"A gift you say?" Pharaoh raised an eyebrow, it wasn't weird for him to receive a gift but, for a person to specifically travel to his kingdom just to give him a gift? Now that was unheard of "If you wouldn't mind, could you first present yourself strange traveller?"
"Pharaoh, I am Bakura Ryo, descendant of the Knight of Datne, of the kingdom of Tobos far to the north" said the albino still kneeling.
"Raise your face Bakura Ryo" demanded Pharaoh "Why would someone come from so far away just to give me a present?"
"Pharaoh, while I was investigating an old house, I found something that might interest you"
"And why do you think that?"
"Pharaoh, it has your name on it"
Pharaoh straightened in his throne.
"What do you mean, Bakura Ryo?"
"Pharaoh, while I investigated the desolated manor I came across a diary translated to the Daphkar of old, written by a man that had your name" he took said diary from his bag "There was also a diary written by the Knight Timaeus and some others, I've translated all of them from old Daphkar to Ario so his majesty could read them too"
Pharaoh hit the arm of his throne with his fingers rhythmically, he couldn't say he wasn't interested, what could be written in the diary of a man who once had his name and one written by a legendary Knight?
He was curious, really curious, what could be written there that a man from across the sea came to present them to him?
"Is that all, Bakura Ryo?" he asked.
"No Pharaoh; along with the diary I brought a doll"
"A doll?" the man of Tobos nodded "Where is it?"
"A guard took it before I could present it to you"
Pharaoh turned to his great vizier.
"Tell the guards to bring it"
The great vizier nodded before leaving the throne room; soon after, a guard entered with the doll in his arms, bridal style.
Pharaoh found himself breathless, such beauty, truly a fine work of art.
Once the moon rose and Pharaoh returned to his chambers he started reading the translation of the first diary.
Property of Doctor Atem Sennen.
xxx - xx - xx
I'm writing this in order to record the strange happenings of our manor.
A couple of months ago came word of a strange illness, apparently people start coughing and throwing up blood, it has become a plague, the number of people who have died of this illness is unknown, but it is raising and more and more people are dying.
The village close to our home has been abandoned by the few that weren't killed by it, so we have to get our own food.
xxx - xx - xx
Shizuka has fallen ill.
Her older brother Katsuya is devastated, I don't know what to do, I've been investigating and trying different things but I haven't been able to find the cause of it.
xxx - xx - xx
Shizuka, who has always been delicate, lost her life a couple of days ago, not even a week after she fell ill, Katsuya is inconsolable, not even Seto has been able to raise his spirits. But that's not all, Rebecca and her grandfather are ill now too.
I'm still trying to find a cure, but I'm lost.
xxx - xx - xx
A month has passed, Arthur -Rebecca's grandfather is dead- she's still fighting for life.
Mokuba is ill now, Seto is heartbroken, and so am I; Katsuya haven't said a word but I suspect he's ill himself, he tries to hide it so Seto won't worry even more.
Tea and Amelda left.
xxx - xx - xx
Katsuya is bedridden, he's resting in the same room as Mokuba, Seto hasn't moved from their side in days, I'm worried sick.
Ryo is ill too, I don't think he'll be with us much longer.
Rebecca died a week ago.
Otogi received a letter from his father, he wants him to return to the capital, he is hesitant to leave, we'll support his decision, no matter what.
xxx - xx - xx
I'm desperate, I even started praying.
Ryo died soon after Rebecca. Ootogi left this morning, he didn't seem well, I don't believe he went to visit his father, but to find a place to die without us worrying.
Half of the staff left.
I've noticed that the people who fall ill tend to look more tired than usual for some days before they start coughing and throwing up blood.
xxx - xx - xx
The gods have doomed us. What have we done to deserve this?
Mokuba and Katsuya passed away the other day, I had never seen Seto cry, he hasn't moved from their graves, I fear he'll do something to harm himself.
Kisara and Mai disappeared, I assume they left at night in secret, Miho is gone too.
We have almost no staff left. I haven't been able to sleep, I fear for my friends and family, my niece Mana is ill, Mahad and Isis are heartbroken, and I think Marik will fall ill soon too.
xxx - xx - xx
Gods, why do you punish us this way? What have we done?
I'm even more restless than before, everything I try is in vain.
We found Seto's corpse this morning, he took his own life; Mana died too and now Marik is bedridden, Rishid is taking care of him, Isis and Mahad are still grieving for their daughter. I'm grieving too.
xxx - xx - xx
Just like everything else, my prayers are in vain.
I write this date, but I'm not sure if it's accurate, I've lost sense of time, I'm living in a continuous nightmare and I wish to wake up.
