Chapter 5
"Right, I'm gonna get a pizza. I'll be back soon." Herrick's father said, and he left the house. Joey and Tristan were helping Herrick fix the back door. "That should hold it." Herrick said as he put the last screw in. "Right, I need food." He stated.
"Your dad's just gone for pizza." Tea said.
About half an hour later, Herricks father came back with two large pizzas. Tea shook her head at the rate Joey and Tristan were eating. Herrick was just as bad. Despite the fact that he had hardly eaten all day and he hadn't eaten while he was imprisoned by the demon, Atem was struggling to find his apatite.
As it got late, Philippa found herself feeling light headed, but yet she couldn't go down. Her throat was bone dry. The cloak read 1:00 am. She didn't want to wake anyone, but she was so thirsty. She slipped silently out of her room and down stairs to the kitchen. She clicked the light on and got a glass of water. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" Someone said. She swung round and saw Atem. Philippa breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Atem said. He crossed the room to her. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Philippa lied. She was thinking about what the demon had said.
"Last time you told me that you had a roaring high fever." Atem said. "So tell me, what's wrong?" Philippa didn't reply. Atem looked at her, and she realised that he wasn't going to let this go until she told him. "What if I do end up like The Demon?" Philippa mumbled.
"You won't unless you chose to, and I don't think that's going to be something you'll want." Atem replied.
"He's already tried to take one of your friends, as long as you're with me, it's dangerous." Philippa said.
"It was going to be dangerous anyway. He's after me too." Atem stated. "Look, you're not in this alone."
"That's the problem. People are in danger when they are around me. First he takes my mother, step father, and Yugi could have been kill today too." Philippa argued.
"You'd rather be in this on your own and let that demon torture you for the rest of your life." Atem said.
"I just don't want other people getting hurt or put in danger because of me." Philippa replied. Atem moved closer to her.
"I've been through a lot of dangers in the past few years, and I've said that exact same thing to my friends more times than I can count. Unfortunately that doesn't stop them. They are going to come whether we like it or not." Atem stated.
"But they don't even know me." Philippa said.
"But I know you, and I'm not going to let that demon do any more damage to you. Which means my friends will be behind us all the way." Atem replied. Philippa knew she wasn't going to win this argument. She looked down at the floor. Atem put a hand under her chin and looked her in the eye. "Trust me when I say this. You don't want to face something like the demon alone." Atem stated. He pulled her into a hug, being careful not to touch her wounds.
The following morning, the group decided to go back home. "Thanks for everything Herrick. We owe you a burger or something so time." Joey said.
"Take care of yourselves." Herrick replied. Philippa gave him a sweet smile as the train pulled out of the station.
"Hey we haven't had a proper intro yet. I'm Yugi. You know Atem, that's Tea, Tristan and Joey." Yugi said to Philippa.
"My name's Philippa." Philippa replied and smiled sweetly.
"For god sake, will you two stop eating!" Tea said, almost shouting.
"What, we're hungry." Joey said in protest. Tea groaned.
"I need some female friends." She sighed. Philippa couldn't hide the smirk on her face. Joey and Tristan were clearly the knuckleheads of the group.
A few hours later, they came to Domino city. It was Philippa's first time in the city and she was amazed by it. A few people were waiting outside the station. "Joey!" A young girl called.
"Hey Serenity!" Joey called back. The girl called Serenity ran up to Joey and hugged him tightly.
"I thought you were only going to be for two days. That was three, and I was worried." Serenity stated.
"Sorry sis, things go a little nutty." Joey replied.
"Good to see you guys." A boy with white hair said.
"Hey Bakura." Yugi replied.
"Good to have you back Atem, we were worried." Another boy with black hair said.
"I'm fine Duke." Atem replied.
"Who's this?" Serenity asked, noticing Philippa standing behind the group.
"My name's Philippa." Philippa replied.
"How did you end up with this mad lot?" Duke asked.
"It's a long story." Atem said.
The group went round to the game shop, "Good to see everyone back together." Yugi's grandpa said as the group came in. "Are you alright son?" He asked Atem.
"Yes I'm fine." Atem replied.
"Well I'm gonna hit the shops, Serenity are you coming?" Tea said.
"You bet." Serenity replied.
"What about you Philippa?" Tea asked.
"Sure." Philippa replied. The girls left the shop.
"So where is she from?" Grandpa asked, referring to Philippa. Atem explained what had happened. "So she's sticking around then. That's fine." Grandpa said.
The girls came back a few hours later, with quite a few bags. "And you tell us off for eating too much." Tristan said.
"Well a few cloths aren't going to make me fat." Tea replied.
"Leave you with an empty pocket though." Joey said.
"Well unlike you lot, I'm able to manage my money." Tea said.
"Alright break it up." Serenity said.
The others were down stairs while Serenity was helping Philippa sort out the new cloths that she had brought today. The guest room was small but comfortable. "You know Philippa, you really do have good taste in fashion." Serenity said. Philippa just smiled. There was a loud cheer from down stairs. Joey must have lost another duel. "Don't worry you get use to that. You duel at all?" Serenity asked.
"I use to." Philippa replied.
"Why'd you quit?" Serenity asked.
"My deck got burnt up." Philippa said.
"Joey would go ballistic if that happened to his deck. Why don't you just build another one?" Serenity asked.
"I'm not any good with other decks, the one I lost was the only one I was ever able to win with." Philippa replied.
"Well have you tried?" Serenity asked.
"Not yet. I may do at some point." Philippa replied.
The two of them went down stairs into the living room. "Face it Joey you can't win." Tristan said. Philippa looked at the duel it total looked in Yugi's favour. Philippa looked at his hand, and noticed that there was a way for him to turn this around. She whispered something in his ear. Joey perked up, "You are a genius. Yugi, you are not going to like this." Joey said. He played a very complicated and clever combo, and Yugi's life points were brought down to just a few hundred. "Where did you get that one?" Yugi asked Philippa. She just shrugged. Yugi didn't give up and managed to win. "Oh for god's sake." Joey exclaimed.
"What does that make, 8-0 to Yugi." Tristan teased. Joey growled.
"So Philippa do you duel then?" Yugi asked.
"Use to, lost me deck in the fire." Philippa answered.
"Why don't you just rebuild it, grandpa's got thousands in shop." Yugi stated.
"Has he got a Dark Armed Dragon?" Philippa asked.
"You actually had one of those?" Joey asked in surprise. Philippa nodded. "That's a big shame, that's a very pretty card." Joey said.
"I don't think Grandpa has one, sorry there." Yugi said.
"Doesn't matter." Philippa replied.
"Hey Yugi let her borrow your deck, let's see what she can do." Joey said. Yugi gave Philippa his deck. She beat Joey in less than 5 turns. "What the!" Joey exclaimed. Philippa just smiled. "How the hell did you do that?" Joey exclaimed. Atem was also a bit surprised. "You said you could only win with the deck you lost." Serenity pointed out. Philippa just shrugged and gave Yugi's deck back, "Right, any of you hungry?" Grandpa asked. "Actually, I don't need to ask that question do I." Joey and Tristan ran into the kitchen and started pigging out. Tea groaned, and Philippa had to hold in a laugh. For Grandpa it really was a relief to have both of his grandsons and their friends all back together. Philippa was also able to find her appetite. Joey challenged Tristan to an eating contest, "Neither of them are gonna last much longer." Yugi said. This had been going on for sometime, but neither Joey nor Tristan felt like backing down. This was a fight for victory. Tea groaned again. Tristan finally gave up and Joey ate one more French fry to seal his win. Then they both collapsed on the table. "Those two are just nuts." Philippa said.
"Sometimes I don't know why I'm friends with them." Tea said with a sigh.
Over the next few weeks, Philippa felt like she had a family again, in fact she had more, she had friends, and a happy life. She started working in Grandpa's shop, and got to know all of Yugi's and Atem's friends. But she always felt a slight barrier because of her half demon body, but she never let that show to anyone. Atem saw her character change, from the broken hearted girl, to a lively and fun loving person, the fact that she was half demon practically went out of his mind. She changed physically too as she gained weight. She had a well proportioned figure and was now surprisingly pretty. Atem tried to help her build a new deck, but didn't get much of a result. Philippa didn't really care. She had everything she could ever have asked for. The only thing that could make it perfect was if she had her mother and stepfather with her too.