Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 8

She had expected Mahad to be insufferable when he had finally taken his place amongst the High Priests of the Pharaoh and took on a Millennium Item.

She hadn’t expected him to enter her room in the palace, pale and wide eyed, trembling like a leaf, and sit down on her chair, his voice trembling as he spoke, “Ba-Khu-Ra... I...”

“So you finally believe me?” The thief turned temporary ‘servant to the Crown Prince’ so she could be around for the investigation the Princess was pushing, asked as she took in Mahad’s demeanour.

“Y...Yes.” Mahad’s tone echoed his disgust and disbelief as he stared at the Millennium Item in his hand. “How could the Pharaoh do something like that?” He asked, staring at her, eyes still wide, “How could he...?”

“Apparently he couldn’t. He had to send his brother to do it for him, remember?” Ba-Khu-Ra growled, pacing the room.

“I’m going to demand an audience with the Pharaoh.” Mahad decided, “He needs to be told if he doesn’t know already.”

“Why not let her highness confront him? She’s less likely to get the...” Ba-Khu-Ra drew her hand across her throat. “Not that I mind if you want to put your head on the chopping block, but I have plans to fulfil before I die.”

“Because I don’t want the Princess involved.” Mahad shook his head, “Considering the lengths they went to bury this information, I doubt even she would be safe and Egypt needs her.”

“Huh.” Ba-Khu-Ra supposed that made some kind of sense. As much as she wanted the Pharaoh and his brother to pay for their crimes, the anarchy that would befall Egypt if there was no heir when the Pharaoh died wasn’t worth it.

“I’ll go.” Mahad straightened himself out, “I can show him the proof using the Millennium Ring and he’ll have to atone for what he has done.”

“I’ll come with you.” Ba-Khu-Ra surprised Mahad by deciding. “I’ve been waiting for years for someone to confront the Pharaoh with proof and I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Besides someone has got to watch your back. I can’t be bothered to break in a new minion at this point.”

“I am not your minion.” Mahad scowled at her.

“No,” Ba-Khu-Ra allowed, “But you are her highness’s and between the pair of us, we’ve got you well trained.”

Mahad just stared at her for a moment longer before a small smile settled on his features, “Alright, but I’m not sure you’ll want to see the illusion when I show him...”

“The illusion would be nothing compared to living it and I’ve done that already.” The former thief shrugged, “Let’s go.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 7

Mahad let out a frustrated huff as he stalked down the corridor. 

When he had been assigned to teach the newest of the Priesthood, he had thought it might be a blessing in disguise. His investigation into Akenaden’s secrets had hit a dead end. His contacts had been out to the village only to find that time and the desert sands had buried any evidence that had been left behind. The only things left were the burnt out husks of the buildings and ruined signs that it had once been a thriving village.

With only the thief’s word to go on Mahad couldn’t accuse Akhenaten of anything. The ghost town, what had once been the Village of Thieves, would remain a nasty little secret unless new evidence came to light. That was, if the thief was telling the truth.

So he had looked forward to teaching the newest of those who would one day be Priests until he had realised that the boy had been ‘training’ at home with the priests of his local temple and had developed bad habits that would need to be retrained.

It wasn’t so bad. Seth at least had grown up outside the palace, so he didn’t have the arrogant attitudes that Mahad often ran into within the palace walls. He was a lot easier to deal with than the thief girl too. Though she had gotten more tolerable over time, Ba-Khu-Ra of Kul Elna, who now lived within the palace walls and was often found in the presence of the ‘Prince,’ was still the brash, obnoxious thief she had been when he had first met her.

But still Seth was suspicious of something and Mahad was pretty sure that, for once, it wasn’t to do with the thief in their midst. He had seen the common born mage watching the Princess like a hawk and Mahad had a horrible suspicion that Seth knew.

He wasn’t sure what to do about it either. Seth was a Priest. He couldn’t just order him to stay silent or threaten to ‘remove’ him from the equation. The Princess could, but he would have to bring it up to her first and he didn’t know how.

The question was taken out of his hands when he finally reached the Princess’s rooms to find Seth already there, demanding answers from her highness while Mana and the thief looked on.

“Mahad, close the door behind you.” The Princess didn’t give him a chance to say anything to any of them. He did as he was ordered, well aware this would be a loud conversation and that it would require privacy. The moment it was shut, the girl turned back to the angry and confused Priest, “Right, Seth, you were saying?”

“Mahad,” Seth turned to the other Priest, irritation obvious, “Please tell me I’m not the only one in this place who has the eyes to see what is in front of them?”

“No.” Mahad shook his head, “I’ve been aware since just after Anubis killed the Prince. I believe most of the palace are suffering from wilful blindness. They’re seeing what they want to see, or believing whatever they have been told to believe.”

Seth nodded his understanding, before turning back to her highness, “And the reason for this deception over all of Egypt?”

“My brothers are dead and I cannot be Pharaoh. My royal husband can but I am not allowed to marry outside of the bloodline.” The Princess explained, “My mother passed on many years ago and for some reason my father has been unable to provide any children from the harem since she died. This leaves me as the last of my line.”

“And your uncle has no children?” Seth looked surprised.

“He has one son, two years older than I am, but both he and his mother went missing during the war, just after the Millennium Items were created, and no one ever found them again.” The Princess shook her head, “And I cannot and will not marry Akhenaten.” Especally after what Ba-Khu-Ra had told her, but Seth didn’t need to hear about that.

“And without a clear line of succession there could be an uprising, or worse riots and chaos when your father passes on, though I would hope that that would be a long time yet.” Seth understood. “What of your brother. If people believe you to be him, what happened to him?”

“I ensured he was buried with his name, in his tomb and with his tools and toys.” Mahad reassured him, “He will not walk Duat.”

“Does the Pharaoh know?” Seth’s next question made the Princess pause, having wondered that herself for the last year and a half herself.

“I don’t know.” She admitted slowly, “Sometimes it seems like he is just as wilfully blind as the rest of the palace and then other times he says or does something that make it obvious he knows who I really am.” She frowned slightly, “If he’s aware of it, he hasn’t stated it outright and as long as he’s content to leave it so, so am I.”

Seth nodded, clearly thinking, “What is it you need me to do?”

“Seth?” Mahad was surprised, considering how set in tradition the other Priest was, he had been expecting much more of an argument.

“As long as the Pharaoh is letting this continue and it’s what’s best for Egypt, I will assist in keeping this debacle going.” Seth replied, shrugging at him, “Now,” He turned back to the Princess, “What is it I can do?”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 6

“We could take a break if you want?” The Princess offered, easily able to see how frustrated her student was getting.

