"I have the mind of a kid in my storage?!" Junior yelped.

Yami, like the rest of the room, was utterly silent. Yui looked about as horrified as her husband. Grandpa and Roland were too confused to know what to feel. The Pharaoh didn't know how to react either. Was Noah still around? The kid with a god complex? Should Yami be fearful or relieved? The static buzzing inside him didn't help much with his emotional reactions. Yami felt like he was ten seconds behind everyone else in his responses. By the time he turned to Dark Magician to see what he felt, the spirit had turned away. Dark Magician was silently communicating with the female Blue-Eyes at Seto's side. Both were too focused on their wordless conversation to notice the situation unfolding around them.

Seto continued standing in the middle of the room in front of Junior and the Mutos. While he remained in this stiff posture, he couldn't hide how he shifted his weight from foot to foot. He then answered Junior in a flat tone. "Maybe."

"Oh God! Is that boy ok?! What am I saying, of course he's not! He's been in a tiny black box for the last year!" Junior said, seeming to become nauseated.

Seto studied, almost skeptically, Junior's reaction for a few moments. "Noah wouldn't be aware if this is the device you have. That box isn't complex enough to sustain thought. It would be simply holding his data."

"Is it like he's asleep?" Grandpa asked. Seto merely nodded. At this, Junior leaned up against the wall as he breathed a long sigh of relief. Seto's head tilted as he continued to study Junior.

Junior then perked up. "Wait. Is this the Noah that's learned from his experiences with you guys, or is this earlier back-up data? The Noah that wanted to do some nasty things to the world?"

"I… I am unsure," Seto said while pulling back a little from the crowd. "But that won't be your concern when you hand over that key."

"Oh, it'd be my concern if he nukes the world or something when you plug him into one of your computers. Wait, didn't this boy purposefully sacrifice himself? Does he even want to come back? Is it right to bring him back in his limited state?" Junior rubbed his forehead as he became overwhelmed again.

Seto was silent for many more moments, his eyes darting from Junior to Yami. Then he said. "I didn't think you the type to care about ethics."

Junior face fell into a glare as he immediately straightened up. The two locked eyes and fell silent, nothing passing between the two for a very cold minute. The others in the room felt the full effects of this tension, Roland even seeming ready to leap to his boss's aid. Then, Seto spoke again.

"You were once excellent at not questioning the orders you were given. I suggest you use that training now. No matter what you actually have, it is KaibaCorp property, and I will have it."

Junior paused and took a step back from Seto. He held still, seeming not to know what to do with himself. He slowly turned around to face his family. Yui and Grandpa tried to give him a reassuring smile, but his eyes were only on the immobile Yami. Junior's eyes then narrowed. He crossed his arms and turned back to Kaiba.

"You want to deal like that? Fine. I'll give you the key, but I'm going to need a little more incentive, Mr. Kaiba. You did barge into my home and hurt both my son and me today. I need assurance that you'll keep the truce up between KaibaCorp and myself. I don't want you coming after me once you have my last bit of insurance against you. Also, I'll need some proof that you won't hurt Noah once you get him. I know the kid did some evil things, but I don't want to hand him over just for you to experiment on."

Yami watched as Seto assumed his "businessman" expression as he pulled out some sort of small device. It was the size of a cellphone, but it seemed much more advanced than any flip-phone Yami had seen.

"Why would I give you something like that? It was your son that led to your pain. I have no need to tell you anything about what I will do regarding my own broth- to my own property. And you did just admit that all your blackmail was for Gozaburo only. I have no reason to want to keep up a truce like that."

"Kaiba," Yami warned in a surprisingly strong voice for his state. Seto glanced at him briefly, then back to Junior. For a moment, his eyes lingered on Junior's arms. Yami tried to see if anything was there, but the most he saw was a few of Junior's tattoos poking out of his sleeve.

"Very well," Seto said. "By assurance, I assume you mean compensation..."

Yami was sure if this was any other man demanding something like this from Kaiba, Seto wouldn't have stood for it. But being his rival's father probably was saving Junior at the moment. And yet… There was something else there. Yami then wondered if Seto had ever met Junior when they were younger. A shiver then went up the Pharaoh's spine, imagining the horrible scenarios that could have facilitated that meeting.

After another anxious silence, Seto spoke. "You never ended your personal contract with KaibaCorp. My step-father must have held onto it in some hope that you'd come back, or more likely, hopes he could use it against you in the future. If we officially ended this contract, you'll get a large monetary payment, and our partnership will legitimately be over. There, your 'assurance.'"

Seto then turned the device around to show its screen. Both Grandpa and Yui moved closer to see it, blocking it from Yami's view. The Pharaoh could only barely see a string of numbers. It must have been a rather large string as Grandpa let out an impressed whistle.

After a moment of stunned silence, Junior spoke. "That… That is very kind of you. I'll happily accept ending the contract, but money wasn't what I meant. I want some temporary protection for both Noah and me until this is all over." Junior took a deep breath and spoke in his calmest voice. "I'd like to hold onto one of your Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards."

