Author's Notes: This is a reboot of a story myself and my fellow author SilverGoldDragon so please pop over to her profile for the original and even more delicious goodies she has written. We do not own Yugioh in any shape or form. And now sit back, relax, and fall back into the Shadow Realm for a creepy, kooky, and a little spooky (with a dash of romance) story.

Prologue

A young boy lay in his bed—no, it wasn't his bed. It looked like his bed, but it was different, just like everything in this world—a twisted version. The men here were nice, but…strange. They looked alike, though one was pale and the other deeply tanned. Their eyes were a fiery, devilish red—not seen in

a normal person—and strangest of all…they had a child. He wasn't too sure what the relationship was: the men called themselves brothers, but they seemed too close, and they treated the child as if he were their own. Nonetheless, they were still nice: they gave him toys, gifted him with treats, played games with him, and did whatever he asked. Even so, deep down…he knew something was very wrong.

Seto climbed from his bed, carefully so as to not wake the talking, moving toys that would trigger an alarm and alert the men, and grabbed a black, iron key from the bedside table before exiting the room. He stealthily crept down the stairs, determined to get to the den of the house—there, he could use the key he'd stolen from the men to sneak out through the door that would lead him home and lock it from the other side. He was confident that he could escape: the sleepy silence of the house was an encouraging sign that no one was up and about.

Then, he froze.

A light was on in the den. Damn! They're awake! Or maybe they just forgot to switch the lights off? Yes, that must be it, he convinced himself with a nod as he approached the den. However, that hope soon disappeared as he could hear the men conversing and the child speaking in his toddler talk. There was no way he could escape with them around. He knew he should've returned to his room immediately, or the men would've noticed him—they had demonstrated acute senses of hearing in the past—but curiosity got the better of him, and he peeked inside. The room was filled with all sorts of toys that were scattered about the child's playpen: dolls, plushies and puzzles to name a few. The men and the child sat huddled on the sofa: the tanned man sank into the comfort of the cushions; the pale man lay on his back with his feet in the other's lap; and the child was cuddling him in his embrace.

"Are you ready to get rid of him?" the tanned man asked nonchalantly. "Or do you want to play the game some more?" Seto muffled a gasp of shock, fear and confusion rushing through him all at once. They wanted to get rid of the child? Why? The pale man gently ran his strangely long nails through the child's hair, who giggled and cooed at the touch. "The boy has been here long enough, love," he spoke. "It's about time we closed the door until the next one comes." He gazed lovingly at the child in his arms, who was tugging at the crimson tips of his crown of black hair with one hand and fiddling with his golden bangs in the other. This strange hairstyle, Seto noticed, was shared amongst the three. Surely the child was related to them somehow? A nephew, perhaps? He was soon pulled out of his thoughts when the tanned man spoke once more.

"That may be so, habibi, but how do we get rid of him?" he asked, taking the child from his brother's arms and placing him in his lap, hugging him tightly. "He's already attached to us." The pale man sat up and stroked the other's cheek tenderly. "He is afraid," he said with assertion. Then, his eyes darkened as his lips curled. "Getting rid of him will be an easy task, as all things from the mortal world are foolish and always afraid." His sinister demeanor vanished at once, and he kissed the other man on the lips and giggled, "Am I right, love?"

They cannot be brothers, Seto thought, bewildered and mildly disgusted at the rather intimate display of affection. The thought quickly passed as realization struck him. They weren't talking about the child—oh no, that child certainly wasn't afraid of them. The way they spoke of…"getting rid" of "the boy" made it seem like they were referring to someone who wasn't in the room; someone who they've tricked and lured into their trap, like a predator does its prey; someone who they haven't known for long, and could toss aside at any given moment…

Someone like him.

Heart pounding in his chest, Seto began to make for the stairs, but a smooth, gentle voice stopped him in his tracks. "Seto?" He flinched, and without thinking, he turned around and was met with the piercing, crimson gaze of the tanned man. He immediately stuffed the key into the pocket of his pants, hoping that the man didn't notice. When he saw the man's brow crease slightly in confusion, he almost squeaked, but the man's expression soon relaxed; still, Seto stood stiffly and stayed alert.

"Seto, why are you up?" the man asked.

Seto searched for an excuse—a story believable enough to get him out of this mess—but when he opened his mouth, he found that nothing would come out. His eyes widened in panic and he visibly swallowed, nervous, fighting the urge to run Away. The man frowned. "Did you have a nightmare?" Seto contemplated the question, discovering that the excuse would suffice before nodding his head vigorously in response. The man hummed and his gaze sharpened, as if searching Seto's entire being for any lies; if he'd found any, he gave no indication that he did so. "Ah, I see," he mused. "Would you like Daddy to carry you back up and tuck you in?"