“No.” The thief grouched, glowering at the hieroglyphs. They were beginning to make sense, but it wasn’t as easy as she had thought it would be. She was actually embarrassed at the amount of trouble she was having. The Princess made it look so easy, but then the eleven year old had learned to read and write at a much younger age, mostly by sneaking into her brother’s lessons. “I’m going to get this.”

Doing so would make breaking in and out of tombs so much easier. She would be able to read the warnings that the architects had left for themselves so they could avoid traps. She would also be able to work out what scrolls were valuable and could be sold to certain parties for a high price.

She just had to understand what the hell each of the symbols actually meant. Hieroglyphs were really complicated and symbols could mean different things if they were paired with different symbols and the whole system of writing made no sense. Hieratic script had been much, much easier to understand, even if she still struggled with it a bit.

Still she had a fellow student now. She was pretty sure it was Mahad’s revenge on the Princess for dropping her on him. Mana, who had been the Princess’s best friend and who had gone home for a while after the Anubis, had returned to the palace to be there for the ‘Prince’ and Mahad. She, of course, had known the difference instantly and had had to swear herself into secrecy along with the rest of the Princess’s small group of confidents, but Mahad had decided that she could catch up on her missed studies by learning from the Princess as he didn’t have time to teach between his own studies and the investigation into Akenaten’s misdeeds.

Frustratingly Mana already knew how to read, but that was fine because Bakura was learning plenty from just watching the Princess try and teach the other girl magic.

“I do have one idea,” Mana commented as the Princess’s stomach rumbled, as she stretched, having taken a break, “What about a trip to the kitchens?”

“Food?” The Princess perked up, having been just as irritated as her student. She knew she was hitting a barrier with Ba-Khu-Ra and she wasn’t sure how to get around it. She wanted to, but she didn’t know how.

“Sure, whatever.” Ba-Khu-Ra wasn’t going to object to a free meal. Money wasn’t too much of an issue any more, not when she tended to make a slight detour each time she left the palace ground. However she had lived with nothing for so long that she wasn’t above taking advantage of free food. “I could use a break anyway.”

They quickly packed up, carrying their tools with them as they made their way past the throne room and down to the kitchens. They were nearly there, in fact they could smell the food cooking when they bumped into the Pharaoh and a couple of the priests.

Well aware of Ba-Khu-Ra’s feelings towards her father and the rest of the High Priests, the Princess subtly gestured to Mana as she spoke with her father. Unfortunately Mana didn’t get a chance to pull the thief girl aside before her father turned to the two girls.

“And who are you two?” He asked, looking them over.

“This is Mana.” The Princess spoke quickly, gesturing to the girl, “And...”

“I’m Ba-Khu-Ra.” The Princess only just managed to keep any signs of distress off of her features as the thief girl stepped forward with a bow and a surprising amount of deference. Still the Princess couldn’t help but hold her breath as the thief straightened and continued, “Of Kul Elna.”

The Pharaoh didn’t respond to the name but Akenaten did. If the Princess had had any doubts about the fact her uncle was involved in what had happened to Ba-Khu-Ra’s village, they vanished as she watched her uncle turn as white as a sheet and backup slightly, staring at the thief as if he had seen a ghost.

Now they just needed hard evidence and they could take it to her father and get justice for the thief girl’s home.

“They’re Mahad’s students.” The Princess spoke up, drawing attention back to her, “We’re learning magic together.”

“And where is Mahad?” The Pharaoh asked, “I require a word with him.”

The Princess hesitated. She wasn’t sure where Mahad was. He had spoke about needing to speak with some contacts and vanished a few hours ago. “I’m not sure.” She said slowly, thinking, “Lessons are over. We were just about to do some extra revision and get a snack.”

“If you see him, send him to the throne room.” Her father nodded, looking thoughtful. “Something important’s come up and I must speak with him urgently.”

“Yes, Father.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 5

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

“You WANT her to come back?!” Ba-Khu-Ra grinned slightly at the outrage in Mahad’s tone as she waited for the right moment to reveal herself to the pair in the classroom who were about to start their lessons for the day. “My Prince, I say this with the deepest respect. Have you gone stark, raving mad?”

“No.” The Princess protested, “But we tied. That doesn’t happen!”

“My Prince, think about this for a moment. You want a thief in the palace purely based on the fact you didn’t beat her?” Mahad sounded irritated, “You cannot be serious.”

“I am.” The girl sounded amused by her friend’s mood, “Besides, I didn’t think she would turn down the chance to learn how to control her powers properly.”

“I wouldn’t.” Ba-Khu-Ra stepped out of the darkness, causing the Princess to jump. Her guardian drew his dagger and glowered at the thief in their midst. “So here I am.” She glanced down at the short, sharp blade, “I’m here to fight, I’m here to learn so put that away before you hurt yourself.”

“Mahad.” The Princess called, putting her hand on her guardian’s arm, “I’m the one who made this agreement so she’s my guest.” She looked at Ba-Khu-Ra, “But we won’t be visiting the treasury again.”

“A shame. I so enjoyed our last trip there.” The thief smirked at her. She still had the majority of the treasure she had liberated from the vault the last time she had been in the palace, squirreled away in a safe place where no one would think to look for it. “So how do we start this thing off?”

“With you sitting down and shutting up.” Mahad pointed to a table and chair, “And reading this scroll.”

“Reading?” The thief blinked, “I thought we were using magic. Where does reading come into it?”

“You don’t know how to read?” The Princess looked shocked.

“We had teachers in my village,” Ba-Khu-Ra shrugged, thinking about the extortionate fees the scribes had charged to teach children, “But that was a very long time ago, when I actually still had a village to call home.”

“What, did they kick you out?” Mahad spat.

“You haven’t researched anything, have you?” Ba-Khu-Ra shot back, angry.

“Why should I accept the word of a thief?” Mahad demanded, glowering back.

“You’re just as bad as the rest of them.” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped, magic beginning to manifest as a dark aura around her.

“Hey!” The Princess got between the pair of them, glancing between the two. “That’s enough. Both of you.”

“Step aside, your highness.” Mahad glowered at Ba-Khu-Ra over her head, “This thief isn’t fit to step upon the palace grounds.”

“Are you ordering me to move?” The Princess stared at him, shocked, “Seriously?”

“It’s a recommendation.” Mahad replied, pausing just long enough beforehand to realise how his last sentence had sounded.

“Look, Princess,” Ba-Khu-Ra made the title sound rude, “I don’t think this is going to work. I refuse to learn from some stuck up, arrogant ass who is so blind he refuses to see past the end of his nose.”