I'm the only one left, Rishid committed suicide when Marik died, Isis too, she couldn't take losing her family, Mahad followed her. The staff is gone.
I don't understand why I haven't fell ill yet, now it sounds like a gift, I'm not going to commit suicide, I'm not brave enough, I'll continue with my life, hoping to become another victim of the gods plague.
The next entry didn't have a date. Pharaoh stopped and took a moment to breath, he could feel the desperation and sadness of the man who wrote the diary. It was, suffocating, he had recognised names, some of his own family shared those names, friends, even the name of the guy who brought him the diaries was there.
He felt like crying, he was afraid of continuing reading the diary, but he yearned to know what happened next; so he breathed deeply and continued.
I think I'm going mad, this solitude is torture, I wish to die but death won't come and I can't leave, I'm not sure why, maybe is the gods, maybe the souls of my family and friends have bound me to this place which is no longer my home.
I've been having weird dreams and nightmares whenever I fall asleep, which is rarely.
Roses started to grow in the garden, I don't know where they came from nor how are they able to survive here, such delicate flowers had never bloomed in this garden.
The next entries were similar, Pharaoh felt himself go mad the more he read.
He didn't notice when he fell asleep with the original diary open.
Alone lived his life Doctor Atem Sennen. Alone in his mansion; no wife, no children, no family, no friends.
He was drowning in his depression.
Not being able to stand the solitude any more, he ran into the basement, in where he kept all the scientific books and tools; he set himself to an impossible project -not impossible, hard, but still possible.
He looked for the right books, he found the right materials, he took the necessary tools and set himself to the job.
Create himself a partner.
He worked day and night without break, he made the body parts with reinforced cottonwood, assembled it with pieces of steel and began working on it's features; big round eyes of the color of amethysts, button nose and heart lips. He added hair, curly blonde bangs that fell messily on its face and the rest of its hair stood wild as if it were a star.
Now came the hard part.
Bringing it to life.
How would he be able to do it?
For days and nights he thought and thought about how to bring his partner to life, when no ideas came to his mind he started to give up but just then, he heard a voice.
"Such a beautiful creation" he heard a man say.
Right behind him stood a man, hovering over him and studying with his eyes the creation, the man had a pale face and azure eyes, his pale blonde bangs were graciously brushed back, the rest of his hair was a dark blue, almost onyx, his black body dissolved into shadows.
Atem gaped at the man who smiled smugly without turning to look at the doctor.
"Who are you?" he squeaked "WHAT are you?" he raised his voice in distress.
The man didn't turn to look at him.
"I have many names, but you can call me Yami" he looked down to him "And I am someone with great power" he turned his face down and smiled "It came to my attention what you're trying to do, so I decided to come by and check it out myself" he turned to look at the agender doll "I must say I'm impressed"
"What do you want?" Atem turned in his seat and Yami reduced his shadows, making him as tall as Atem -if he were standing up-
"At first I came here to kill you, for you see, creating artificial life is kind of, forbidden" he paused, Atem just glared at him "But when I laid my eyes on it" he said with dreamy eyes "Such a fine piece of art. I decided to help you" Atem looked at him surprised "Of course it's not for free"
Atem frowned.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing you can't offer" he smiled smugly "Hear me out, I'll connect the doll to you, I'll give it a soul and bound it to you"
"I don't understand"
"You'll share your life with it"
"Then it'll come to life because I am alive?"
"Exactly" a pale hand stretched out from the shadows that formed Yami's body and gently grabbed Atem's chin "What do you say?"
Atem kept glaring at the shadow being, and nodded slowly.
Yami's smiled stretched hideously, and leaned down.
"Perfect" he whispered before his lips touched Atem's.
The doctor froze and Yami breathed in Atem's gasp.
He let go of the doctor and turned to the doll.
With both hands he reached to the doll's face, his thumbs caressed the wooden cheeks and pressed his lips against the doll's.
"Now all you need to do is give it a name" he said to the doctor.
Atem stared at him with wide eyes.
"I'll leave you to it; I'll come by another time" he winked and disappeared in it's shadows.
It took some minutes to Atem to finally react, he pinched his face before turning to his creation.
"A name" he said to himself.
A name for his partner, he couldn't call him Partner, that thing, Yami, could, was going to, come again and he wasn't happy with the idea of Yami calling him partner, that's a name only he can call him.
Partner was out then.
He looked through names books and listed some of them, coming up with a name wasn't as easy as it appeared to be.
Keith, Aaron, Heba, Ania, Theodore, Leo, Adrian, Moises, more and more names were enlisted until he found the word.
Yugi.
It sounded, right.
It felt nice to say it.
