Prologue

In the depths of the Domino Museum, the lights dim so as not to damage the rare artifacts carefully stored down there, one of the janitors yawned and rubbed his eyes, the sterile air thin and unsatisfying. He was almost done scrubbing the hall – damn Tatsuo for calling in sick so that he could take his kids out to a party and leaving him to do all the work. He sighed and booted up the floor buffer again, the loud whirr of the machine bouncing off the walls. He grabbed the handles but they slipped from his grasp and he let out a curse as the spinning brushes propelled it down the hall, slamming into a cupboard there. The doors opened as the machine bounced off it, spilling its contents to the floor. The janitor managed to grab the wall plug and pull it out, killing the floor buffer before it could do any more harm to anything valuable, then crouched to see what kind of damage had been done.

Most of the items, packed tightly, had survived and he put them up in their places again, but one appeared to have broken. He picked up the odd bumpy shape – a snake or dragon, he guessed – and saw that it had several slender holes in it, probably matching the one knife that had half fallen out of the hole in the head. The janitor carefully placed the stone on the floor and gathered up all the other fallen knives he could find, just simple stone things. He gathered them in a pile and picked up the stone snake again, pushing the first knife back into place. Or trying to. It didn't seem to want to move; probably jammed. With a sigh he pulled it out to adjust it.

The stone snake's eyes glowed with a sudden black energy, and it came to life in his hands. He screamed as the fangs buried themselves in his wrist, and he knew nothing more.

Chapter One

"It is a dark and stormy night..."

"If you finish that sentence I may have to spank you, Atem." Mutou Yuugi grinned as he walked beside his slightly taller lover, the reborn dark spirit and former Egyptian he had once shared his body with. It wasn't even true. Oh sure it was getting dark – like that was going to bother a spirit who had once existed in total darkness. And it was windy, but the clouds were the high skittering kind that played peekaboo with the waning moon, not rain clouds and certainly nothing that would threaten storms.

"Promise?" Atem gave Yuugi a smirk, gaze drifting over the costume his hikari, his love and the other half of his soul, had put together. It was an amazingly accurate version of the Silent Swordsman duel monster, with his 'buster' sword and long coat. Of course it should be, since Atem had summoned him for his light to compare his work to.

"Hentai." Yuugi shook his head, brushing a speck of dust off his costume, his gaze sliding over Atem's outfit. "You know, the whole idea of a Hallowe'en costume party is to dress up as something you're not." Atem wore a tunic and long shenti of linen so fine as to be nearly transparent, leaving not much of his tanned, muscular body to the imagination. The linen was banded by embroidered feathers, the motif continued on his sandals and the heavier blue cloak that he had wrapped around himself to ward off the October evening chill. He wore his usual golden crown and jewellery, with the addition of a heavy jewelled and enamelled pectoral in the form of a hawk. "You know if you fell in the water you'd sink like a stone. How can you wear all of that?"

"Practise, aibou. Lots and lots of practise, and good upper body strength. We didn't have weightlifting in my day, so we wore fifty stone of jewellery instead."

Yuugi snickered at the mental image of Atem doing morning exercises with all his jewellery on. "Do you learn to swim with them on too?"

"No, you learn to take them off in a hurry... or just don't fall overboard. Or you could take a third option and just stay off boats. Shadi never did like sailing."

Yuugi's smile turned fond. He liked it when Atem brought up things from the past. It was like finding little crumbs of gold, making a trail through the darkness of his yami's shadowed past. Even now he didn't remember everything, but it came back in bits and drabs. "Okay, I give. I know that's an Egyptian outfit, but what's it from? It's not your usual 'King of Upper and Lower Khemet' ensemble."

"Tch, you make it sound like all of what I wear is merely for fashion, aibou." Atem sniffed in mock indignation. "I'll have you know that this is all highly ceremonial and symbolic."

"So there's a reason your clothing's so thin you wouldn't need an x-ray machine in an airport?"

"Of course." Atem grinned suddenly. "It symbolizes that I'm rich."

Yuugi laughed aloud at that, startling a couple passing trick or treaters. "And here I thought that's what all the gold was for." He waved his hand with a grin of his own, taking in all the jewellery.

"Oh no. There's actually very good reason for all of this." Atem touched the crown half on, half in his hair. "The eye is for Ra, all seeing and all knowing, and also symbolic of Wadjet the Serpent – Goddess of Lower Khemet and protector of the pharaoh." He touched the flaring wings. "And these are for Nekhbet the Vulture, Goddess of Upper Egypt, who protects the holy names and the divine soul of the eternal Pharaoh. Together, they represent all of ancient Khemet under the protection of the Ra."