“You’re accusing the priests of evil.” Mahad glowered at her, “How can I take you seriously?”

The Princess paused and turned to Ba-Khu-Ra, a concerned and surprisingly unsurprised look on her features, “Which priests?”

“Finally.” Ba-Khu-Ra threw her hands up in the air, “Someone who’s willing to listen. Your Uncle is the worst of the lot, but those ‘golden treasures?’ Well,” She smirked at Mahad, “What’s your teacher taught you about blood magic?”

“That’s quite enough.” Mahad spoke over the Princess. “Your highness, I can’t teach her until she knows how to read, so perhaps you should find another teacher.”

“I’ll teach her to read.” The Princess informed him, “And until I have, I’m tasking you with finding out what in the names of the Gods my Uncle did.” She looked at Ba-Khu-Ra, “I know my uncle, I know he’s... wrong. I’ll listen, even if Mahad won’t.”

“You won’t like it.” Ba-Khu-Ra warned her.

“Even if I don’t like it, I will do what I can to fix it.” The Princess swore.

“You can’t fix it.” The thief scowled at her.

“Let me try.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

“So...” Ba-Khu-Ra asked as she hovered around the Princess’s bed, unwilling to go too far while everyone was watching her carefully. “Does this mean I won?”

“No.” The girl shook her head, winced and brought a hand to the back of her head where it had hit the marble floor, “We got caught.”

“We were in the treasury.” Ba-Khu-Ra hissed, irritated despite the bag of gold and jewels hidden in her tunic. “I won.”

“No, we were in the doorway so technically neither of us won.” The Princess hissed back, “And I just saved your life, so a little gratitude would be nice.”

“Gratitude?” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped back, keeping her tone low, “When you’re trying to screw me out of my treasure?”

“Look,” The Princess glowered at her, her own voice barely above a whisper, “I’ve just gotten you permission to study magic with MY teacher. And I can see that full bag, the guards might have missed the extra lump in your clothes but I haven’t. You’re not as hard done by as you’re making...”

The thief scowled and moved away as the physician darted into the room and came straight over to their patient. He was closely followed by Mahad, who, though Abasi called him over, first darted over to the Princess’s side where he got into a very quiet but very intense conversation before he was politely shooed away by the healer.

“Outside.” Mahad growled at her, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her out. When Ba-Khu-Ra dug her heels in, he leaned in and whispered, “Unless you want me to tell the guards your secret.”

“I’ll tell them hers if you do.” Ba-Khu-Ra subtly gestured towards the bed.

Realisation settled on Mahad’s face, then anger. “Outside now.” He snapped, one hand reaching for the bronze dagger at his belt, the other still wrapped around her arm.

She was pretty sure she could take him in a fight. He was softer than her, more spoilt from the life inside the palace and while he had obviously been trained to defend himself and his charge, she was pretty sure that he would fight fair while she never had.

She followed him out of the room and down the corridor. Amusingly in the time it took them to find an out of the way corner, she had already worked out six different escape routes, none of which required magic to use.

“I should kill you.” Mahad snapped at her the instant they were alone and could not be overheard, drawing his dagger.

Bakura responded by stamping on his foot, forcing him to let her go. She slipped straight into the darkness, vanishing with practised ease but sticking close enough for him to hear her voice. “If your Princess wanted me dead, she could have had me killed already. But perhaps I’m not the one you should contemplate ending.” She moved around the room, circling him, keeping him off balance, “There’s far worse than me within your walls. But then I’m the only one who knows the evil for what it is.”

“What do you mean?” Mahad demanded, concerned and confused and still angry.

“Look into your priests and your precious golden treasures. And try asking about a village called Kul Elna.” Ba-Khu-Ra taunted, “Perhaps you’ll know what I know by the time I come back for my magic lessons. Or maybe not. Perhaps you’re just as blind as the rest of them.” With that she was gone, slipping into the darkness with practised ease and escaping out of the nearest window.

Ennead: Ancient Bit 3

Part 1
Part 2

“What’re you going to do now, brat?”

Ba-Khu-Ra tried to twist free of the man holding her, only to stop when his blade bit into her throat and her right arm was twisted further up her back, causing her shoulder to ache. A grimace worked its way across her features as her Ka beast stopped, mid-attack and turned to glower at her captor.

“You thought you’d finished me off, didn’t you?” The man sounded like he was smirking as he forced her to move forward, towards his boss who was watching her like she was a puzzle. “This is what you get,” He twisted her arm further, forcing a hiss of pain out of her as her shoulder went from aching to screaming, “For being such a smug...”

“Menes.” His boss snapped at him, “Don’t taunt the mage brat.” The woman came forward, one eye on Diabound, who was hesitant to try anything with his summoner held hostage, and one eye on the thief girl who had wiped out six of her seven goons.

“So, who are you kid?” She asked, looking Ba-Khu-Ra over, “One of the priest spawn? An illegitimate brat of the Pharaoh’s?”

“Don’t insult me.” Ba-Khu-Ra snapped at her, pain mingling with disgust at the suggestion to make her voice sharp and her eyes narrow. “I’m not related to any of these assholes.” Especially not the blasted Princess, who had fled at the first opportunity.

“So who are you?” The woman asked again, amused by the vehemence shown by the kid, “Because I’d like to know your name before I kill you for ruining my heist.”

“Me?” Ba-Khu-Ra let out a bark of laughter despite her irritation, “Ruined your job? You have any idea how long I planned this job? You’re the one who ruined mine!”

“You’re a thief?” The woman seemed to do a double take, “A mage brat? I don’t...”

The woman was cut off by an agonised bellow from Menes. He dropped the knife, allowing Ba-Khu-Ra to pull free and turn to find out what had happened.

To her shock Menes had a dagger sticking out of his side and the Princess, who she had thought long gone, was stood there, anger obvious on her features.

Menes, when he realised what had happened, lashed out, punching the Princess in the face, causing her to go crashing to the floor where she slammed her head against the marble stones and blacked out. Before he could advance on the unconscious girl, Diabound had picked him up and chucked him into the huge stone doors, which he hit with a crack.

The woman thief who had ruined Ba-Khu-Ra’s plans backed up, suddenly looking rather worried as she stared at the huge, grey skinned naga like creature.

“I’m not only a thief.” Ba-Khu-Ra informed her, smirking despite her plans having gone completely to pot, “I’m the best there is. Now, Diabound!” She gestured forward and the woman had time to let out a shriek before Diabound blew her away.