Seto was about to nod his head before realizing that this was his only chance to get the men away from the den—away from that door. He doubted that he was going to live to see another day, considering the conversation that they'd just had, so this was possibly his only chance left to escape—but how would he do that? His thoughts were interrupted when another voice, quiet and hushed, spoke. "What's wrong, Atem?"

Seto and the tanned man's—Atem's—eyes darted towards the door. There,

the pale man stood, the child drowsy and almost asleep in his arms. The black tank top that he wore exposed his taut stomach and the huge scar that ran across it; Seto had never asked where the scar came from, but he wasn't about to find out now. "Little Seto just had a nightmare, that's all," Atem replied. He then glanced at the child in the other's arms and chuckled. "I hope you plan to put Yugi to bed soon, Yami. If he falls asleep there, he's not going to let you go all night."

Yami laughed softly as a hand reached up to pet Yugi's hair affectionately. "You're right. I'd best hurry." At those words, a plan suddenly began to form in Seto's mind. His eyes fell on the child in Yami's arms—yes, he could work with this. "Can I help you put Yugi to bed, Mommy?" he asked. Yami turned to Seto, surprised at the offer: Seto had never really cared much for Yugi—if anything, he thought him a nuisance—so why the change of heart? 'Maybe I'm just overthinking this.' He shook away the thought and gave him a smile as he replied, "Alright, Seto, but as soon as he's tucked, it's off to bed. It's already

past your bedtime."

"Okay Mommy," Seto said as he nodded obediently. "Can I carry Yugi, then?" he asked, his eyes wide and hopeful. For a moment, Yami's smile almost faltered, but he nodded and gingerly placed Yugi in Seto's arms before leading him to Yugi's room with Atem following closely behind. Upon entering the nursery, Seto slowly made his way to the crib, eyeing the two men behind him as they went about their own business. Once he was sure that they weren't paying any attention to him, he turned his focus back to the sleepy child in his arms, whose hands were clutching tightly at Seto's shirt.

He couldn't leave Yugi here. Who knew what those men would do to him when he was gone? As annoying as he was, Yugi was still a child and deserved a normal life and a proper future; he deserved to be free of these men, and Seto would make sure of that. His decision made, Seto glanced at the men once more; they were too absorbed in whatever they were doing to notice his intentions. He quietly crept towards the exit of the room and, once he was out, grabbed onto the handle of the door and began to close it shut. However, the moment he touched it, a loud creak echoed through the room.

At once, Yami and Atem bolted up and turned towards the source, eyes widening at the sight of Seto running away with their child in his arms. They let out animalistic growls as furious, bloody crimson clashed with fearful, pale blue. At once, Yugi woke up and started to wail, further enraging the men. His mind clouded in a frenzy of panic, Seto slammed the door shut and braced it with a chair, ignoring the incandescent cries of the men, before sprinting away down the stairs and towards the den. It hadn't been long when the sound of splintering wood and an explosive thud met his ears. "Come out, come out,wherever you are…" Those words echoed through the house, laced with promises of pain,

punishment and unrelenting torture. Just as he entered the den, Seto smacked into a fleshy wall and reflexively looked up, involuntarily meeting Yami's ghastly gaze. He tried to back away, but soon became aware of Atem's menacing presence behind him.

"Mama! Dada!" Yugi wailed. Seto winced at the noise—it was much more animalistic than an average baby's cry—and heaved an exasperated groan. He glanced at both the men and curled his fingers around Yugi's throat. "Move," he said as Yugi let out a choked sob. Yami snarled as he bared his fangs, the very thought of his child in pain sending the mother into insanity. Reluctantly, he stepped to the side, giving Seto full access to the little door in the wall. "Now, release my son, Seto," he growled lowly. Seto narrowed his eyes at the man before uttering a single word: "No." In one swift movement, he slipped into the door, Yugi still in his arms, and slammed it shut, locking it with his key.

Yami was frozen in place, too shocked to comprehend what had just happened, while Atem rushed to open the door, only to yell out in pain the moment he touched the handle. His heart stopped for a moment in painful realization that Seto had their key and used it to lock the door shut, erecting a barrier that now separated their world from the mortal world—and Yugi. Atem fell to his knees, his eyes shifting between ruby and violet as he felt his connection with Yugi dissipate and disappear. He turned to Yami, knowing that he had felt the connection vanish too, and his eyes glazed over in a silent apology.

Yami collapsed to the ground, the devastation of losing his child—their child— suffocating his heart and tearing away at his soul. The pain flooding through him became too much, and he howled and sobbed as he crippled into a broken mess on the floor. Atem could only grit his teeth and listen. And wait. For so long…..he would wait.