AN: Sorry for the length between chapters. The only time I had inspiration was when I was at work, and by the time I got home, it had left me. Think of this more as a 'filler' of sorts. But this chapter will be taking a break from the psychics and looking at the cards.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

Outside Lisa's home, two beings were hovering, finding the open air more comfortable than being inside. For one, there was no need to shrink in size. For the other, the range of vision was farther, allowing a better ability to watch out for the human the Fates had, it seemed, deemed was to be bound to it. For both, it was a much needed chance to stretch their wings.

Despite having free reign to fly as far as they chose, neither strayed very far from the roof of the building their humans were inside. And despite the fact that both were aware that threats could come from any direction, neither were looking away from the two humans, able to watch over them both simultaneously.

Wingweaver's gaze was locked onto Kaiba, a mixture of puzzlement and disdain in her eyes. Her eyes flicked over to the dragon next to her, wondering briefly where the other two were.

"How the mighty have fallen," she said, the first time either of them had broken the silence in over two hours. Wingweaver had emerged from the sixth plane very drained. Restoring life to her human had been a difficult process. Had the Dragon's human been any slower, Lisa would have died, a fact that made her shudder in fear. In truth, it would have been better for her to remain in the sixth plane, the home of all the cards. But she did not dare leave Lisa unwatched. She was far more durable than the human, despite the psychic's strength. A fact that had never been driven home so strongly as now.

"I have not fallen, Fairy," Blue Eyes growled. "I will thank you to stop saying I have."

"Not you," Wingweaver answered, almost laughing. "Your human. So mighty all those years ago. Despite the human you were currently bound to then, you still managed to bestow favor on High Priest Seto. Many looked with favor on him. His power was not something to ignore. Even I favored him above the others."

"You? I thought you preferred the Pharaoh," the dragon answered, surprised. They had all bestowed their favor on one or the other, and back in Egypt, the Fairy next to him had always seemed to have her eyes on the Pharaoh more than his priests.

"The Pharaoh? Don't be ridiculous," Wingweaver answered, this time actually laughing. "He was claimed by the gods, and I was never fool enough to encroach on their territory. There has only been one that foolish. I am still amazed that the Mage was not struck down by the wrath of the gods. Any other who tried would have most certainly perished."

"So why grant favor to him?"

"In truth, he was a puzzle. We grant our favor to very few, and for good cause. An eternity bound to one being is a dangerous thing. Should we choose to favor one who in the future proves to not be worth that bond, we would still be forced to defend that one. I had considered him to be perhaps worthy of such favor."

"So why did you hesitate? The fact that you are bound to the girl proves that you never looked kindly on him."

"Because in truth, I still do not know what you saw in him to grant your favor so quickly. When he was a young boy, and you were still tied to the girl, you bestowed your favor on him. Haste is unlike you, Dragon. He had the potential, I saw, to be among the greatest. A potential he realized and did grasp, as rise he did. The Favored Six, we called them. But always there was a shadow about him. A shadow that worried me. With good cause, it would seem. Look at him now. Still powerful, but cold even to you." She hesitated, looking at the CEO and seeing for a moment the High Priest whom she had looked favorably upon.

"Does he remember any of it? The time in Egypt?"

"The memories are there," the Dragon answered. "I have been able to unlock them once, and even speak to him, before your human came and awoke his gift. Only rarely did he hear my voice, but it was always there. Whatever your accusations, Fairy, I did my duty to him. Throughout all his reincarnations, I was always there."

"Yes," Wingweaver said. "And as I recall, he betrayed that loyalty. Or have you so easily forgotten your lost brother?" The roar of rage that answered her was, she admitted, justified. They had all felt it when Kaiba had ripped the card that represented the fourth Blue Eyes. The act had been enough to destroy him, and the pain had crippled them all, but none more than the Blue Eyes themselves. Pain and rage had been their response. Such loyalty for years, throughout the many reincarnations they had always been there. And that was how they had been repaid.

"You dare accuse me of forgetting the loss," the Dragon roared. "Always the loss is there. Always felt. But vengeance has already been gotten, and my duty hasn't changed."

Wingweaver nodded at that. The echos of the lost dragon had resonated throughout the plane. Enough so that many of the humans that had been favored came and asked what the problem was, despite not receiving an answer.

But when that part of Kaiba had been banished, he had not first gone to the Shadow Realm, as the Pharaoh had believed. No, he had first gone to their realm, as all those banished to the Shadows do. Rarely did they bother with the passage towards the Shadows, instead choosing to hasten the banished one's journey, so as not to feel the taint that always radiated off of those who are banished. But this time, the monster had destroyed one of their own. Vengeance needed to be gotten. And while all of the cards wanted revenge for their lost comrade, they all conceded that that honor of forever destroying the creature belonged to the remaining three. They had come so close to killing it when the shadows claimed what was theirs.

The screams of rage at being denied the death they were so truly owed echoed almost as long as the death of the dragon had. They did not repeat the mistake of letting the creature exist while they exacted a slow revenge. The shadows were hungry, and were eager to reclaim their lost prey. But that time, the cards were ready. The Light attribute cards held the shadows at bay for as long as they could, leaving the Dragons enough time to claim the death that was so rightfully theirs.

Wingweaver knew that Blue Eyes was right. The part of the human he was bound to that had destroyed his kin had been destroyed. And the rest had a duty to the CEO, whether or not he wanted it, and even whether or not they wanted it. By granting him their favor all those centuries ago, they were bound to his soul for the rest of eternity. The moment Wingweaver granted Lisa her favor, bonding with her soul, she bound herself, for all eternity, to her and her alone. No other human could be granted her favor, though her others could choose to bestow favor on different humans.