“Damn it.” Ba-Khu-Ra grumbled as the smoke from the blast dissipated, revealing all that was left was some ash, “She made me melt some of the treasure.” She knelt down by some of the melted gold and grimaced at the mess that was left as she collected a small bag of gold and jewels that she hid in her tunic, planning on coming back for more later.

“Wake up.” Ba-Khu-Ra nudged the Princess with her foot, wanting to rub in the fact that they had gotten into the treasury without getting caught by the guards. “Oi!”

“Halt!” Ba-Khu-Ra scowled as the guards finally arrived, having missed the action but in plenty of time to still catch her. She looked around for her Ka beast only to find it had dismissed itself and she didn’t have the energy left to call it up a third time this evening.

There was a pack of them at the door, headed by one of the Priests, a short, broad man with hair in three shades of grey that seemed to fly out in almost every direction under the headpiece, Millennium Rod in hand. Two of them checked over the mook that had crashed into the door as the rest entered the room, swords pointed at Ba-Khu-Ra.

It was the priest who reacted the most though as he spotted the form collapsed on the floor. “My Prince!” He shoved Ba-Khu-Ra aside, into the waiting arms of the guards and knelt by the girl, checking her over carefully and shaking her to try and get a response, “Wake up! Please!”

A pained groan emerged from the false Prince, causing relief to cross the priest’s features. The elderly man turned to glower at Ba-Khu-Ra as one of the guards scooped up the girl on the ground. “Who’re you?”

The girl glared back. The man before her held a Millennium Item, that meant he was one of those who were benefiting from what had happened to her home and her family. If he wanted to take her in, or take her down, she wasn’t going to let him do so easily. Tired or not, she would summon Diabound again and destroy herself to kill him if she had to.

“Abasi...” The priest paused, half turning to the dazed looking ‘Prince’ whose eyes were half open, unfocused and staring at him. “She’s one of the magic students.”

“My Prince?” Abasi asked, confused, “I don’t believe...”

“Are you questioning me?” The ‘Prince’ snapped, regal authority in her tone despite her current position. “I know who I study with. She IS one of Mahad’s students.”

“I understand, my Prince.” Abasi nodded, herding Ba-Khu-Ra out of the treasury, the guard carrying the Princess following, “Though you might want to inform Mahad of that fact.”

Sneak Peek - Ennead: For Those We Love: Chapter 2

Bakura paused as she stepped through the classroom door and looked over at her group of friends, who were gathered around a travel video player, chatting to the screen.

“Good morning?” She questioned, curious as Yugi looked up and nodded to her, then slumped back into her seat, while the others all gave her smiles that looked rather false. “What did my other self do now?” She asked as she moved over to the group.

“It wasn’t her fault.” She jumped a mile as the video player answered her, causing her to move around to see the screen. Yugi’s grandfather was on it, waving merrily at her, “Good morning, Bakura-chan.”

“G...Good morning, Mutou-san?” It was more a question and she glanced around at the others, noting Yugi had seemed to sink further into her chair. “Is he really...?”

“Yeah.” Jou nodded, his tone angry and his movement sharp. “Some prick with a Millennium Item challenged Yuge, cheated all the way through and sealed Ojiisan’s soul into the tape when she lost.”

Bakura could feel her other self shift at the back of her mind at Jou’s words and mentally grimaced. She was well aware of how close her other self had come to total victory just a couple of months ago. It was only the fact the she had sacrificed herself to halt the final blow that had saved her friends.

It had only been a miracle that had saved her life and the life of her Other Self, but they had been dead, at least temporarily, and while she was willing to do it again if she needed to, the spirit of the Ring had made it clear that she had no intention of dying again. Not for a long time at least.

This meant that, for the time being, Yugi’s Puzzle was firmly off the radar. Any other Items however were still fair game and Bakura couldn’t really bring herself to object considering that most other item holders seemed to be obnoxious prats.

“Can you get him out?” She asked, remembering how Yugi no Oneesan, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had seemed to have no difficulty in helping her free those trapped in the game pieces from her Monster World set.

“No.” Yugi shook her head, seeming calm, though Bakura could see it was just a mask. She couldn’t help but wonder if the others could see the dejection hidden underneath. “Anesan tried. We just ended up with a headache for our troubles.”

‘Of course they did.’ Bakura flinched as the voice of her other self echoed in her head, still not used to being able to hear the thoughts of the spirit of the Ring and mostly wishing she still couldn’t, ‘The Penalty was set against them. They will have to fulfil the ‘out’ clause before they will be able to free him.’

“Could we do it?” Bakura asked the voice, startling them both. “Could we free Yugi’s Grandfather?”

‘I don’t know,’ The voice replied after a moment of thought, sounding amused for some reason,‘And quite frankly I don’t care to try. The Pharaoh got herself into this mess and she can get herself...’

The Other Bakura paused, retuning into the conversation at the table in time to see Jou rolling his text book into a cone shape, pointing it at the Puzzle and yelling, “Hey Oneesan! If you can hear me in there, cheer up!” at the top of his lungs.

“Jonouchi!” Anzu shoved him away as Yugi tried to get some hearing back. “Seriously! I don’t think that’ll help.”

It had a little though, Bakura could see, as Yugi smiled for a moment, some of the despondency lifting a little in the face of her friend’s lunacy. 

Author Note: Okay...oops

Been working on a new project. When I have a chapter or two of it complete, I will post a link to it here. I'm not sure whether it will go up on Fanfiction.net or not as I will be posting it under a new username on a different website but I might post it on ff.net too.

It's this new project that has stopped me from updating on here for the last couple of days but I will be returning to my usual schedule as of tomorrow. Around 12pm tomorrow there will be a sneak peek of the new 'Ennead: For Those We Love' chapter and I will be updating at around that time every day, including Christmas Day.

I'm not sure what I will be updating with but there will be updates.

Shadow Treaty Bit that goes nowhere

“Duel!”

“I don’t know why they’re bothering,” DMG commented to Hermione from her seat on the wall at the bottom of the steps, recording the duel for later summarisation, “Tate and Lyle are one Duel away from being the British tag-team Duelling Champions. Alyss and Carnelian aren’t really a match for them, for all their decks work well together. They just don’t synch very well.”

“They probably just edited their decks.” Sweetybell commented from the other side, still fiddling with a piece of a Duel Disk, though this time assembly was taking place instead of the opposite. “Tate and Lyle normally duel whoever they can get ahold of in order to test their decks. Don’t be too surprised if they challenge you next.” She glanced at Hermione, whose hand went to her deck holster, still relieved that Atem had thought to retrieve it for her even with everything else that had been going on.