Seto just about leaped away from Junior. His hand protectively flew to his deck pouch as he scowled. At the same time, the male Blue-Eyes in the room roared and lunged at Junior. Even if the duel spirit wouldn't have been able to hurt Junior, it was still a terrifying sight for those that could see it. Junior didn't budge as he kept his determined gaze on Kaiba, not even as the spirit's teeth were inches from his face. Yami was then surprised to see Dark Magician jump into action. The mage left the other dragon's side and flew in-between Junior and the angry Blue-Eyes. The mage raised his scepter and kept it pointed at the dragon's neck. The Blue-Eyes was forced to back off a few steps, and he snarled at Dark Magician. Dark Magician was unphased.

Seto seemed too offended that Junior even thought about taking one of his Blue-Eyes to speak. Junior saw this and took another deep breath. He steeled himself and took a step towards Kaiba.

"I'm not planning on keeping the card. You have my word that you'll get it back once all this is over." Junior said, doing his best to keep his voice steady. It didn't escape Yami's notice that Junior didn't give a definitive time when he'd give the card back. The father must have chosen his words carefully so they would have as much time with the card as they needed to get Yugi back. But that meant Seto would have noticed that vagueness also, and it would undoubtedly make him trust Junior even less.

Seto glared at Junior, his hand hovered protectively around his deck. Yami seeing this and knowing they were so close to having all the pieces to get Yugi back, spoke before he thought.

"What's wrong, Kaiba? Worried we would rip it so it can't be used against us?" Yami said with a surprising amount of spite. Even Roland turned in shock at Yami's comment. Yami quickly looked away from everyone as he began internally admonishing himself. He thought he had pushed out all the frozen acid from before, but it must still have been there, simply buried below the static.

"Right…" Junior said, his worry for Yami growing. He took another breath and continued with Seto. "I know how much the card means to you, Kaiba. I promise no harm will come to it. I thought this was simply the quickest way for me to feel secure in this transaction of ours."

Seto remained still. It was then the female Blue-Eyes stood and padded to the male dragon. She made him back off Dark Magician with a simple touch of her wing. She then returned to Kaiba's side, once again briefly touching his necklace.

Seto's eyes darted to Yami again. Yami didn't dare make eye contact. It was a few more moments before Seto relaxed his stance. He finally spoke (in more of a command than a question), "If you won't come to KaibaCorp to negotiate, can we at least speak in a different room?"

Junior nodded and seemed wholly relieved. "That I can do."

Junior gestured for Seto to accompany him into the hall. Roland tried to follow, but Seto shooed him away.

As Junior walked by his family, Grandpa gave him a comforting pat on his shoulder before the two disappeared deeper into the house. The two Blue-Eyes followed Seto to the best of their abilities in the tight halls. As they left, Dark Magician floated behind the couch, silently watching over Yami.

Yami deeply sighed. They were so close to getting Yugi back. He just had to put his faith in Junior. That thought didn't make him feel much better, but it was still more faith in Junior than Yami had for him when they first met. Yami decided to lean into that hope and tried to focus on something else. And it wasn't long before Yami's mind was swamped by other, more horrifying thoughts.

Yami tried to find some way to be comfortable with his body being unwilling to move and pinpricks of pain continually stabbing him. Yami's body seemed to be turned against him, but that didn't compare to how bad things had been just a few minutes before. A shadow game! He barely had the magic to lift a candy bar earlier. How had he gotten enough power to accidentally begin a shadow game? Add on that burning rage from earlier, what was going on with him? The more he tried to think, the fewer answers he got. The buzzing in his very cells seemed to cut off any complex thought Yami had. The way his body refused to respond to any commands wasn't making it any better. How could Yami help get Yugi back if he couldn't even move?

You could let the cold fully back in. You know what to expect now. You could control-

Yeah, no.

Yami cut off that thought about as quickly as it came. It was that same perplexing feeling from before. That it wasn't him that thought that, yet it was very much his voice that said it.

"Yami?" Yui whispered as she sat down beside Yami on the couch. Her cutting into his inner reflections would have made Yami jump if his body could have allowed it.

"Yes?" Yami asked, his words back to being slow and nearly in a whisper. It seemed he only had the strength to use his voice when he was threatening Kaiba. The only thing Yami could do with that realization was add it to his humongous pile of other worries and bad omens.

"You look worse. And I wasn't sure that was possible." Yui said as she gently pushed Yami's bangs away from his eyes.

"And what was going on before? We know that duel had something else happening." Grandpa quietly added as he came to Yui's side.

Yami cringed. While he didn't exactly have a clearer head, he was distant enough from those events to see how he could have worried the Mutos.

"I-I don't know." Yami decided to be honest. "I don't want to talk about it. At least not right now."

Grandpa and Yui glanced worriedly at each other. But they respected Yami's wishes and didn't bring it back up. They all remained hushed for many more minutes, waiting with held breaths for the two to finish talking.

