and today was already strange. He looked up in time to find the brunette kneeling before him, up close Yugi could tell he was actually quite good looking; with a slightly tanner complexion than his own, and beautiful green eyes.
"My name is Harry, these are my friends Ron and Hermione," Harry motioned to the redhead and female brunette in the back of the room. "Those are the twins Fred and George" each raised a hand when their name was called, "And this is Mr. Weasely he's Ron, Fred, and George's dad" Harry finished.
"My name is Motou Yugi, but please just call me Yugi" he said realizing there was no danger here, "Please, if I could have my pendant back now, it's dangerous for you to hold onto it much longer."
"What do you mean by 'dangerous', what sort of threat does this pendant pose?" asked Mr. Weasely concern evident on his face.
"In the hands of the wrong people, a great threat; I do not wish to explain more than that, they are supposed to be secret" Harry nodded, and retrieved the item from the twins and placed it back around Yugi's neck. "Thank you," closing his eyes Yugi concentrated; he had yet to feel the spirit's presence, and was now avidly searching for Yami.
"Yugi are you alright?" Harry asked, placing a reassuring hand on the smaller's knee, at the touch Yugi's mind snapped back to reality,
"He's not here," a look of utter fear crept into his features, eyes wide and mouth hanging agape. Tears pricked at the corners of his strangely beautiful violet eyes,
"Who's gone?" quickly the tears began to stream down his cherubic face, as the totality of it all sank in. "What are you talking about?" Harry kneeled between Yugi's legs and held the shivering form close, rubbing small circles along his back in a comforting gesture.
"Th- the spirit of my pendant, Yami, he's not here with me anymore" the words were hard to decipher through the heart wrenching sobs, and erratic hiccupping.
"Hush, you said this pendant of yours had a great amount of power right? I bet you that he is fine wherever he is, and is desperately looking for you as well." The sobbing stopped, though the hiccups and shaky breaths continued on, as Yugi looked up into Harry's reassuring eyes; and somehow, he felt as though it would all be ok, that he would find Yami eventually.
"You're right, sorry for breaking down like I did, it's just, I feel empty without him; it's disconcerting."
"That's quite alright my boy" said Mr. Weasely as he made some tea seemingly appear out of nowhere. "Would you care to have some, it would help calm your nerves"
"There's no funny substance in that one is there?" Yugi was replied with a chuckle and a definite shake of the head. "Then yes, I would love some tea if you don't mind" he took a long sip and immediately felt refreshed. "Ahh thank you"
"Now Yugi, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, maybe shed some light as to how you appeared out of nowhere" Mr. Weasely pulled a chair, which was definitely not there before, up and made himself comfortable. The others that had walked into the room, and had thus far remained silent found places to sit as well, all staring intently. Even Harry sat next to him on the bed; angling himself to better see Yugi. Getting a good grip on the Sennen Puzzle with both hands, Yugi scanned the room of faces; these people had helped them hadn't they? He could trust them, and besides if his hunch was correct, he would need all the help he could get.
"Our story begins in Egypt"