“I don’t mind. Though I’m not sure who I’d team up with, my deck is built for solo duelling.” Hermione shrugged in reply.

“Well you know how I run my deck.” DMG offered, confusing Sweetybell, “But while my magicians love me, my duelling skills...well...” She trailed off, looking embarrassed.

“I’ll team up with you.” Sweetybell offered, still wondering when Hermione and DMG had met before considering no one had heard of a ‘Hermione Granger’ before Shadowmorn, “I’m decent at the game and I know how Tate and Lyle work.”

“What do you play?” Hermione asked, watching as on his first turn Lyle started building up a wall of life point burning monsters.

“Madolche.” The engineering student replied, “Sweet and plushy monsters like my Baaple here.” She indicated the sheep that was asleep at her feet. “You?”

“Spellcasters, but with a life point burn twist.” Hermione returned, “Very good if I can get my combos out, a little fragile otherwise. I still don’t trust my instincts enough according to my teacher.”

“Considering you learnt Duel Monsters from Yugi,you should probably listen to him.” DMG teased.

“I know, I know.” Hermione sighed, “You’ve told me this before.”

“Huh?” Sweetybell asked. Before anyone could answer, DMG’s phone had gone off and the woman had wandered off to answer it, leaving Hermione and Sweetybell sitting on the wall in front of the castle to watch the duel fall out.

LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN

Clanverse: Post Shadow Morn Celebrations

From before I had finalised the plans:
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“You know,” She panted as she gazed the skies, having never appreciated the clouds racing across the blue skies as much as she did now, “I’m not sorry that’s over.”

He chuckled, finally taking the chance to read the name on her DuelDMU jacket, “Me either.” He replied as his Silver Fang and her White Queen discussed something that neither of them could hear, “I’m Luke by the way.”

“Alyss.” She grinned, shaking his head, “Nice to finally get a name.” She giggled. Her White Queen turned to look at her questioningly. “Hi, umm, thank you for your help, but I’m not sure how to send you back...” Alyss told the Queen who gave her a smug look, glowed white and disappeared, Silver Fang following.

Alyss and Luke sat down on the steps of the SU, exhaustion suddenly catching up with them, grinning at each other. “So,” Luke said, watching his partner in battle carefully, “We can’t say that the uni year didn’t end with a bang...” He commented jokingly and was rewarded by Alyss’s laughter.

“No,” Alyss replied, smiling, “No we can’t.” She leant back so she could see the sky again, “What do you think that was?” She asked, mostly ignoring the student nurses who were rushing around to help the students who had been attacked by the shadows, even if she couldn’t help but notice they gave the Duelists a wide berth.

“No clue.” Luke admitted, as confused as she was, having summoned Silver Fang into their duel just moments before the odd miasma had settled and having been surprised to find that his beast had started attacking the shadow creatures without orders. “It could have been anything...”

“I wonder if we’ll get extra marks for defending the uni...” Alyss commented, wistfully thinking.

“Doubt it.” Luke snorted, “Would be nice though. Either that or I wouldn’t say no to a reduction on student fees.”

“Yeah right.” One of the other student Duelists, who had been fighting down by the library, commented as he and his opponent came and joined them on the steps, “A university? Give anyone a break on their fees...”

“Point.” Luke sighed, “I’m Luke, this is Alyss.”

“We know Alyss.” One of the Duelists chuckled, also sporting a DuelDMU hoodie, “I’m Tate and he’s Lyle.”

“You’re not serious.” Luke spluttered and Alyss chuckled, having heard of these two but never actually fought them herself.

“Blame the Dueling club. They decided that since we normally tag duel, they were going to nickname us something intelligent like that.” Lyle snorted.

“And once it stuck, it stuck.” Tate nodded.

“It could be worse; we could be Jessie and James, or Butch and Cassidy.” Lyle added.

“True.” Luke nodded.

They slipped into a tired silence for a while, just watching what was going around them. Alyss did get up at one point to offer her help, but since the injured student had flinched away from her, she’d rejoined the group on the steps to watch.

“So now what?” Tate asked after a while, bored of getting odd looks from other students.

“Pub?” Lyle asked.

“Pub sounds good.” Alyss nodded, “Or it would if I had any money.”

“I’ll pay.” Lyle snorted, “Let’s get out of here before someone calls the cops on us.”

The four of them could agree on that and they wandered off, heading into town and the Witherspoons, which did cheap food and good booze.

LINE_RECOGNITON_HAS_GONE_AGAIN

By the time the cops finally found them, wanting to ask them the same questions they’d asked every Duelist they’d found that had been caught up in the attack on the uni, the four of them had gotten rather drunk.

“We’d like the four of you to come with us please. We’d like to ask you some questions privately.” One of the officers said, pleasantly surprised when the inebriated Duelists got up without a fuss, other than one of them complaining he wanted to finish his (obviously unnecessary) drink, and another of the boys getting him to shut up by glowering at him and the girl needing a hand to her feet, having tried to keep up with the guys and failed.

“No ploblem...porblem...” The girl chuckled, “I can’t say problem.”

“You just did.” One of the guys sniggered back.

“No trouble officfers.” Another of the guys chuckled, “But you might have to ask me, Alyss can’t hold her drink.” 

“I can!” The girl protested, glancing at her glass before they moved away from the table, “But it’s empty.”

“I think the four of you have had enough to drink today.” One of the cops said, amused, as they headed outside and round a corner, out of side of the majority of people on the high street. “Now, can I get your real names? For the record.”

“Dinah Roberts, aka Alyss.” The girl replied, slurring her first name and finding it amusing.

“Luke Hembrow.” Luke replied without slurring, being the most sober one of the four, if not by much.

“Nicolas Penbrook, aka Tate.” Tate nodded, trying to appear presentable, even if he had mangled the word officer earlier.

“Alexander Philips, aka Lyle.” Lyle didn’t even try. The officers looked like they could see for themselves how drunk the four of them were.

“Tate and Lyle?” The second officer looked disbelieving.

“Blame the Dueling Club.” Lyle shrugged.

The first officer nodded, “I’m Louis Stanfield, this is my partner George Michaels. We need to ask you about the incident in front of DeMontfort University.”

“Some weird creatures attacked. We called our monsters out, somehow and we won.” Tate’s celebratory mood infected the other Duelists and they grinned, thinking about a job well done.

“You called your monsters somehow?” Officer Michaels asked.

“Luke’s Silver Fang was already out.” Alyss explained slowly and carefully, so she didn’t mess it up, “My White Queen appeared from a card in my hand. I don’t know how. I got attacked and she saved me... how did it work for you two?” She asked Tate and Lyle.