"...wow. That's a lot to put in one crown. I thought the Double Crown was that long slender red and white one you see on all the walls."

"Oh it is." Atem agreed. "And I wore that one too, but not too often. It was a little hard to get on over my hair, so I only wore it after I had shaved my head for one reason or another." He waved to the chest pectoral. "This one is also protective – a lot of my jewellery had symbols of protection, authority or both worked into it. This is for Horus, of course, the falcon god whose soul we share."

Which was something Yuugi was still getting used to. Atem repeatedly assured him that according to his people, because they shared one soul Yuugi had every right to everything that Atem claimed as king and pharaoh. Which, granted, wasn't much in the King department unless you counted King of Games, but then Atem didn't claim that title anymore either – he said that Yuugi had won that in their final duel, and so that title was his alone. Which made no sense. If they shared everything then shouldn't Atem share his titles and stuff too? Then again, Yuugi really wasn't that into titles and such anyway. It was Kaiba who kept insisting that he wanted it. With a mental shake of his head he pushed that aside, adding it to the mental pile of 'weird Egyptian stuff' with his beloved yami's name on it and brushed his fingers over the feather motifs on the cloak. "Are these for protection too?"

"Ah no... I couldn't find enough feathers to make a proper cloak, though, so I had to improvise. Those are ostrich feathers, aibou."

"Oh!" That myth he knew. "For Ma'at, Goddess of Truth. So you're going as a priest of Ma'at?"

"Defender of Ma'at." Atem nodded. "One of my many, many titles. By rights it should be a full cloak of feathers, but like I said, I had to improvise. Still, in Egyptian magic, the symbol is the thing, so they're just as good."

"It still defeats the purpose of a costume party." Yuugi shook his head wryly. :I love you anyway.: he added through the link that bound their minds and souls as they came to the gate that guarded the Kaiba's lush and sprawling mansion home.

The driveway led up to the mansion, a long avenue where stately trees marched on either side, and manicured gardens spread out into the evening on either side. Most of the trees were evergreen – Yuugi could well imagine how it would be in winter, with snow covering everything. And maybe this year they would gave a Christmas party too as well as a Hallowe'en one. Or at least something for New Years'.

Atem winced back at the sound that washed over them when the door opened. There were a LOT of people here, a testament more to Jounouchi than to his rich lover. After all, the blonde Duellist was the personable one. Kaiba Seto, not so much. He paused a moment to let eyes and ears adjust; he didn't really like being around so many people himself. Yuugi was the one in their pairing who thrived in this kind of environment, and he bloomed like a bright sunflower as he padded inside and waved to the greetings that met him. So bright, his little light. Not so little anymore, either; time had finally started to give him the mature body of a man, and though he would never be tall, he had grown slender and strong. Atem shook back his cloak as the warmth of the room hit him, following after Yuugi to where their friends had gathered.

It seemed they had all put a lot of effort into their costumes. Otogi was surprisingly elegant in the pointed ears and gauzy wings of one of the faerie folk, and Honda of course had dressed as a soldier; from the way they leaned against each other, they had finally decided to make it official. Which was nice. He almost didn't recognize Ryou at first; the pale hikari of the thief Bakura was dressed in white leather that was tight enough to be a second skin, sleeveless with cutouts that played peek-a-boo with his skin. Which was currently a rather becoming shade of pink under the white hair and plastic ivory horns.

"What on earth... how much did Bakura have to bribe you to get into that, Ryou-kun?" Yuugi laughed.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Bakura himself wrapped an arm around Ryou's waist and smirked from over his shoulder. He was in black shenti and red desert cloak with a black pendant around his neck, normally silver-blue eyes bright red and manic. But this was a day of the dead, and one only had to look at Bakura's deck to know where his power lay. "He's mine for the night, though. My little sexy fallen angel."

"Yami..." Ryou blushed again, then lightly slapped the wandering hand playing over the stomach exposed by his short vest. "Stop that. Not in public."

The thief just smirked and kissed the side of his neck as Jou came up to join them.

The blonde's hair stuck out from under his helm, pushed back so that the mask didn't quite cover his face, but otherwise his costume of Gilford the Lightning was very accurate. Right down to the very nice six pack it showed off below the short breastplate. He grinned at their costumes. "Hey guys! How long ya been here?"

"Not too long." Yuugi grinned back and looked him up and down. "Damn, Jou-kun, how did you get Seto-kun to let you out of the bedroom in that?"

The blonde snickered. "'Cause the other option was Dragonmaster Knight an' he wasn't too keen on the leash."

