The Subtle Hunger of the Shadows
Disclaimer: I own the poem below, but not Yugioh.
Gray faded in
To darker Gray
Fading to deepest Black
Which wound around my finger
And curled in thought
I danced in Shadow
Creeping back only when
It terrified me
Creeping forward whenever
I became bored
Darkness entombed me softly, with compassion and worry
And I it allowed it without even a whimper.
I don't know when Yugi started acting different.
It might have been as long ago as the Orichalcos mess, but the Pharaoh having been separated from Yugi meant one would've expected him to act different.
It might have been around the week of the Ceremonial Duel, but he was losing Atem, so none of us expected he would be okay. There was tension that whole week, an expectation of an ending that didn't come. Instead, it turned out Yugi could keep the puzzle and we could all keep Atem, even if he had to stay in the puzzle. Things seemed so wonderful that if they behaved strangely, none of us could have seen it. We were too glad then to see anything could be amiss, now that we had won our happy ending.
I think I really suspected something was wrong I beat him at Duel Monsters, but now I wonder how many signs had I missed that something was wrong?
Whenever it was, Yugi hasn't been the same.
Atem comes out more often now. He eats lunch with us, I see him in history class, though I think it's Yugi who falls asleep in math class. When we go to the arcade, it's usually Atem who's with us and I don't think I've heard Yugi suggest to go to Burger World in at least two months. Atem doesn't like burgers.
Yugi, whenever he is out, is almost always sleeping or staring off into space. He doesn't act as though anything is different, at least during the few times we actually get to talk to him, but I think he doesn't want the Pharaoh in control so often. He smiles too wide, and asks about how we're doing as though he might not see us again for a very long time. I think he misses us, especially Tea and Joey, but he can't stand up to his darker half. It's hard to tell, not being in their inner circle.
Maybe it's even for the best that he's not out for long because somehow, every time Yugi's out for very long, we find ourselves in danger again. Usually a dark spirit will pop up and one of us will get really hurt, but sometimes it's something else. Atem will deal with it, and for a while I don't even see Yugi in math class. Last time we visited Joey in the hospital for one such occasion. I saw Yugi for all of thirty seconds before Atem was out again, standing where Yugi should be standing.
I might not have noticed if Joey hadn't. He started yelling at the Pharaoh that he needed time with his little buddy too and Yami needed to chill and let Yugi be with his friends for a bit. So Yugi came out for a while. I was surprised to see someone else had noticed, but I let it drop for the time being because Yami had backed off, and it wasn't really the time to talk about it.
Joey, being Joey, stopped paying attention when he was satisfied Yugi was back, like they both knew he would. For a couple days, Yugi was out all the time and he seemed genuinely happy, but as soon as Joey was out of the hospital, they started going back to the same routine, especially when Joey wasn't around.
Now I haven't seen Yugi for a really long time, and the others don't seem to have noticed. It's as if Atem has completely taken Yugi's place, and Yugi's three closest friends let it happen.
...
I suppose I should be shocked I'm not going through the same situation, after what my yami put me through, but since the Ceremonial Duel, he's been much more decent. It seems that Zorc was influencing him all along, and while he still grieves his village and despises Atem's father, he doesn't loathe Atem the same way he used to.
He is the one who pointed out what was happening to Yugi first, though at the time I thought he was just putting the Pharoah down. The night after the Ceremonial Duel, when Atem was celebrating with all of Yugi's friends and I faded into the background as usual, my yami whispered, "The Pharoah will be the destruction of his hikari."
After Yugi lost a game to me, I asked my yami what he had meant then.
"It's quite simple actually. The Pharoah was worshipped, adored, and the center of attention for the entirety of his human existence. Now he's expected to do with less than half a life, watching Yugi live while he continues his existence, trapped in an old artifact. The Pharoah won't be able to live with that, no matter how he tries. He'll end up consuming his hikari's life without realizing it, just like his adventure consumed him. In the end I doubt he'll even realize what he's done," he finished gravely.
I stared in shock at my darker half, realizing he was right, but left with no clue what to do. I was no hero, and not even really a close friend of Yugi's. I wasn't sure I had the right to interfere.
When Atem stopped wearing the puzzle, I knew I had made a mistake. I hadn't said anything when a life depended on it, and Yugi was murdered in a far greater way than if he had really been died. His body still breathed, but his friends had forgotten about him and he had been evicted. My darker half confirmed that meant Yugi was gone, not residing in the puzzle, but on to the afterlife. He wouldn't have been allowed to reside in the Pharaoh's soul room. If Atem was using the body by himself and without the puzzle, Yugi wouldn't be coming back.
Yugi had been lost, and not one person was not to blame.
A/N: I'm not sure I'm happy with this, but it's been sitting in my computer for a while, so I decided to publish it anyway. I'm also considering doing this with a happier ending where Yugi's friends do interfere, but I'm not sure how to do that without making it seem melodramatic, and it would kind of ruin the point of the story, since it's supposed to be about Atem taking over Yugi's life without really meaning too. Anyway, let me know what you think.