“Summoned Skull and Meteor Dragon were on the field as part of our duel and when the skies darkened they started blasting those creatures into tiny pieces.” Tate explained, “They were really good at it too.”

Officer Stanfield nodded, “Did you use any field cards in your battles? Anything that might have clouded the skies?”

“I only use one field card and it can’t do that.” Alyss shook her head, “And Luke didn’t use one...”

“I have field cards, but none of them affect the skies.” Tate shook his head, “They make mountains instead.”

“And I don’t play field cards, I’m waiting for the next release.” Lyle interrupted.

“Do you mind if we look through your decks to check that?” Officer Michaels asked.

All four hesitated. “You’re not going to confezscate... confaiscate... take them away?” Alyss asked, worried.

“Ten to fifteen minutes at most, and we need to check your bags for any cards that could cause the chaos earlier.”

“You think a Duelist did it?” Tate looked insulted.

“We guessed they would.” Luke poked him, emboldened by the Carlsberg in his system, handing over his beast deck. “Once they’ve checked our stuff we can get back to celebrating.” He continued with a shrug.

“Be careful with my White deck.” Alyss told the officers as the four of them shrugged off their bags and handed their decks over.

“We will.” Officer Stanfield nodded, starting to check the decks as his partner checked the bags.

Lyle snorted, sitting down, “I dunno, save the uni and we’re the criminals.”

“Stow it Lyle.” Tate snorted at him, watching as Stanfield checked his deck and handed it back. “We didn’t summon that purple stuff so we’re ok.”

“Yeah, I feel sorry for however did though.” Alyss’s chuckle was a little vindictive. “Every Duelist at that uni’s gunna be pissed at them.”

“Every Duelist in Leicester.” Officer Michaels corrected. “We have men out everywhere, talking to Duelists from all around town.”

“Wow. That would need a really big projector.” Alyss sounded awed.

“We think they were doing it in concert with others, or hacked the local Kaiba Corp network and caused every Duel Disk in the area to malfunction.” Stanfield handed back Alyss’s deck and the female Duelist hugged it before putting it in her deck holster.

“I suppose that could work.” Luke nodded, “So what’re the Police going to do? What if it happens again? You can’t ban people from playing games.”

“We’ll come up with something.” Officer Michaels shrugged, still checking their bags.

“We could stop the creatures again.” Tate posed, overconfident in his inebriation, “We’re good at battling those things.”

“The police will come up with a plan.” Michaels stated again, half amused and half frustrated by the drunk ramblings of the four they were trying to question.

“Fine.” Tate looked insulted.

“They don’t want us showing them up.” Lyle chuckled.

“Guys!” Luke protested, “They still have two of our decks! Be nice!”

Stanfield couldn’t help but be amused that he was more concerned about his deck then their bags.

“What else do you need to know ociffers... offices... sirs?” Alyss asked. “Do you need to know any more details?”

“We just need your home address, term time address and contact numbers.” Stanfield shook his head, deliberately leaving Lyle’s deck till last, to make sure Lyle stayed polite.

“I can write it... maybe I can’t...” Alyss paused, “I have paper in my bag. I don’t know how well I could write right now.”

“I’ll take them down while my partner finishes checking your bags.” Stanfield said, handing back the last decks and taking some paper out.

They took the details and once the Duelists’ bags were cleared, the officers offered the students an escort home, stating that they’d rather do it now, than have to be called back later because the four of them couldn’t stand up.

They took the offer, at least as far as Alyss’s flat. The boys didn’t make it home. Instead they ended up crashed out on the floor of the woman’s kitchen.

Better Shadow Treaty Preview

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright herding this lot around?” Yugi worried at Tristan as he watched the last few refugees gather their bags and suitcases and head for the rooms they had been assigned.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Tristan scowled at him in reply, “Are you really sure this is a good idea?”

“Taking in the refugees?” Yugi blinked at him, confused.

“No, heading back to England.” Tristan rolled his eyes, “Especially with only the four of you.”

“Five.” Yugi reminded his friend, who had been adamant that he should be going with them, “I have Yami too.”

“You and Yami only count for one again now, remember?” Tristan grouched in response, causing Yugi to let out a huff.

“Yes, but we’ll have Harry, Joey and Hermione for backup.” Yugi stated, counting them off on his fingers as he did so, “And we went over this last night, something’s bound to go wrong and we shouldn’t take too many people in case it does.”

“I still don’t think you should be going at all.” Tristan poked him, catching the attention of the last stragglers, who stopped to watch the altercation. “You should be here, dealing with this lot, keeping Industrial Illusions afloat and…you’re not going to agree with me, are you?”

“As long as Voldemort is hunting Shadow Touched, he’s my problem.” Yugi shook his head. “It was our,” He gestured to the Puzzle, “Screw up that created them, it’s our responsibility to protect them.”

“You couldn’t have known that Bakura was there.” Tristan pointed out, poking Yugi again, “Or what he was going to do. You’re walking into a trap because of something that wasn’t your fault!”

“Tristan…” Yugi trailed off. He knew his friend was just worried about them but they had hashed out every idea and talked them over to death. This was the plan that allowed for the greatest margin of success.

Harry had to go, no one else could get the orb out of the Hall of Prophecy. If Harry was going, so were Yugi and Yami. With his link partner going into danger and the enemy able to summon monsters equivalent to the Egyptian God Monsters, Yugi had to go, if only to ensure Harry would return.

There had not really been any question of Joey not going. He had had Yugi’s back for nigh on a decade, there was no way in hell he was going to let Yugi and Harry walk into danger without him now.

Which left the debate over the last spot.

Tristan had put himself forward before anyone else could and was still fuming over how quickly he had been shot down. It was his own fault, he knew that. He had had no magic before the gang had been split up by the Ministries of various countries. He hadn’t practised with his Shadow Magic since he had gained access to it. He didn’t have a wand, or any training with one and he was not used to the Magical Community in England.

He had the physical strength, but in this, just as he had been in every other battle his friends had fought, he was utterly useless and it was driving him to distraction.

With Kaiba taking himself out the running, since he needed to run his company, Ombre refusing to risk the safety of anyone else by going with them while her control was shot and Ryou stepping back for much the same reason, that left Mokuba, Luna, the Weasleys and Hermione.

