Epilogue

"All rise."

Everyone in the courtroom stood as the judge came back into the room and sat at the bench. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have, Your Honor," the jury foreman replied. "We find the defendant Guilty on all charges."

The judge nodded. "So ordered. Mr. Leichter, you will report back here on Friday for sentencing."

A low murmur rang through the courtroom. Mrs. Leichter, remaining stoic, did not outwardly react. Marie choked on a sob. "No. . . ."

Lector looked from them to his father and drew a deep breath. Mr. Leichter was also stoic, not reacting to the verdict. His lawyer, on the other hand, looked devastated.

The trials had definitely been difficult, especially Mr. Leichter's. His lawyer was indeed very crafty and tried to find every loophole possible to keep the jury from handing down a Guilty verdict. Although Mr. Leichter had pleaded Guilty for the explosion at his warehouse, he had said nothing about sending for his son through trickery and deceit and deliberately plotting for him to be a target to turn Dr. Raven's attention away from the rest of the family. Most of the trial against him had focused on that. It had been a long and painful and grueling process, and now that the verdict of Guilty had been handed down, Lector wasn't sure if he felt relief, satisfaction, or mostly sorrow and grief.

Evangeline clearly had no intention of going over to the man, but for some reason, Lector wanted a last word. They had had eye contact several times during the trial, but no words had been spoken and Lector could not determine how he felt.

He walked over as the bailiff was preparing to lead his father out of the courtroom. "May I have a word, please?" he asked.

The bailiff nodded and stepped back.

Mr. Leichter looked at Lector again, his eyes still veiled. "Are you happy now, Son?" he asked. "You were always vindictive."

Lector stared at him. "You think I was pushing for this? I didn't even press charges myself! I certainly could have." He hesitated. "Normally I have been vindictive, yes. But this case has torn my heart in so many pieces, I don't know how I'm feeling. Evangeline has been more vindictive than me this time."

"I suppose so," Mr. Leichter sighed, "and not without reason."

". . . Father?" Lector studied him slowly, cautiously.

"I badly mistreated you, Démas," Mr. Leichter said. "I'm only getting a pinprick of what I deserve."

". . . It's . . . good to hear you say that, Father," Lector said. "And surprising at the same time. The entire family hates me now, except Evangeline and Gabriel. They all blame me for your arrest."

"Also my fault," Mr. Leichter said. "I'm sorry for that."

Lector sighed. "They love you more than me, in spite of what you did."

"Maybe someday the mess I made of this family will get straightened out," Mr. Leichter said. "Maybe you and Evangeline and Gabriel will be the ones to do it."

Lector stared at him in amazement. ". . . Thank you, Sir," he stammered, finally finding his voice. "I am sorry it's turned out this way, although you crushed me as no one else could have. I wish you had never sent for me in January."

"I don't know what I wish," Mr. Leichter said, "except that I wish I had never hurt you."

"Then why didn't you just plead Guilty for what you did to him and save him the pain of going through this trial?" Nesbitt finally growled.

"Considering why I sent for him, I didn't feel I could do that," Mr. Leichter said.

"Then you still care about the rest of the family more than me," Lector said.

"I don't know how I feel, Son," Mr. Leichter replied.

Lector watched as the bailiff took him away.

"That worthless slime." Lector looked over as Nesbitt came up beside him. "Are you going to be alright?"

Lector drew a deep breath. "I don't know if I can ever fully heal from this," he said, "but I believe at last the wound may have started to scab."

Nesbitt drew an arm around his shoulders and hugged him close.

Lector turned, clutching him tightly with both arms. He had scarcely ever cried, but now the dam broke and all of the emotions piling up ever since that first trip to New Orleans spilled over. He choked back a sob as he hugged his brother.

Gansley, Crump, and Johnson were quickly there as well, as was Evangeline. "Yes, Lector," Gansley said quietly. "We're all here for you. We will never hurt you as they have."

"It's amazing he can trust at all after this," Johnson said under his breath. "He had them with him for decades and still they turned on him. But he believes we will stay true. Which we will, of course."

Lector looked to him. "I know you won't betray me because we've already been there . . . and we came through it," he said. "And we're stronger for it. It didn't break us apart like it did my family."

