Title: Madness is in the Eye of the Beholder

Author: YamiJessi

Concept: Yuugioh. Yami no Bakura one sided perspective, third person.

Rating: PG13

Standard disclaimer: No, I don't own it, it didn't happen...it's kinda pointless to sue me because I own very little besides some rats.

Madness is in the eye of the beholder, at least that is how some see things. It was a stable of the mind set of the ivory haired madman. Cruelty as an obsession and pain as a guiding path, that was the nature of his life. His eyes held the flickers of rage, born of thousands of years of broken promise and failed goals. A type of feral joy at the sight of vicious victory, it was a distinction that set him apart. His other half made him seem all the more cold blooded. With innocent ways and a charming smile, his mirrored self made him a shattered image indeed. For this reason few sought to look beyond the dark and twisted sneer, even fewer sought to offer him help. Who would gaze into the eyes of dark destruction and come away with soul safe and whole, none. Perhaps he preferred it this way, or maybe it was a role cast to him by chilly fate. Regardless, he played it well.

Light and dark, truth and lies, for him there was none. His own truths were broken by the wary gaze of those who spoken in soft voices of his inner evil. Yet, he could not see himself as evil. There was a desperate sort of drive in his life, a force in his soul that he followed with religious dedication.

His battle was one of willpower and determination. Others viewed him as the monster, but the were wrong, at least in his eyes. He fought for control, for a sense of normality that had always been denied him. And he fought well. With a mind as sharp as glass and a resolve as solid as stone he waged his war. Bloodshed and pain left in his wake meant nothing, for he had never been spared as much in his own life. His purpose was simple, to control and to discover his own salvation in the most dire of places. There was no peace for him, no hopes of easier paths. It would forever be an existence of slavery to his own fate if he were to give up. That was why he was unwilling to let his ambition fail him, freedom forever in his mind's eye but so far from reach.

How easy was it to overlook his plight, to cast him as the role of bad guy? It was simple enough in words, in harsh looks, but few truly understood. His other half was the light, the purity, leaving him only to dwell in forever darkness. Yet, none saw the slavery he suffered through. He was servant to an innocent being with simple plans, doomed to share every thought and action with his master. And he served a cruel master, one who denied him freedom because he was the supposed evil. Yet, every evil is born of light, so his own other half created that darkness. They never saw this though, the others. The never saw the hateful light he cast them sometimes, his desire to fit in so strong it burned like a fire within. They never saw the delight his light took in knowing that the good battle had been won, even if it was done so through dark means. No, they only saw the soft smile and the bright eyes, the hope radiated there. They never saw his eyes, never really looked to see the utter hopelessness that flickered in those orbs.

Once, he had been content to deal with his prison, willing to hide himself away in the confines of the other's soul and forget the world. Then, he was allowed a taste of freedom and everything changed. He was shown what there existed in life more than old pains and sorrows, and he became intoxicated by the idea. To be free, truly free, that was the goal that drove him. Yet, he had a cruel master indeed. He was shown the world, then cast back into nothingness. He longed to live again, to have something to feel.

It was easy enough for them to judge, because they had their freedom and their lives. He had neither, bond by fate to another soul. So, it was nothing for him to steal and lie, to spill blood and never look back. He longed so much for that life once more than no means were too extreme. Even his other half became his enemy, so he was truly alone once more. When one has nothing to lose they are willing to sacrifice everything for a chance.

They think him cruel and evil, but he only laughs. Because he knows that if he were to stop laughing he would see how empty and shattered life is once more, and it kills him more and more with each glimpse of that void. Kept at bay by a will that holds him back, a tyrant who refuses to give him a chance at his own fate, he is the ultimate slave. For, to see the truth one only need to glance from one to the other, the light to the dark.. A light that has everything he desires, and still lusts for more under the cover of friendship that he knows will help gain, that is one side. The other side, a flicker of shadow alone in the world, broken and fearful that his own existence lies solely in the hands of those who hold no concern for him and fighting with everything he possess to win back a chance. He is not mad, he is lost and hopeful, refusing to give up.

There is not evil in his eyes, for too much has been committed against him in the past, he can no longer see any other path. So, which is truly the light and which the darkness? One life full and still longing for more, one life empty and driven, both cast together in the silver-gray hues of life. One holds tight reins, the other struggles for his own soul to return. The darkness lost, the light drunk on power he hides away carefully. Indeed, madness is in the eye of the beholder