"The fact that you got your vengeance is besides the point. Why did you choose so rapidly?" Wingweaver asked.

"Because where you only saw the shadows, I saw the ability to overcome them," the Dragon responded.

"Don't mention shadows," Wingweaver said with a shudder. "I've had too close an encounter with them today." The Dragon next to her gave her a sympathetic glance. He had seen how close the girl was to death.

"From the way she would have died, the Shadows would have taken her," he said. "To die in the planes..."

"I would not have let them have her," Wingweaver said. "It is my right as her soul-card to bond with her fully at her death, and my duty if the Shadows would take her otherwise."

Both monsters broke off from that train of thought. They had seen many humans die over their long lifespans. Humans were mortal, after all, they were not. They had even seen the Shadows take their share of souls, as only rarely would they intervene with it. But it never became any easier to watch.

"You would bond with her fully?" Blue Eyes asked, his surprise at the Fairy's comment driving him to speak. "To lose much of yourself, and much of your human in the process. I do not see how it would be worth it. Either way she would be lost to you forever, and you would lose yourself in the process."

"I will not let the Shadows take her," Wingweaver said.

"Humans reap what they sow. You know this."

"Humans may have created the Shadow Realm, but she did not." The Blue Eyes roared in rage at the reminder, and even Wingweaver felt anger at the memory. As well as sorrow. Because the Shadow Realm may have been created by the humans, but it was their fault that it was so prevalent. When the Meillinum items had been created, they found their world invaded. Forced to bind, in part, with the magics creating them, the items suddenly had the power to grant those with strong enough magic to summon them. But it was never meant to be that way. Psychics had always existed. And there were always those that could communicate with them freely. But it was not meant to be done the way those items could.

The first time humans summoned them, they were unable to fully leave their world. They had assumed that, with this failure, the humans would give up the effort. The small shadow that had formed was unnoticed. Then the humans tried again. And again. The stronger the attempts to summon them were, the more the shadow grew. Until, in order to protect themselves, they sealed it away from their world, their desire to defend themselves leading them to trap it, in part, in the human's world.

When again attempts were made to summon them, they found themselves being pulled through those shadows. The summoners didn't know that what this Shadow Realm was was a cruel mirror of their own beautiful world. All they knew, all they cared about, was that they were finally able to truly summon the monsters whenever they chose.

Throughout the years, they would continually be pulled through those shadows, sometimes nearly losing themselves in it because of the taint that realm held for them. Slowly but surely the taint was spreading to them. They were growing weaker. They knew that if this continued, they would die. In desperation, they revealed the old stone tablets to Pegasus, knowing that the game maker would recognize the similarity to cards. Their hope was that the humans, finding an easier way to use them, would stop pulling them through the Shadows.

Their desperate plan worked. And had an interesting side effect. Knowing the power in names and images, they had assumed that, even through the cards, they would be summoned at the human's will. Instead they watched the humans 'duel' as they called it, and felt nothing. For a time, they had the bliss that was only communicating with the psychics who were able to sense them. The times of them being summoned were fewer now than they had been in a long time. Their desperate plan worked, even though the one who brought about was just as guilty of tainting them as the other item holders. Over time, their strength returned, though they doubted they would ever be as strong as they once were.

"You would not let the Shadows take your human should he die in the planes," Wingweaver said after a long period of silence. None of them were sure why, but they did know that if a psychic died in the planes, their soul would not be reincarnated. Instead the Shadow Realm took it, and they were lost forever. It was something that none of the cards wished to happen. More than one had chosen to merge with the soul rather than let it be lost forever. The bond between human and soul-card was more than just a partnership. There was genuine love for the humans they bonded with. Yes, bonding with a soul did mean that both human and monster were never the same. But the alternative was too terrible to imagine.

"What is your human doing?"

At Wingweaver's question, both monsters turned their eyes onto Kaiba. He was standing in front of Lisa, apparently making certain that, yes, he was alive. As odd as that was, it wasn't a problem. The problem was, Kaiba was still asleep and in his borrowed bed at the same time.

AN: All right, explanations. Here's hoping it won't be as long as last chapter:

I read Mellinium World (and if any of you wonderful people can correct me on my spelling of 'millenium' I'd appreciate it) once, and while I loved it and do personally view it as how the Dark Magician came to be, to suite the needs of my story, all the monsters had already existed, in the forms we know them today.

Saying that the Blue Eyes could always speak to Kaiba is, in fact, cannon. Of a sorts, at least. If you'll recall Battle City, when Kaiba was against Ishizu, right at the end when he was about to summon Obolesk, he hesitated, because it was almost like his cards were calling out to him, saying that he should use the one card that had never failed him, over the God Card. So I'm not breaking anything, I'm even keeping them in character. :D

The line 'though though her others could choose to bestow favor on different humans.' is a reference to the fact that Wingweaver is not a unique card. At least one other person knows of the card and, I believe, has used it. Different versions of the same card can bond with different people, and very rarely multiple versions of the same card will all bind themselves to one person, as in the case of the Blue Eyes cards. And they cannot bind themselves to anyone else. Even after the death of the psychic, the fact that they bonded with their human's souls means they are bound for eternity. Yu-Gi-Oh has reincarnations, meaning that the cards, after the death of their humans, would watch over all the humans and wait for the one that they are bound to be reborn. This means that choosing to grant favor to a person is not a decision they make lightly, and will very often watch the same person for several reincarnations in order to make certain that, yes, this is a person that they want to be bound to for eternity. This one is worthy of it.

Little bit of a cliffie. Can anyone guess how and why Kaiba is in two places at once? Hope you enjoyed this one.