Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, nor do I own the typical angst that is displayed in this one-shot. This is based – loosely – off of a dream I had; the speaker can be anyone you wish, though I always viewed him as Insane!Yami no Yuugi. Read and review, and don't be too harsh!
Tell me…have you ever been obsessed with something you could never have?
Have you ever dreamed of holding it in your hands, only to wake up and succumb to harsh reality? To know that dreams are just that; dreams.
Have you ever wanted something so badly, so painfully, that you would be willing to destroy heaven and earth to get it?
Have you, aibou?
No? Pity, that.
Have you ever envied others, seeing them walking the streets in their innocent blindness? They mill about their lives, oblivious to the darkness inside of themselves, surrounding them, pervading every inch of the world and just waiting to draw them in and devour them, much as you used to be.
Sheep.
There are those few who have accepted, even embraced, the darkness. They invited it into the depths of their souls, and revel in the feeling of finally gaining some modicum of CONTROL in their lives. They believe they are saved. YOU believe you are saved.
Fools.
Yes, even you, aibou.
Darkness does not save. Manipulates, teases, seduces, mocks, destroys; never saves. Revels in screams, drinks in blood and fear, delights in pain; never aides.
Darkness uses and discards, delights in torture and torment. It feels no pity, no remorse, no guilt. It desires nothing it cannot have, for its power is all-encompassing. Nothing is safe from the darkness; no one is immune to its destruction and decay. Eventually, everyone falls.
I should know.
But there is one thing darkness can never have; one thing that I can never have.
I caught a fleeting glimpse of it, disbelieving, incredulous. The darkness can acquire everything, right? I can acquire anything.
Don't look at me like that, little light. Why do you inch away from me, pretty eyes desperately seeking an escape? You have already bound yourself to me, tighter than any mortal binds; you cannot escape.
Hush, aibou. Quiet and listen.
Do you know what it's like, to search and search and search, and never find? To pick yourself up and continue searching, without knowing exactly what you are looking for? To blindly thrust out your hands, unsure – perhaps for the first time in your life – of what you may find?
Do you know what it's like, for something to haunt your dreams and never let go? To make a mockery of all that you knew, turn your world upside down, and throw your POWERS in your face?
Do you know what it's like, to have salvation dangled in front of your eyes, and then immediately snatched away? To know that no matter how hard you fight, how much you want, how much you cry, it will remain distant and unattainable?
Have you ever felt the vast emptiness, loneliness, powerlessness that comes with being chained to something you can never see? The despair in knowing you will never be free, and the anger that you of all creatures could feel such emotions?
Do you know what it's like, to have everything in your grasp, save for THAT? To have gone from KNOWING you could have everything, to watching it all slide through your fingers like sand?
DO YOU?
Come closer, aibou, and I'll show you.