Kaiba had nixed any thoughts his little brother had of going. Mokuba was needed to help prevent Kaiba Corp falling into complete collapse. Unspoken was that Seto refused to let Mokuba go into battle without him there to fight at his side. There was no way the elder Kaiba, who was his little brother’s guardian, would allow Mokuba to go. The elder Kaiba knew Mokuba would eventually forgive him for the oath he had extracted from his little brother to prevent just that.

If Mokuba wasn’t going, then it was decided that no one under Harry’s age should go, much to Ginny’s outrage, though Luna looked as if she had expected it.

The only hesitation Weasley twins had had was that they were looking for one person, not two, and while they were skilled at tricks and treats, they were not amongst the group that had trained for combat for the last year.

Finally it had been decided that Hermione, who had trained alongside the others, worked on her Shadow skills until they were second nature alongside Kari and knew spells far beyond her age level would take the last spot.

Ron had exploded with rage, launched a long, ranting and mostly rude tirade against the group, and then stalked off back to the castle.

Tristan, in all honesty, had wanted to do much the same but knew it wouldn’t have helped anything.

“I need you here.” Yugi reminded him, “You’re the most ‘normal’ person here. You saw how the refugees acted towards me, it was ‘Yes, Mr. Mutou’ and ‘thank you, Mr Mutou’ and ‘we’re really grateful for this, your highness.’ They’ll listen to me, but they won’t actually settle in if they think I’m hovering around. You can help them with that better than I can.”

Yugi did have a point, Tristan thought as the stragglers decided that the argument was over and started moving again. And that wasn’t the only task he had been entrusted with. Yugi was leaving the Millennium Items, all except his Puzzle and Draco’s Ring, in his care.

“Fine.” Tristan smirked slightly, “But when you get back, I’ll have full control over your people and your Millennium Items. Then you’ll have to duel me for them.”

“Don’t even joke.” Yugi groaned, even as a smile graced his features, “The last thing I need is you going villain on me.”

“Not that,” Yami appeared in his ghostly form at Yugi’s side, causing Tristan to jump out of his skin, “I’m too worried.” He said with a confident smirk, “You still can’t duel your way out of a paper bag and it’s been how long?”

“Damn it Yami! Warning!” Tristan snarled at him. When Yami continued to look amused, Tristan turned to Yugi, “You lot had better come back in one piece, because I refuse to be the one to tell the Ishtars they have to wait another five thousand years to send Atem on.”

He’d meant it as a joke, but Yugi flinched and Yami’s amusement fled at his simple statement. “It won’t be that long.” Yugi murmured, looking at the floor, “Just until the war is over.”

“Are you sure you can’t get Yami a new body?” Tristan asked, “I mean you managed it by accident last time.”

“We don’t know how the magicks merged back in first year.” Yugi shook his head, “We don’t know what Bakura was trying to do and Joey’s forgotten what he was trying to cast. Trying to recreate the effect could hurt more people than it helps.”

“But there has to be other ways.” Tristan pointed out. “Voldemort...”

“I am not using that ritual.” Atem snapped, more furious at Voldemort for his actions than at Tristan’s suggestion he try the same thing, “I don’t know where my father is buried for one and I wouldn’t disturb his rest again.” He looked at Yugi, “And I won’t ask Yugi to disinter his family for me.”

“And everything else we’ve had recommended runs the risk of the body being disenchanted during a fight.” Yugi finished, not entirely sure he could bring himself to do so, even if Yami had asked.

“So that’s it then?” Tristan asked, his own good humour fleeing, “You’ve made up your minds? Defeat Voldemort and then that’s it?”

“It’s not but I’ve been around long enough.” Atem nodded, slightly dejectedly, “Yugi doesn’t need me anymore and it’s not fair to ask him to host me.”

“I’ve never minded.” Yugi reminded his darker self.

“I know, but I can’t go back to living like this, not again. It was fine before I had my own form, but...” Yami trailed off for a moment and then, “If it wasn’t for Voldemort and the war, we’d have gone already.”

“We’d better go grab our bag.” Yugi’s comment came completely out of left wing, but Tristan could understand the need to change the subject, “We’ll see you later.” With that Yami faded into the Puzzle and Yugi fled the room.

“Shit.” Honda snarled, wheeling around and punching the nearest wall, “Damn Neos, damn Bakura and damn Voldemort!” With each ‘damn’ he punched the wall again, only stopping when he realised he was damaging the plasterboard.

He pulled his hand out of the dent and winced when he saw that his knuckles were bloody.

“Damn the crappy building work too.” He growled as he stalked off to get his hand treated.

Author Note: Sorry

Sorry for no update on the 3rd, I was distracted hatching many many many many Pokemon Eggs. And working on the new Shadow Treaty chapter. Mostly hatching eggs though.

Preview - Ennead: Season Zero: Chapter 27

“Nice shooting!” Jou high fived Honda, grinning as he did so.

Bakura ignored the characters in favour of watching the other player. This wasn’t Yugi, her soul was in the Birdtail figure on the table. So who was this? Yugi had called this new spirit ‘Anesan.’ That thought brought something Yugi had said to her to the forefront of her mind.

“Yugi no Oneesan, I presume?” Bakura asked irritably, having been so focused on victory, she had forgotten about the other spirit.

“Bakura-san.” Oneesan nodded, irritation obvious, “I wanted information, not my friends stuffed into lead figurines.”

“It’s just Bakura.” The other Millennium spirit corrected, “And I don’t know, they look better like that.” Bakura smirked at her, “And now you’re the only one in that body. You should be grateful.”

“I’d rather share this vessel with its rightful owner for a thousand years than steal it away from her for even a moment.” Oneesan scowled, “I was happy to sit back and let Imoto-chan play, even when I realised there was more going on here than just a game. But you attacked our friends and sealed her soul into her figurine so now you have to deal with me.”

“She was sealed at her own request, I will remind you.” Bakura tutted at her opposite number, “Do you think you can handle the pressure of having the lives of your ‘sister’ and your friends in your hands where she couldn’t?”

“I don’t lose so their lives are in no danger.” Oneesan informed Bakura, who smirked slightly, enjoying the game even more with someone facing her who wasn’t even slightly cowed by the powers at work.

“Then let the game continue.” Bakura crowed, the Shadows in full swing now, bringing the board and figurines on it to life properly. Oneesan felt her little sister balk to start with, as the Shadows first moved, and braced Imoto-chan’s mind, glad she was able to do that despite the separation.

Yugi looked up at Oneesan and smiled gratefully, not saying a word about the issue to her friends in order to help them keep calm. 

“It’s a new round of combat.” Bakura informed them, “And though he just lost his hand, Zorc looks almost uninjured. Plus things are looking worse for the Adventurers.” As she said that the hand shifted and split, taking the form of two monsters.