Roland was awkwardly standing across the room. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself as he fidgeted in place. He appeared to be made most uncomfortable by Yui's presence. In return, Yui was doing her best not to make eye contact with Roland. It actually kinda reminded Yami of his interactions with Trudge in the police station.

Soon Grandpa noticed how uncomfortable Roland was and his need to be everyone's grandfather took over. Once he knew Yami at least wasn't getting any worse, he waved to Roland.

"I've seen you a few times, but we've never met before. Hello, I'm Solomon Muto. The Senior one, if my youthful beauty didn't make that obvious." Grandpa said as he walked over to Roland.

Roland seemed surprised, but let a small smile peek through. The two began talking as Yui kept to Yami's side. Soon Grandpa got Roland talking enthusiastically about an out-of-print game Yami only barely recognized the name of. Yami couldn't help but smile to see his grandfather's friendliness make Roland relax.

As they waited, barely hearing the voices in the next room over, Yui began to gently run her hand through Yami's hair. Yami very awkwardly pushed into her hand. He didn't care how childish it made him seem; her touch became his anchor at the moment. The static pricking his every nerve was very close to driving him mad. But feeling her there, knowing she cared for him with these simple gestures, made all the world to him. He still felt the heavy pain though. He tried to hide it, but it was slowly becoming overwhelming.

"Are you sure you're ok, Yami?" Yui whispered. "Is there nothing I can do for you?"

Yami bit the edge of his lips. "Help me focus on something else." He answered in a low voice. Yui nodded and seemed to be thinking of a topic when something on Yami's head caught her eye.

"Oh my." Yui leaned in close as she started parting his hair. "I didn't think you would get this."

Grandpa and Roland looked over. Even Dark Magician bent down to look at Yami's head. Grandpa asked what Yui was talking about, and she gestured him over, showing the hair she parted. The Pharaoh really hoped this was Yui's attempt at distracting him and not actually something wrong with his head.

"As white as snow. Now I wonder if this is something only the Pharaoh has or if Yugi will get this." Grandpa whispered.

"What?" Yami asked. He failed at keeping his voice from rising.

"You have some white hairs hidden behind your ears. If you really did get my family's genes, it won't be many more years until your whole head's completely white." Yui said with a slight giggle.

"But isn't that something that only happens if you're born with white hair or are really old?" Yami managed to ask. Of all the thoughts that could have been in Yami's head at that moment, it was Bakura's image with his stark white hair that stuck.

"No. My hair's completely white, and that happened in my twenties." Yui said.

If Yami could of, he would have slapped his forehead for insulting his new mother. He tried to give her an apologetic smile, but he felt like it came out as more of a grimace. She gave back an understanding grin.

"Right, you wouldn't know," Yui said. "In my family, we would have the brightest magenta hair when we were young. There sometimes would be other colors such as black or brown, my brother Akna for example. But no matter the color, it would all turn into the clearest white around our twenties." She shrugged. "It's nothing to be embarrassed over, I just thought since Yugi-" she paused as she realized Roland was listening. "Since you took very much after your father, I thought you might have avoided it." Yui then noticed Yami's best attempts at hiding his apprehension. "And you still might! I have no idea how aging affects your three colors."

Grandpa chuckled as he took off his bandana and let his grey hair spike up. "I originally had your blonde bangs and black middle. But my tips were brown. It was your grandmother that brought the red hair color of your father. I didn't grey until much later in life, and it started at the base like this." he said as he gestured to Yami's head.

Yami suddenly felt very self-conscious and tried to reach up to rub his head, but found he didn't have enough energy. He ended up looking to Dark Magician again, but as always, the duel spirit had no comment. The mage even seemed determined not to look at Yami at that moment.

"Don't worry, Yugi," Roland suddenly added. As everyone looked to him, he seemed to grow slightly embarrassed. "Don't tell Kaiba I told you this, but he's actually completely white-haired too."

"What?" Grandpa couldn't help but laugh as Yami stared in utter disbelief. Yami… couldn't even imagine that.

"Yes, it apparently runs in his family too. He had barely started high school when he lost all his color. It's actually funny. You met him when he had green hair because Mokuba had recently pranked him, switching his dye from brown. Seto being too proud to admit he fell for his brother's childish trick, really leaned into the color change. He even convinced Mokuba to turn his hair green too." Roland laughed.

Yami managed a chuckle, remembering back to young Seto. Yami's mind crush must have helped Seto come to grips with many more things than the Pharaoh realized, like how the CEO just could not pull off completely green hair.

"You shouldn't be giving out KaibaCorp secrets like that, Peter." Yui also laughed. "What will your boss think?"

"Peter?" Yami asked.

"My first name," Roland said with a chuckle. "You didn't think my full name was Roland Roland, right?"

"Ahh…" Yami didn't answer, and it absolutely wasn't because he was embarrassed.

"Well, if you do go completely white, at least you'll have a friend in it. That white is probably the only thing the Arai family will ever give you." Yui said, gaining a bit of a sigh at the end.

"Arai?" Seto's harsh voice made everyone jump. They turned to see Kaiba in the doorway. Yami was surprised to see him looking almost furious. The Pharaoh worried that things must not have gone well with Junior, but Seto soon shook away his anger and fell into a blank expression.

"It's her old surname," Junior said as he came up behind Seto. He then looked to Yami, probably realizing that Yami also didn't know much about what they were talking about. "The Arai family were a very money-hungry bunch. Tried to force Yui to marry your step-father to "make up" for all the medical bills she cost them growing up. Too bad she met me." Junior joked as he went to his family's side. "We haven't heard from them in nearly two decades. Good riddance too."

Junior then knelt next to Yami. "You still truckin' champ?" he asked. Yami gave him a tiny smile but found he couldn't do much more. Junior tried to keep his expression calm, but Yami could see his concern.

It was Seto clearing his throat that made the room turn back to him. "The card." Seto reluctantly said. Yami was astounded as Seto held out one of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards.

Dark Magician floated into the center of the room, followed by both Blue-Eyed spirits. The female then bent down to nuzzle Seto's side before she went to stand by Grandpa of all people. Dark Magician gave her a friendly pat when she passed him. This made the male dragon growl, but a quick glare from the female shut him up.

"Thank you." Junior was about to take the card when Seto flinched. Kaiba quickly pulled back and grabbed a card sleeve from his deck pouch. He slipped the envelope over the card, then pulled out another larger sleeve and repeated the process.

"If anything happens to this card, you're as dead as you claim Dragon is." Seto just about snarled as Junior took the double-sleeved card.

"Understood, Boss." Junior distractedly said as he looked over the card. Both immediately stiffened once they realized what he said.

Seto glowered. "Don't call me that, ever."

"No complaints from my side." Junior instantly agreed as he retreated towards his family.

Seto nodded to them, holding Yami's gaze for a moment. Even with the static, Yami still felt pure hate start to fill him as he met Seto's eyes. Yami was the first to look away, and he didn't look back, even when he heard Seto leave the house.

Yami was about to turn to his family when he realized Roland was also still there. Kaiba's righthand was once again out of his element as he seemed to want to tell Junior something. He kept his hands clasped together as he nervously tapped his fingers.

Junior sighed and was the first to speak. "It's… good to see you, Roland. Seems like you are pretty well off in KaibaCorp if Seto brought you with him as a back-up."

Roland smiled. "Yes, Seto had been an excellent boss to me. I see the years have been kind to you too… Solomon." He said, with an edge of disbelief to his words.

"Yeah, I almost can't believe it either." Junior smiled.

"I admit, the next time I expected to hear about you, I thought you'd either be ruling a country or found dead in a ditch." Roland laughed. Junior gave a hollow, forced chuckle in return. This made Roland's smile abruptly disappear, and he started backtracking his words. "I mean, I didn't think you weren't strong enough to face being in normal society. It's just you kept your life outside so hidden, most of us men thought you lived in KaibaCorp or with Gozaburo or something. I-I mean, by living with Gozaburo, I meant…" Roland continued to ramble for a bit, saying some pretty embarrassing things for both men. It was clear Junior was trying to be polite, but the more Roland spoke, the more annoyed he became.

Eventually, Junior cut in. "Roland, shut up."

"Yes, sir," Roland mumbled.

This made Yui stand up and walk over to the two. "It's been great to see you again, Peter. But isn't Kaiba waiting for you?" She said.

"Right! Well… err… see you two." Roland gave a quick bow and just about ran out of the house.

After the sounds of the front door shutting and cars outside driving away, Junior and Yui finally relaxed their stance. Yami also released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

Junior held out the Blue-Eyes card. Both Yui and Grandpa crowded around to look at it. Yami would have joined them if he could have moved. Instead, he saw the female Blue-Eyes walk over to him and curl around the couch, seeming to fall asleep. Dark Magician then sat on the couch's arm to be by Yami. The Pharaoh saw from the side of his eye Dark Magician sneaking glances at Yami's hair. A slight smile on the spirit's face.

Junior then walked over to the couch and sat next to Yami. He gave Yami a quick hair ruffle before showing him the Blue-Eyes card.

"We have it. I thought I signed my death certificate a few times there, but we have it." Junior grinned. Yami was able to return the smile before it suddenly felt like the static within him became denser. The world around his vision began to blur. His family immediately noticed his deterioration and ran to him.

"We'll get Yugi back soon, just hold on," Yui said. Yami nodded to her as he tried to focus on the fact they had the last card.

"How did you convince Kaiba?" Yami managed. Junior didn't meet his or any other of his family's gaze for a few moments. When he looked back, he had a forced smile.

"That contract is getting ended, and I'll be giving Noah back to him the day my vacation ends. That's all he really wanted, and I was happy to give it to him." Junior said.

"It sounds like there's more to it than that," Yui whispered.

Junior tried to give her a reassuring smile, his voice even. "Not really."

Yui was not assured.

Before the others could pry more Junior stood. "Well, he did try to get me to promise a duel with Yami, but I knew that wasn't something I could give him. Anyway, I'll call Pegasus and see if he's anywhere near done," Junior said as he laid the card on Yami's chest. He was about to get up when Grandpa stopped him.

"I would actually like to do it," Grandpa said.

Junior raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do you really want to talk to the guy that stole your soul?"

Grandpa seemed a little uncomfortable but nodded. "You stay with the Pharaoh. I'll be calling Téa for an update."

Junior could only nod as his father went to the next room over. Junior's gaze then landed on the still broken duel disk on the ground. He immediately began cleaning up the mess, ignoring Yui's uncertain glances. "Sorry about breaking this."

"It's fine. I don't think you understand just how much you helped." Yami managed to say.

Junior nodded, but his focus was still on the duel disk. "…Your face after you saw me hurt, that angry look. It just reminded me a bit too much of myself when I was younger…" Junior shook his head as he threw the duel disk in the trash. "That's all in the past. What we need to focus on is getting Yugi and those knights back."

…

Things were going surprisingly well for Silent Magician, Kuriboh, Marshmallon, and Blue-Eyes. Yugi's plan required the creatures of this land to protect the Gandora with their voices before these dragons could help them in return. A tall order to ask of the very monsters the Gandora hurt. Yugi's friends had prepared for severe backlash when asking the spirits to stand by these dragons. And there definitely had been anger and trepidation, but nothing that spiraled out of the four's control.

Blue-Eyes and Marshmallon were respected across the entire dimension. Kuriboh was already pretty much royalty to the tinier monsters. And the thing most convincing to the beasts of this specific domain, Silent Magician had been the domain's protector for countless years. If word from the Pharaoh's host, his spirit partners, and the Mad Builder didn't convince them, it would be the steadfast trust from their Silent that made the most anxious give the plan a shot.

'Now it's just up to the Gandora.' Silent Magician thought as she finished speaking with the Ojama archetype. After the four had gotten the word out to the largest monster population near Dark Magician Girl's castle, they had split up to talk to the more spread-out groups. Thus, why Silent Magician was coming back from the domain's edge.

"Kurri!"

Silent Magician jumped when she heard that familiar cry. She turned to see Yugi's Kuriboh, sans jewelry, jump towards her. They looked very bothered by something.

"What is it, buddy?" Silent asked. Kuriboh began to explain in such hurried kurris that even Silent Magician's translator spell had a hard time keeping up. What she did catch was "Silents" and "village." That was all she needed to hear to start rushing off towards her old home—the only fully humanoid settlement in this domain, the Silent Village.

Though the town was rather big to the human-sized monsters that lived there, it was practically dwarfed by the mountain to it's back, and the skyscraper pines that surrounded it. All the town's buildings were made from the dark wood of these trees and grey stone collected from the mountain. In these stones were the odd sprinkling of clear crystal veins. These crystals seemed just as firm as the rocks, so the residences spread these crystals throughout their architecture. The most prominent example of this was in the town center. There, a high bell tower attempted to equal the trees; its bell being made entirely out of this transparent crystal. Under this bell was where the next generation of Silents would appear. Wrapped in the blue and white of the archetype and holding their specific weapon or item.

No Silent had died in many years, leaving the Silent acolytes and low leveled humanoids the only ones living in the town. At this time of day, the main square would usually be filled with a crowd of duel spirits, but today it was dead quiet. As Silent Magician ran through the town, she saw many eyes peeking out from their houses, but no destruction so far. She thanked the stars and continued moving.

At the base of the large bell tower, stood two women monsters. Silent Paladin was staring daggers at Silent Magician, and the hulking Silent Shield Bearer stood to her side with arms crossed. Silent Shield Bearer was the tallest of completely humanoid Silents. Her body-sized shield and heavy plate armor both decked out in blue and white. The only part of her body that could be seen was her head and mane of wild black hair. Her expression always seemed to fall into a growl, and that hadn't changed since Silent Magician last saw her.

Silent Magician stopped in her tracks before the two. She at first wondered how these two got here without activating Yugi's mountain traps, then she remembered their abilities. Silent Paladin could stop the activation of spells, and Silent Shield Bearer could do the same for traps. It was about this moment Silent Magician realized she should have waited for back-up. She had sent Kuriboh to get Blue-Eyes, but she had worried that the Silents were already attacking. She had rushed here to protect the monsters of the village, but this wasn't an attacking force. It didn't even seem to be a scouting unit.

"Magician." Silent Paladin wrote in her pastel green lettering.

Silent Magician waited a few more moments before she braced herself and walked up to the two. There was no trap activation. She still didn't drop her guard as she wrote. "Paladin, Shield Bearer. We weren't expecting you for another twenty minutes. Swordsman did give us two hours."

"So, you aren't handing over the Gandora." Silent Paladin wrote with a soundless sigh.

Silent Shield Bearer grumbled and reached for her shield. Before she could make contact with her soul item, Silent Magician used her magic to push the shield and herself a few paces away from the two. The mage used the few seconds she bought herself to prepare for the next attacks.

But none came.