A growl behind them announced the blonde's lover and the host of the party, dressed in a helm, wings and shiny silver clawed gloves, the blue eyes he shared with his favorite dragon glaring at all and sundry. Considering the rest of the costume consisted of a short silver-scaled breastplate, Roman style armored leather kilt with tail and knee high clawed boots, it was obvious who had designed the brunet's 'sexy' Blue Eyes costume. Atem smirked as he looked the tall brunet over; he loved his hikari to pieces but damn... those mile long legs and that tight ass under the swaying tail... yum. The CEO was not hard on the eyes. Frankly, none of them were.

"Keep your eyes in your head, Atem." Seto scowled at him as he moved to Jou's side.

"Grumpy dragon." the former Pharaoh teased. "Did Jou not give you a snack before he let you out of your kennel?" The fact that he flicked his eyes to the ragged orange-red skirt that Jou wore made his meaning clear.

Seto scowled more, Jou busted up laughing along with Honda and Yuugi, and Ryou turned a fascinating shade of pink. "Nah, he don't get his snack unless he's a good dragon." Jou snickered, reaching back to twine his fingers with the clawed glove, the golden eyes bright with love. Jou might tease him and get a rise out of him, but considering how they had gotten together in the first place, that might be considered a form of foreplay.

"This dragon's going to bite you in two." Seto growled softly, but his arm around Jou's waist was possessive. Dragon indeed.

"Promises promises." Bakura smirked. "Do we get to watch?"

"Yami!" Ryou chided, as another round of laughter circled the group.

"You people are having too much fun over here." That was Mokuba, come to join them. He was dressed in ordinary enough clothing, but attached to his head was a bright green hexagonal bipyramid.

"Too much fer a kid yer age." Jou grinned.

"Sure, right. I'm old enough now." Mokuba adjusted his 'floating' icon.

"No you're not." Seto disagreed with another growl.

"You're biased, Niisama. As far as you're concerned I won't be old enough until I'm 25."

"Hnnn... that sounds about right." He poked the green shape with a clawed finger. "Go get me a drink, Mokuba-sim."

Mokuba stuck out his tongue. "Anyone else want anything while I'm daring the buffet table? You haven't had anything yet, right?" That last was to Atem and Yuugi.

"No, but that's okay. We can manage to get our own." Yuugi smiled and took Atem's hand, towing him through the crowd. The pharaoh managed to garner more than a few looks himself, but unlike Ryou's blushes or Seto's growl he lifted his chin, grinning saucily at the looks. He was certainly not ashamed of his body, even if Yuugi was the only one now who would ever enjoy its charms.

"Will you stop flirting with everything in the room?"

"Why?" Atem reached over and tapped his light's helmet, then tucked a long fingered hand under his chin, tilting up his head so that he could look into the elaborately made up crimson eyes. :You know that you have nothing to worry about, my bright love. They can look, but the only one who will touch is you.:

:Yeah... I know.: Yuugi smiled up at him, and then leaned over to kiss his slightly taller lover.

Atem closed his eyes into it, enjoying the softness of Yuugi's lips, and then suddenly the world shifted sideways under his feet. He stumbled back, eyes flying open, as the floor shifted wildly. No one else seemed to notice; no one seemed to notice the sickly green light that crashed through the air, engulfing everyone in the room and even the room itself. Atem pulled his cloak close automatically, feeling his skin crawl with the touch of twisted magic that sickened him. The feathers embroidered on his shenti and cloak flared with golden power as he felt the divine touch of the Goddess within him, leaving him breathless.

It passed in mere moments, leaving him panting and staring at his light as a confused babbling rose around the room. "Aibou? Are you all right?" But what came out of his mouth wasn't Japanese. It took an effort of will to switch languages.

Yuugi looked up at him, and to Atem's surprise his eyes were no longer amethyst but blue, though his features were the same. He nodded, once, then dropped to one knee, bending over his blade in the salute of a warrior to his lord.

He could have hit him with the buster sword and given Atem less of a shock. He touched his hikari's mind, only to find nothing. Only the shimmering of his light and a strange blankness, along with the crawling touch of the green light. He pulled back, staring down at Yuugi in blank astonishment. Then he looked around the room when the sound of a dragon's confused roar shook dust from the roof. He could see a fully formed (but not full sized, thank all the gods) Blue Eyes White Dragon next to an equally confused looking Gilford. Otogi hovered not far away, wings fluttering as he looked around, while Honda had his gun out.. and it didn't look plastic. What in the name of the thousand gods was happening here?

"Pharaoh?" Bakura made his way through the crowd, with Ryou hanging off his arm. Only Ryou too was transformed, a saucy smile on his lips as he draped his arms around Bakura's shoulders and nuzzled into his throat. "Not... Ryou, for fuck's sake, will you wake up? Pharaoh, what the fucking hell is going on here?"

"I don't know." Atem looked around again, frowning, and saw Honda taking aim at a group of moaning zombies on the far side of the room. "But I think we'd better get everyone out of here before something permanent happens. Swords of revealing light!" he cast, to stop any fights before they broke out.

And absolutely nothing happened. He blinked blankly at his hands, reached for the shadows, and felt the blood drain from his face as he felt nothing, only the soft pulse of the Goddess' powers. "Oh shit."

"Fucking bloody hellfires." Bakura growled in agreement, holding out his hands.

"You too?" Atem asked, looking down as Yuugi took a defensive stand next to him. "Aibou! You need to stop Honda from opening fire!" He pointed to the brunet and Yuugi nodded once, then to his astonishment jumped cleanly over the milling crowd, sword blurring over his head. "Oh gods! Don't kill him!"

The swordsman dropped in front of Honda, his oversized blade cracking into the floor and sending it up shards of wood and carpeting just as the gun opened fire. Bullets deflected off the ceiling and floor as Yuugi took a defensive stance and shivered, growing six inches.

"Fuck me, looks like they have all their... Ryou, gods damn it!... abilities."

Atem glanced over as Bakura bit back a moan – Ryou had gotten his teeth on his throat and evidently that was a pleasure spot, because the thief's eyes were glazing over, his fingers curled in the pale hair of his light. Shit. Okay he needed to figure this out... please gods let his Egyptian magic be working. He reached over and traced the symbol for sleep on Ryou's shoulder, backing it up with a sharp word in Egyptian. The pale hikari hissed but drooped, going limp.

Bakura caught him, breathing hard. "Fucking... all right Pharaoh, do you have a plan?"

"Not fucking for starters." Atem snarked. "I'm working on it. We need to get the dangerous ones away from the others..." He looked at the pendant around Bakura's neck. "You need to lay those zombies before they start eating anyone. Put them to sleep until morning."

"My shadow powers aren't fucking working! What do you want me to do, sing them a fucking lullaby?"

"Priest of Anubis! That gives you power over the restless dead! If they all have the proper abilities, so do you!" Atem snarled and shoved him in that direction. Heroes were squaring off against villains – someone dressed as a samurai looked about ready to take someone's head off and there were voices rising as the air rose with tension and potential violence.

Please gods let this work. Atem closed his eyes and traced a symbol on the floor at his feet, chanting a spell to calm hostile magics, invoking Bes as well as Ma'at. He stood and spread his arms, throwing his cloak back, and felt the magic waft from him like the scent of incense through the air.

It wasn't enough to undo whatever spell had transformed the people here, but it was enough that the tension eased.

"Shadowlord?"

Atem looked over, then looked up. "Jou... er.. Gilford. We need the zombies and that werewolf over there in separate rooms."

"As you command." The massive swordsman moved back through the crowd; someone in armor with chains clearly had the same idea, because he was dragging a vampire off a lady dressed in a fancy kimono. In fact now that he had calmed the tensions the 'heroes' were moving to head off problems. Thank the gods that it hadn't been an all monster party. He watched as the Blue Eyes started working with Gilford, herding monsters into separate rooms.

"I don't know what you're thinking; those zombies need to die before they spread the virus to others." Honda gave Atem a suspicious look.

"They're not really zombies – they're people under a curse." Atem told him firmly. "I don't suppose you have any tranquilizers for your gun?"

"I'm a policeman, not animal control." Honda kept the gun out, looking around professionally. "Of course I don't know what I'm doing here, either."

"We all came here to a party..." He saw the blank look and sighed. "Never mind. Can you and Otogi help get the dangerous monsters sealed away until morning? Hopefully if I can't find out what's causing this Ra's light will burn away the magic."

"I'll do what I can..." He looked at the faerie beside him. "Are you Otogi?"

He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a tinkling sound, like bells. A moue of frustration curled his lips.

"Huh. I'll take that as a yes."

"Otogi? Do you remember who you are?" Atem asked.

The fae gave him a curious look, then nodded and waved his wand, fluttering over to a ghost and shaking silver dust on it. It vanished.

That... probably wasn't good. Atem prayed that he had just banished it to its home, in which case whoever had been in the costume should be just haunting their own house. That made him pale, and he darted to the door to look outside. The grounds were mostly quiet, but off in the distance, in the direction of Domino, he could hear sirens and feel the crawling green energy. The source of this spell was in the city. So that was where he would have to go and shut it down, somehow.