"I don't think I ever thought of it that way, but I like that," Crump said.

"Father was always a hard man," Evangeline said quietly, "old-fashioned and stern. He was never the type of person you could really get close to. I don't think we ever minded so much, though . . . until this happened. All of you . . . you share a bond with Démas that he never had with his biological family."

"Yes . . . but surely they loved him once," Johnson said.

Evangeline blinked back tears. "They did . . . but never as you do." She gave a shaky smile.

"Yeah. We're all pretty one of a kind, alright." Crump looked to Lector and Nesbitt. Nesbitt, though awkward with comforting words, seemed to manage with just holding Lector close, and Lector was fine with that. Crump laid a hand on Lector's shoulder. Gansley and Johnson soon joined in as well.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Mokuba worried.

"I think so," Seto said. "As long as he has all of them with him."

Lector pulled back and looked not just to the Big Four, but to everyone else around him as well. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Thank you, my friends."

Mokuba smiled and hugged him.

xxxx

Everyone was drained at the end of that experience, and all too eager to be able to head home to Domino City soon afterwards. Lector, however, was still hesitant to leave Evangeline.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" he asked that evening back at the mansion. "I know this has been hard on you too."

"I'm okay." Evangeline smiled at him. "The board of directors voted me in, Démas! They liked my platform of a fresh, new approach from someone who knows the business but doesn't agree one bit with what Father did!" She hugged him close.

Lector returned the gesture. "I'm so proud of you." He smiled. "You'll bring the family above and beyond its former glory."

"I'd like to go tell Grandmother about it too," Evangeline said. "Mother thinks she won't understand anything I say, but maybe she will."

"Does she know about your dad totally messing everything up?" Joey blurted.

"I couldn't say about that," Evangeline said. "Démas and I both went to tell her about finding the treasure, and we're not sure if she understood that either. But she talked about how pretty all the jewelry is and how much she loves it. We want to give a little of the treasure back to her."

"That's a great idea," Téa said. "She sure deserves it."

"I'm going to see everyone gets something, either jewelry or money from selling it," Evangeline said.

"Can you really bear to part with any of it?" Serenity asked. "I mean, all the pieces must be so old and special."

"That's true," Ishizu said. "It was preserved all these years to be given to the family."

"Well . . . I guess I could give everyone a piece of the actual jewelry to do whatever they want with," Evangeline said. "I thought that might seem kind of a funny gift for some of you."

"I think we should hold on to all of it," Lector said. "The letter said the treasure was for those who appreciated it as well as the letter. I think that would mean not selling any of it unless times are tough."

"That's a good point," Evangeline said. "If none of you mind . . ." She looked around at everyone.

"I'm sure we'd all be honored to have a piece of history like that," Yugi smiled.

"Even if some of us won't actually wear it," Tristan added.

The others echoed their assent.

"Alright then." Evangeline looked happier. "I have to admit, I'm glad it won't get sold, like it would have with Michel." She sighed. "I don't know if he'll ever appreciate it for more than the monetary value."

"Hey, who knows," Joey said. "If these guys can learn the value of love and friendship, then almost anything's possible!" He gestured at Yami Bakura and the Big Five.

Bakura smiled. "That's a good way to look at it."

Yami Bakura grunted. "I make no comment."

Oreo, sitting on his shoulder, purred and rubbed him.

"Cat!" he exclaimed.

Everyone laughed.

"I already knew love and friendship," Lector said. "But when I was poisoned by hate, it was as if I'd forgotten everything I knew."

"That was the case for all of us to varying extents," Gansley said. "All of us, at one time or another, knew what it was to be cared about. But we all got caught up in the darkness of the world . . . in greed . . . and in other things that caused us to drift away from the light."

"The first time I really knew what it was to be cared about was when I met Lector and started trying to get close to him," Crump said. "I didn't have a loving family or close friends growing up."

"That's awful," Serenity said.

"Well, the principle still stands," Gansley said. "We even started to forget our caring for each other the further we fell."

"But we have that back now," Johnson said.

"Why did you start trying to make friends with me, Crump?" Lector wondered. "You must have tried to reach out to people before. What made you think I'd be different? I wasn't particularly sociable with you or anyone else."

"I dunno what it was," Crump said. "It'll sound corny, but I could just feel that you were different, that you'd be a genuine friend if I tried hard enough to reach out. I watched you around KaibaCorp and I could see that you were honest, unlike a lot of the employees. And . . . I really wanted you as my buddy."

"Well . . ." Lector smiled a bit. "I'm glad you kept reaching out to me. I generally didn't make friends; I kept to myself as I climbed the corporate ladder. I didn't ever want it to look like I was using someone to rise in the ranks. I got to the top all on my own."

"I still don't know how you ever thought Gozaburo was a decent person," Seto grunted.

Lector sighed. "Maybe he was always fooling me to some extent. But I do know he was different before you came to know him. Losing Noa warped him into someone else altogether."

"And he stopped caring about Noa too," Téa said in disgust.

"Unfortunately true. And we could have all been like him." Lector looked to the rest of the Big Five. "That's what we were becoming."

"But fortunately, we're not," Gansley said.

"And we're all friends now," Téa smiled.

No one could deny that. It had seemed impossible, but it was one more instance of the impossible coming true. And it had been an amazing thing for all of them.

"Hey, you know, we still don't know what that ghost who walks the halls is looking for," Téa realized.

"And maybe we never will," Lector sighed. "Apparently she was here in the 1860s and possibly earlier. If she won't stay to talk to anyone, there's not much we can do about that."

"Or about any of the other ghosts, apparently," Evangeline said.

"All I can tell you is that she guided me to Lector the night Gozaburo came out," Nesbitt said.

"Huh?!" Everyone stared at him.

"I couldn't find Lector anywhere, and then she showed up and led me downstairs and outside," Nesbitt said. "If I hadn't found Lector in time, Gozaburo might have attacked him while he was all alone and feeling so badly about everything. It might have turned out worse then."

"I'm surprised she would care," Lector said in amazement, "but I am certainly grateful."

"Well, that definitely makes me feel better about her," Evangeline declared.

"So you're just gonna be okay with having a whole wing of the house closed off and ghosts hanging around in most of the parts you're using?!" Joey frowned.

Evangeline and Angelique exchanged a look, and Evangeline sighed. "Well, I wouldn't say we're 'okay' with it. But we don't really know what to do but accept it. I'll admit I'm also feeling a little better again now that I know none of the ghosts in the North wing hurt Yugi and Mr. Nesbitt. Although I'm still a little peeved that we can't use those rooms; they're lovely!"

"You could try more exorcisms," Tristan said.

"I don't think so," Evangeline said, shaking her head. "I don't want to waste the priest's time on something that isn't malevolent."

"I guess it's just a typical New Orleans house," Angelique said with a weak smile.

"Ghosts watching you sleep or go into the bathroom is typical?" Téa shuddered.

Evangeline made a face. "I'm wondering if they'll stop that since they saw I was willing to call an exorcist and that Gozaburo person showed up to be so horrible."

"And what if they don't stop it?" Duke frowned.

"Then . . ." Evangeline thought about it and sighed. "I don't know." She shook her head. "We still don't have anywhere else to go. Or I don't."

"Maybe after you start making more money as the new company president, we can afford to go somewhere else, if we have to," Angelique said.

"Maybe. Only I really hate to leave here. I love it so much and I had so many plans for it. . . ." Evangeline gazed off into the distance.

"Well, maybe they'll all still work out," Téa said.

"I hope so," Evangeline said. She sighed. "I won over the board of directors, but I wonder if I'm really mature enough and ready for this. You've all been so sweet, but I know I really did set a lot of our troubles here in motion. I lied about all the ghosts and I even forgot about the rooftop ghosts until after you were all already here."

"Well, you can't be blamed for forgetting something," Crump shrugged.

"And honestly, Gozaburo would have attacked us even if we'd been at a hotel," Lector pointed out. "This was not your fault, Evangeline. I will admit you should have told everyone about the ghosts beforehand, especially Angelique. But you've learned from your mistake."

"That's true," Evangeline said softly. "If I could do it over, I would tell about everything right at the start."

"And I think I would have tried to be brave and come anyway," Angelique said with a small smile. "I mean, I'll never be able to realize my dream of solving mysteries someday if I can't be brave enough to take on a few ghosts."

"You've had a lot to deal with these last few months, Evangeline," Lector told her. "You grew up idolizing our father and letting him rule over you. Maybe you were even happy in that sheltered existence, to some extent. Then you had to experience such a cruel awakening by discovering how twisted and wicked the man truly is. You decided to rebel against it, but you're still young and you're still learning. Striking out all on your own is always an intimidating thing, especially the way you had to do it. I understand that you didn't want to do it alone."

"Especially moving into a creepy place like this!" Joey exclaimed.

Téa facepalmed. "Joey. . . ."

"No, he's right," Evangeline said. "They're both right. It was intimidating, especially when it's this house . . . and especially when I realized what I was actually in for by moving here with so many ghosts. New Orleans is very accepting of ghosts, but I am not the entire city of New Orleans." She gave a small smile. "And I'm not sure what most residents would think of living with this many ghosts."

"I think it would be too much for most residents," Angelique remarked. "Considering how The Haunted House keeps being vacated."

"Yeah, but those ghosts cause a lot more trouble, right?" Joey shivered.

"Plus, there's the curse," Evangeline added. "I hope that's one thing that isn't here."

"Don't we all," David exclaimed.

Evangeline still looked tired. ". . . Sometimes I think that the amulet's influence has never really left me. I was so filled with anger then . . . and hate. . . . And I still am."

"It's not like it was while you were possessed by the amulet," Lector insisted. "You were willing to badly hurt or kill people in that state. In your normal frame of mind, you don't want to do that even though you still feel angry and hateful."

"I guess that's true," Evangeline said. "I don't want to be like Father, no matter what."

"And you won't be," Lector vowed.

"Oh, speaking of magical objects, Lector, when you were unconscious, your ring activated by itself," Gansley said. "We couldn't have beat Gozaburo without it."

"You don't say." Lector stared down at it.

"You ended up being pretty insistent on trying to see if you could feel comfortable using that ring before switching with me," Nesbitt said. "Do you feel any better about it?"

"I don't know." Lector frowned. "I would like to think I do, but I suppose I can't know until it has to be activated again . . . while I'm aware of it." He started to turn it around his finger. "Why do you suppose it activated by itself?"

"We feel it was likely because of your strong will and desire to help us," Gansley said.

"It's certainly a nice thought," Lector said. "And I suppose it could be true . . . especially after all that we've seen lately."

"I sure believe it," Téa smiled.

Duke looked to Snakes. "So, are you going to be flying back with us when we go?"

"It would be nice if you could visit Domino for a while," Serenity smiled.

"Maybe I will at that," Snakes mused. "I do have more vacation time coming."

"I'm really glad you came out here," Evangeline said. "It's been incredible hearing about our ancestors from someone who knew them first-hand!"

"I'm glad I could be useful," Snakes said.

"It was very comforting," Lector agreed.

"I've thought sometime I might write a book," Snakes said gruffly. "Only thing is, most people probably wouldn't believe it and I'd get branded a nut."

"I'm pretty sure everyone here would believe you," Téa said.

Murmurs of assent went up in the room.

"Well," Snakes said, "maybe I'll consider it. I guess I could make it a private run and not try to sell it to any bookstores."

"I would certainly like to read what you'd have to say," Evangeline said.

"So would I," Duke said, twirling a piece of hair around his finger. "I know you've had an incredible life."

"And death," Snakes muttered. Louder he said, "You'd get the first copy."

"Hey, would we all be in the book?" Joey wondered.

"If you want to be," Snakes said. "I'd be talking about Duke, of course . . . if he'd be okay with that. . . ."

"Yeah," Duke said. "Although I might not read much of that section."

"Completely understandable," Snakes said.

Seto grunted. "Would we finally learn how and why David is alive but we remember him dead?"

"Yes," Snakes said. "You'd probably learn more about it than you ever wanted to know."

Seto made a face. "The story of my life."

Mokuba giggled. But despite Seto's strong aversion to the paranormal, it was hard to deny that it had brought them together with so many people who were now their friends. He wished that the heart-rending experiences hadn't happened, but he wouldn't change the friendships for anything.

And that, he was sure, was something everyone there would agree on.