"Don't start Magician. You are clearly in no state to fight us." Silent Paladin wrote as she leaned her own sword and shield on the tower. Silent Shield Bearer summoned her shield back to her in a flash of orange light and set it on the ground.

This took Silent Magician by surprise, but she still didn't rest from her fighting stance. "I am in perfect condition to duel. Don't you dare underestimate me."

Silent Paladin rolled her eyes. "We can see the way your words flicker. We were also there to see you level-up when you were clearly out of magic. And while I admit, I'm still impressed that you managed to pull off such a feat, I know you must have the Cracks now. How bad is it?" Silent Paladin's face seemed to grow more worried as she wrote, but Silent Magician wouldn't fall for faked concern.

Silent Magician shook her head and summoned her own soul item, her scepter, to her side. She thought about leveling up to her second power state but decided she better save her magic. Her job now was to stall until Blue-Eyes arrived. "It's merely a change in how my magic looks. It doesn't affect my power in any way."

"Your aura looks painful." Silent Shield Bearer said in her deep voice. Silent Magician was surprised to hear Silent Shield Bearer speak. She turned to the taller monster to see if she spoke on accident. "Does it hurt?" Silent Shield Bearer spoke with seemingly legitimate worry.

In the old Silent Society, a powerful Silent purposefully using their voice was a show of putting all their cards on the table. It was a sign of seriously wanting a truce. It would be the expected norm for Silent Magician to respond in her own voice. But then again, in old Silent society, it was also considered the standard that if you didn't agree with another Silent to attempt to kill them. It was simply easier to hope the next reincarnation agreed with you then take the time to argue.

"The cracks that appear with my magic are only a change in aesthetic. Nothing is stopping me from sending you two to the stars." Silent Magician continued to write.

"Please, we need to talk." Silent Paladin also said, her voice strained. "It's about… Swordsman."

This astonished Silent Magician even more. She looked to each and realized the two, though they tried to hide it, were terrified. The image of a young Silent Swordsman flashed in Silent Magician's mind. Specifically, the picture of him attacking her right before she exiled herself.

Silent Magician relaxed her stance. She waited a few more moments for any attack to come, but none did.

"O…K" Silent managed to voice. It sounded warbled and nearly not humanoid. But it would have to do. The two Silents saw how much effort she had to put into using her voice, and their eyes widened. They looked to each other in complete shock, but Silent Paladin quickly got control of herself. She hid any shock and led the three to the other side of the bell tower, away from their weapons. Silent Magician followed, leaving her wand leaning next to Paladin's sword.

On the other side of the bell tower was a decorative ledge for the three to sit. Both Silent Magician and Silent Paladin hopped up, while Silent Shield Bearer remained standing. She leaned against the tower with her arms still crossed.

"What do you want?" Silent Magician wrote.

It was a green lettering that appeared next. "I-We. We want to explain some things."

Silent Magician's eyebrow raised skeptically. "What could you possibly have to explain? You are going to destroy this domain, your old homes, to return an archetype to slavery. All while a lockdown is sucking the lives out of the monsters in the human world."

"No! That's not! I mean…" Paladin's words were shaking. She looked to Silent Shield Bearer for back-up, but the taller monster had none to give. Silent Paladin turned back to Silent Magician and sighed. "We… We never wanted this... We were actually the ones that freed the Gandora, you know."

"You were?! How?" Silent Magician wrote, her words dripping in skepticism.

"We found out about the Gandora's plight when Swordsman managed to get us a job stopping their diseased curse. We originally took it because we needed a way to survive. You don't know how hard it was for us out in the domains after the Legendary Knights took over. We were hated everywhere we went. We couldn't go to any civilization without being chased out, which means we couldn't get food or shelter. We weren't even allowed in some domains!"

"Those domains had every right to do that after all we did as their so-called 'protectors.'" Silent Magician wrote.

"We know!" Orange lettering overlapped with green as both Silent Shield Bearer and Silent Paladin wrote.

Silent Magician flinched, waiting for them to attack, but once again, nothing came. The two simply looked away from her in shame.

"It's been a hard-taught lesson, but we know. Every attack and hate thrown at us reinforces that schooling." Silent Paladin then reached out and seemed to pet the air. Soon a nearly invisible, fabric-like substance appeared briefly between her fingers. "Even the barrier doesn't respond to us like it used to."

The three were quiet for many more seconds. During this time, Silent Magician also reached to touch the power that blanketed everything in this world. The barriers were what made the domains, allowed the resets to happen, kept the monster dimension and the human dimension parallel, and let the lockdown continue. The magic responded to her call as it always had, be it be only a small amount. Both other Silents saw this and sighed. Silent Magician got a tiny bit of satisfaction knowing she at least still had a connection to the borders, but that feeling quickly disappeared.

Silent Paladin continued to write. "It's why all of what's left of our archetype is working under Silent Swordsman. He seemed to be the only one with a plan to get us out of our situation. We didn't even want our old jobs back, we just wanted to live."

"Why didn't you come back to the Dominion of the Beasts? Why didn't you try coming home? We would have accepted you-" Silent Magician began.