“Any piece of my flesh cut from my body transforms into monsters under my control!” Zorc informed them, sounding smug. “Minions. Deal with them, I grow bored.”

He turned to leave and Yugi stepped forward, wanting this over as soon as possible. “Are you running away?” She demanded, “Stand and fight us!”

“I have a special place set up for our final battle.” Zorc informed her, “Make your way to my castle while the fires of hate still burn within you, if you can.” With that he took off, flying ahead to the castle.

“Jerk! Creep! Power Gamer!” Jou roared insults after him, “Just wait! We’ll get to the castle no matter what it takes!”

“We’re playing right into Bakura’s script.” Yugi mentally grimaced, “We really are stuck in her game world.”

‘You’re right.’ Yugi jumped a mile and wheeled around to look up at her elder sister, shocked when she heard Oneesan’s voice echoing in her mind, ‘Bakura made Zorc appear when your guard was down, then she was able to seal your souls into figurines. Everything’s gone according to her plan. She’s a Game Master to watch out for.’

“I think she’s cheating.” Yugi informed her elder sister, needing to warn her. “Whenever she rolls she gets a critical.”

‘I know.’ Oneesan replied, delighted that she could finally talk to her little sister outside of the soul rooms despite the situation. ‘And I can stop her.’

Deleted Shadow Treaty Scene

Yugi frowned as he realised he didn’t have very much to pack. Bar the Millennium Items, his wand, his deck and his Duel Disk, everything he owned had been destroyed in the fires. Everything he had outside of those ten things had been requisitioned from the Ministry or bequeathed to him by Pegasus’s will.

“When this is over, I’m letting Tea drag me shopping.” Yugi commented, earning himself a chuckle from his other self who had been pacing the bedroom and had only stopped because he was getting in Yugi’s way.

‘Perhaps I’ll stick around long enough to watch.’Atem sent over the link in return, wincing as he felt Yugi’s mood turn from nervous worry to misery. ‘I can’t stay Yugi, not now.’

“I know.” Yugi admitted, sitting on the bed and staring at the destroyed deck on his bedside. “I don’t... It’s not fair.”

‘No.’ Atem admitted, sitting next to his lighter self, ‘It’s not but I’ve been around long enough. You don’t need me anymore. It’s not fair to you to have to host me anymore and I can’t go back to living like this, not again. If it wasn’t for Voldemort and the war, we’d have gone already.’

The truth hurt, but Atem was right. Yugi had already considered taking Atem and the Millennium Items to Egypt, getting it over with and removing the seven golden treasures of his ancient life from evil’s hands forever. But they had promised. Sworn that they wouldn’t go until the war was over and Sirius returned from England.

“Once Voldemort’s done. I promise Yami.” Yugi smiled sadly, “Once he’s done, we’ll go and you’ll finally be free.”

‘Yugi...’ The sounds of someone knocking on the door interrupted the Pharaoh before he could finish what he was saying.

“Come in.” Yugi spoke, his voice trembling slightly with the tears he refused to let fall. Others had lost so much more than him, he was only going to have to give up what he shouldn’t have had for this long anyway, he had no right to complain.

Harry entered, a full backpack on his back, sympathy on his features. “Hey. Hearing half a conversation is weird.”

“Sorry.” Yugi murmured, looking at the floor.

“You don’t have to come with me.” Harry tried offering again, “I’m sure if you stuck here and asked the Japanese Ministry they could help you get a body for Atem and then he wouldn’t have to go.”

“Harry.” Yugi’s head shot up, tears forced back by the anger now gracing his face. “No. We went over this.”

‘You’re not going. Not alone. And not without us.’Atem agreed, ‘Besides we don’t know how the magicks merged back in first year. We don’t know what Bakura was trying to do and Joey’s forgotten what he was trying to cast. Trying to recreate the effect could hurt more people than it helps.’

“But there has to be other ways.” Harry protested, “Voldemort...”

‘I am not using that ritual.’ Atem snapped, more furious at Voldemort for his actions than at Harry’s suggestion he try the same thing, ‘I don’t know where my father is buried for one and I wouldn’t disturb his rest again.’ He looked at Yugi, ‘And I won’t ask Yugi to disinter his family for me.’

“Everything else we’ve had recommended runs the risk of the body being disenchanted during a fight.” Yugi replied, knowing that even if Yami had been willing to ask, he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to do it.

“You’re set on this, aren’t you?” Harry asked, confused considering he knew Atem wanted to leave about as much as Yugi wanted him to go.

“Unless a miracle happens, we’ve no choice.” Yugi’s tone turned miserable again, “I can’t ask Yami to stay, not now. If he still had his own body...”

‘If I still had my body, I wouldn’t even be thinking about leaving.’ Atem let out what would have been a heavy sigh, if he could have taken in the breath to release for it, ‘But we have more important things to think about first.’

“The prophecy.” Harry nodded, knowing his friends considered helping him more important than anything else. No matter what he said and did. It both reassured him and made him feel guilty, knowing Yami was pushing his own existence aside to aid him. “You realise it’s probably a trap, right?”

“We went over this last night, Harry.” Atem took control of the body and moved over to the window, watching the kids from the refugee group playing on the plain below, “We know what this is. We have a backup plan, remember?”

Plan B. Harry smiled slightly as he remembered it. There was nothing that could match Yugi and Yami in strength when it came to the Shadows. Nothing that could stop them when they were at full strength as they were now, not with Zorc gone. The Pharaoh planned on using that power, not to destroy but to help them escape. And possibly take a few Death Eaters out on the way.

“They’re not going to know what hit them.” Harry chuckled slightly, already imagining the sort of power he had felt in the theme park used against Voldemort. There was no way, no matter what any prophecy said, that Yugi and Yami could lose to the Dark Lord.

Fate could be changed after all. Kaiba had proven that.

With that in mind, it was ridiculous, the risk that they were taking to get a hold of the prophecy sphere. It was only to prevent their adversary getting another tool to use against them that they were even thinking of walking into the enemy’s territory. Otherwise Harry would have considered leaving it rather than risk the safety of his friends. It wasn’t like anyone he cared about was on the line if he didn’t go and get it after all. Not unless it held some secret to defeating the Dark Lord for good.

“Trap or not, we’ll win.” Yugi’s confidence was shaky, but it was there, bolstering Harry’s nerves a little, “We have to.”

“We had a bad turn, that’s all.” Atem agreed, determined to win, if only to protect those he cared about and those who now looked to his light for their safety, “The game’s not over yet.”

“Then let’s go.”

LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN