Unfinished Business
I'm running out of ways to say it, but I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. That will never change.
Chapter one: Duelist Kingdom
His memory was long.
From his dwelling place in the deepest shadows of his Pharaoh's mind, he sensed the intrusion. He heard the baseless accusation of theft leveled against his masters. An accusation born of the arrogant assumption that Yugi was a mere child, incapable of solving a puzzle thought unsolvable. Who was this man who presumed to judge who was worthy to bear an Item?! And how had he obtained the Items he carried?
Important as the answers might seem to the servant, it was up to the master to ask the questions. By trespassing within the souls of Yugi and his Pharaoh, the intruder had given himself to Pharaoh's judgment. The challenge was accepted, the game begun. It was not his place to intervene.
The power of the Millennium Key enabled its bearer to see into the depths of another's soul. How unfortunate that its current holder had not sought its aid to examine his own soul, for it was the arrogance and overbearing pride within which led him straight into Pharaoh's final trap. That should have been the end of the game…
But there was a tremendous strength within Yugi. A strength that had held back Pharaoh's anger and saved the life of his greatest rival to date, a strength that offered a hand to pull a stranger back from eternal darkness, the strength of compassion. But compassion combined with naivete was a dangerous thing. Even after all he'd experienced, Pharaoh's young vessel was still more trusting of strangers than he ought to be. Still, the resolve he displayed while commanding Pharaoh to end the game was admirable indeed. The little one was not to be trifled with.
The stranger's continued presence was disturbing. He had lost the game, his soul spared only by Yugi's kindness and Pharaoh's reluctance to upset his partner. So why did the Key holder not depart? What else was he seeking?
There were many sealed doors within the maze of Pharaoh's mind. Behind those doors were memories waiting for the time when Pharaoh was ready to seek them out. And behind one door was an evil that waited for any opportunity to escape before Pharaoh could regain the strength to overcome it. Millennia ago, the essence of that evil had been split into two halves, one half imprisoned in the Puzzle, the other trapped within the Millennium Ring. Fate's perversity had recently brought the two Items together, allowing the evil within them a chance to escape into the mortal plane, a chance foiled all unknowingly by the bearer of the Ring. It would not do to have this new intruder's blundering enable another escape attempt!
Perhaps it would be best to bring them into the domain of Pharaoh's servants, that special place where he and the others of the deck dwelled close to the hearts of their masters, the better to watch over Yugi and ensure that the Key's bearer would do no more mischief. A door opened in silent invitation.
He watched and listened carefully as the two Item bearers traveled the hall of Ka tablets, the Key bearer speaking of a great war and the sealing of the shadows three thousand years before. Three thousand years? Had it really been that long? Long enough, it seemed, for the death and despair caused by the accursed dark one to become the stuff of poorly remembered legend.
Yugi's wide-eyed wonder brought light and warmth to a heart worn down by the chill of the shadows. The young one's heart was close to his monsters. Well, it would be a treat indeed for him to be closer still, and the stranger would learn that Pharaoh's vessel was well protected.
Yugi's reaction was all he could wish for, though he was sorry that the brightness of his coming seemed to have hurt the little one's eyes. The Key bearer's fear was plain to behold as he backed away; surely now he would depart and trouble them no more!
But the fool's next words showed how futile that hope was. Was he so blinded by his own self-importance and the certainty that he knew all there was to know that he could not see that he was the danger threatening Yugi and Pharaoh? Could he not understand the damage that could be done by forcing two powerful monsters to fight within the shared soul of the Puzzle's bearer and its spirit?
It was in that instant that Yugi showed himself to be greater than all of them. Showing no fear, he ordered the Key bearer to abandon his attempt to summon the White Dragon in a tone that showed he expected to be obeyed. Then, he apologized for the intrusion. (As if he needed to ask for forgiveness!)
He had to fight the urge to smirk in triumph as he stood behind the little master, remaining just long enough for the stranger to finally understand that Yugi was truly the chosen of Pharaoh. He could sense Pharaoh's relief and Yugi's confusion as this stranger, this "Shadi," finally departed. For now, he would hold his peace, but he suspected they had not seen the last of him.
From his place in the heart of his masters, he would watch and listen. For his memory was long, and there was unfinished business between him and Shadi…
A/N This will be my first two part story. Part two will be posted within the next month, depending on how hectic real life gets.