"With you running things? Ha!" Silent Shield Bearer's letters cut in. "After we all insulted and belittled you when you tried to reach out to us before your exile. Add on... most of us couldn't face Dark Magician Girl or the acolytes that raised us again, after everything we've done... We didn't think it was an option."

Silent Magician hid her eyes by pulling down her hat's rim. She had thought about reaching out to her archetype after they were dethroned by the Knights. But she hadn't. Hoping they would come back on their own.

Silent Paladin shook her head. "We were too proud to come back. But apparently, we weren't proud enough not to take dirty, low-life jobs. Helping the warrior and dragon armies kill each other being our latest.

"It was chance we ended up helping the warrior army and the Gandora. What originally happened was the dragon army hired us to somehow ruin the warrior army and their Gandora they were using to get past the dragon borders. The Dragons were worried that some immunity had grown in the Gandora. We needed a way to support ourselves, so we planned to play both sides. We would be paid for pretending to help with the Gandora's disease and paid for helping the Gandora escape. I think it might have even been that broodmother friend of yours we gave the escape map to."

"Didn't you actually stop the disease?" Silent Magician asked. Gandora had only barely touched on the curse when she retold her life story to her and Yugi.

"Originally, we weren't planning to. But once we got the job and learned more of the Gandora's plight, we really did want to help! We worked tirelessly to break the hex that made that disease, and create the perfect situation for them to escape. The plan was then for the warrior army to play us a little more to catch them. Then we would take the money and run! But… It's gotten all out of hand." Paladin wrote as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Silent Magician found herself shaking her head as she stood. "You expect me to believe that? I was there on the mountain when you tried to capture Gandora. That did not look like an act in the slightest."

"Please." Silent Shield Bearer's words made Silent Magician jump as she turned to her. Shield Bearer continued. "I know how it looks, but we've all been tricked. Tricked by Silent Swordsman."

This immediately got Silent Magician's attention. A swirl of hot and cold emotions filled Silent Magician. They always seemed to confuse her whenever she thought of Silent Swordsman. Two images stayed plastered in her mind. One of the brave and kind Silent Swordsman when he was her closest companion. The other of the crazed fighter on the mountain top about to slash Yugi. Silent Magician buried those feelings quickly and sat back down.

Silent Shield Bearer was the one to speak this time "It began with the lockdown. We had been waiting a month in the Crags for the warriors to cave in and hire us. They had done just that when we all felt the change in the borders. We all knew something was up but thought maybe the Knights were being summoned by their descendants for some new evil.

"Then Silent Swordsman got us together and had us start marching for the Domain of the Beasts. He said it was to make it look like we were going to fulfill our job before turning and going to another domain. Along the way, we heard rumors that a group of dragons was attacking the low-leveled domain. We realized that the Gandora must have been violently settling. Swordsman then changed our plan again. He said we were going to move the Gandora to another dimension by first capturing them. We did still have the anti-Gandora equipment from the warriors. He said it was so our old homes would think of us as heroes. He decided he would keep up the charade of capturing the Gandora for the warrior army in case word traveled to the Crags. We were unsure, but we trusted him to know what was best. So, we went along with it!"

Silent Paladin wrote. "Then things got so much worse when we actually got into the Dominion of the Beasts. Before we broke into the domain through the deactivated portal, we heard your fight with the Broodmother."

Silent Magician stiffened. "What? My fight with Gandora? When I first realized she caused the lockdown…" Silent Magician trailed off in horror.

"Since Swordsman was leading, he heard everything, including how the Knights had been wished away. We only heard bits and pieces. He at first didn't tell us why the lockdown happened. In fact, he didn't tell us anything! He led us into attacking you and the star-blessed Pharaoh! What were we thinking going along with that!?" Silent Paladin both wrote and shouted. She then continued.

"After the whole snafu at the top of the mountain, we were obviously very angry with Swordsman. We didn't sign up for fighting the Pharaoh and a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But then he distracted us by explaining why the lockdown was continuing. He said he did all this, so we were in the perfect location to end the lockdown as an archetype. At first, we were all excited, we thought this was our chance to fix everything. But we were told to wait. 'It has to be the perfect time.'" Silent Paladin turned her magic a lighter color to show Swordsman's words.

Silent Shield Bearer the added, changing her writing font slightly to match Swordsman's slashy writing. "Not yet, we'll do it soon, though. Oh yeah, I forgot to add I just threatened Dark Magician Girl with destruction in the morning. That way, we can actually get the Gandora back, while making our domain pay for abandoning us. Then we can save the dimension."

Silent Paladin kept angrily writing, even overlapping with Silent Shield Bearer's orange words. "We've been down this path before with the Legendary Knights, and most us Silents refuse to do this! We don't want to be the tyrannical Silents again!" Silent Paladin then yanked Silent Magician's hands forward and clasped them tightly. "Please! We've made a big mistake following Swordsman blindly. Just help us get away from him!"

The two kept writing, but Silent Magician stopped reading their words at this point. She simply stared blankly forward. The worst thing about this situation was she knew this to be something Silent Swordsman would do. He was purposefully putting his own archetype in danger and making their situation worse just so they would have to rely on him. In turn, making him stronger. It caused her heart a familiar pain. He used to do this to her. He would make her so dependent on his strength, she nearly couldn't leave his side. Now he was doing it on a massive scale, with many monsters' lives on the line. The brilliant boy she had grown up with, the one that had protected her so many times, the one she loved so deeply at one point. Even when the rest of his people wanted redemption, he still only wanted power.

Silent Shield Bearer and Silent Paladin stopped their writings mid-sentence when Silent Magician stood, dragging herself out of Paladin's pleading grasp. The mage was suddenly many feet taller. She had slid into her fully grown LV 8 form. She had accidentally done it, her emotions getting the better of her, but she didn't care at that moment.

"Is there anyone else in your group that have the same reservations about Silent Swordsman?" Silent Magician wrote, her words still flickering but now in much thicker, bolder letters.

"Yes, a lot of us do. But at this point, most are too scared to admit it. The ones that still agree with Swordsman follow him fanatically. And the last time we made this big of a mistake, we were forcibly kicked out by the Legendary Knights and reviled by all monsters. We feel like we've fallen too far to come back. You have to help us!"

Silent Shield Bearer added, "Please, do whatever you want with us after. We'll take it, we just don't want this again." Her words were surprisingly weak for her usually steady voice.

Silent Magician didn't write anymore. She was looking out at the buildings of the village surrounding them. Behind window blinds and slightly cracked doors, she saw many monsters moving around. A Silent acolyte got her attention and used the village's sign language to ask if Silent Magician was ok. To the monsters hiding in their houses, it looked like the three had been vehemently arguing for the last ten minutes. Silent Magician's sudden level-up didn't help. In fact, it made it look like a duel was about to start. The acolyte swore they'd all be behind Silent Magician when she attacked.

Silent Magician realized how bad this looked and was about to sign back that everything was ok when a great shadow fell over the bell tower. Before Silent Magician could look up, she was scooped off her feet by Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

The ancient beast's roar reverberated around the town as she shot a blast at the tower. The two Silents managed to leap out of the way, but the tower wasn't so lucky. It began glowing the same white color as Blue-Eyes's attack. Then the earth started to shake as the power was sent into the ground by the crystals—the bell's wild ringing reaching every ear in the village.

"They're attacking!" A monster shouted.

"No, they're here for peace!" Silent Magician wrote. But Blue-Eyes was looking around so frantically for the two scurrying Silents, she didn't read it.

The two Silents tried to find cover amongst the houses but soon found other attacks flying at them. The people of the town had gotten brave under Blue-Eyes's imposing shadow and began defending their village.

"Lying Silents! I knew I could not have expected the courtesy of keeping your word!" Blue-Eyes roared as she dived at the two. Silent Shield Bearer and Silent Paladin summoned their shields in response. Their magic combined together to block Blue-Eye's dive and bounce her back. The two were also frantically writing in the air, but even Silent Magician couldn't read it.

Blue-Eyes's roar continued. "You think attacking early will help you?! It has only turned the domain more against you!"

"Get out of here!" The monsters began yelling as they came out of their houses, throwing rocks and various smaller attacks at the two.

"You shouldn't have returned here!"

"Come back in a new life!"

The two Silents looked to each other, then hopelessly to Silent Magician. Silent Magician saw it in their eyes, they had been on the receiving end of this kind of hate too many times before.

Silent Paladin's eyes glowed, and in a flash of green light, a tiny feathered Silent appeared above the two.

"Have you finally cleared out all the traps…? Oh, my stars!" Silent Messenger squawked as she flapped wildly in the air. She didn't need to look twice at the enraged mob headed by a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. She activated her ability without a second thought. Silent Messenger could return other monsters to the deck, or in this case, to the mountaintop. In a flurry of magically charged feathers, Silent Paladin and Silent Shield Bearer were gone. Before anyone could react, Silent Messenger disappeared too in another flash of pastel green light. Silent Paladin must have activated her ability to summon other Silents to her side once she was on the mountaintop.

The villagers began sweeping through the square, trying to find other Silents as Blue-Eyes finally landed.

"Good thing I came when I did, you were nearly-" Blue-Eyes was cut off as Silent Magician jumped out of her claws and slapped her in the snout. Blue-Eyes reared back. But before either could chew the other out, a massive flash of light broke through the clouds covering the mountaintop. It was only there for a split second, but everyone in the domain saw it. It was the Silents' protective bubble, finally popping.

"The Silents are coming," Blue-Eyes growled.

"And Yugi's plan isn't going to work." Silent Magician wrote in small lettering. Of course, it was only then Blue-Eyes took the time to read it.

"What do you mean?" The dragon asked.

"Yugi's hoping that if all the inhabitants come together to defend the Gandora, that it won't be worth it to the Silents to attack. But that's working under the assumption that these are only mercenaries doing a job. It's not. At least, not anymore. This is personal to Silent Swordsman."