Yugi.
Yes. That was perfect.
"Yugi" he said while standing up "But first let me look for something for you to wear dearest partner" he said to the doll, eyes shining with faith.
He ran upstairs to an old room, in a wardrobe he found a white robe without sleeves, the end of it was a bit ragged but it actually looked quite nice, so fortunate was he that the robe didn't smell old.
He ran back to the basement, waiting there was his doll, his partner.
He dressed Yugi and seated it in his chair.
His hands over the doll's.
"Yugi" he said, hovering over the doll "Yugi" he repeated but nothing happened "Wake up Yugi, my dearest partner" he said with a knot in his throat.
Had Yami lied to him?
Why wasn't Yugi waking up?
Maybe he did something wrong?
Had there been a time limit for the name choosing?
Had he lost his opportunity?
His body started shaking, his eyes filling with tears.
What should he do?
Was he doomed to that solitude?
Was his fate and eternity alone?
Then he felt movement.
Slowly, his Yugi raised a hand to his face and opened his eyes, with a sleepy expression on his face.
"Yugi" Atem threw his arms around the doll and hugged it tightly, the tears rolling free down his face.
He rested his face om Yugi's chest.
"Yugi"
Yugi tensed for a moment, but soon relaxed and returned the hug.
"My dearest Yugi" he said. Yugi nodded and Atem looked up "Tell me, do you know who I am?" Yugi nodded again before speaking.
"Atem"
The doctor smiled brightly, overjoyed.
He let Yugi go, he stood up and kissed the doll on its forehead.
"Come, let's go up stairs" he extended a hand, and Yugi reached for it.
With Atem's help Yugi stood up, but it took a moment for itself to manage to find balance and be able to stand on its own.
Atem took both of Yugi's hands, helping it take it's first steps.
Atem was beaming.
He had succeed.
Goodbye to those lonely days.
Their life together began.
"Pharaoh" someone called "Pharaoh"
Pharaoh groaned, his body hurted, his neck was cramped.
"Pharaoh, is time for your morning routine" said the great vizier.
Pharaoh stretched, he didn't feel rested.
"Pharaoh, did you stay awake reading that?" asked the great vizier.
"Yes Siamun" he said and stood up "The boy of Tobos was right, I'm very interested on this" he took the translation and the original diary of Doctor Atem Sennen and got ready for his morning routine.
The day passed like any other, Pharaoh even took advantage of his free time to continue reading the diary.
The next entry gave him a weird feeling of deja vu, then he managed to pint point why it seemed so familiar, he had dreamed about that, tho the entry was more like a resumed version of it.
Doctor Sennen had described in detail how he had created Yugi, and the appearance of this Yami thing. It gave him shivers to remember that creature of his dream.
The next entry started from day 1, Doctor Sennen explained that he was counting the days from cero because he felt like he had born again and to count all his life with his dear Yugi, it was heartwarming to know the man was knowing happiness once again.
xx - xx
The more time I spend with Yugi the more amazed I find myself by him.
Today we discovered he can play the violin, I say we because not even Yugi knows a lot about himself, we learn new things every day.
Thank you my dearest partner.
xx - xx
Yugi is always so full of energy, I'm yet to see him get tired, I'm not actually sure if he sleeps but whenever he sees me get tired once night has come he goes to bed with me and lies by my side until I fall asleep.
Yugi has such a kind soul.
xx - xx
Yugi is a fast learner, last week I reached him some card games and now he wins half of the time, I'm grateful to finally have someone who is able to win against me.
xx - xx
Yugi is so smart, his first assumptions about things are usually right.
xx - xx
Yugi is so brave, we went into the forest and we got lost but he didn't get scared, he worried about me, because unlike me he doesn't need to eat, drink water or even sleep.
I fell and injured my ankle, Yugi helped me walk and treat the injury.
We managed to return home the next morning.
xx - xx
I'm not ashamed to say that I've fallen for Yugi, he's more human than any human I've ever known, his smile shines brighter than the sun, the gods must be jealous of him.
I'll protect my partner with my life.
xx - xx
Today I learnt that Yugi can't cry, though, to be more specific, he can't shed tears.
He was in the library, I'm not sure what happened but an old bookshelf fell on him and broke his leg. I'm not sure if he can feel physical pain, but there's no doubt that he can feel it in his mind, just like any other emotion and feeling.
He screamed my name until I heard him, his crying was audible and it pained me to hear him like that.
I removed the bookshelf and carried him to the basement, in where I made him a new leg.
He made me cookies to thank me, it was unnecessary but I'm grateful nonetheless.
But of course, that wouldn't last long.
A couple of months had passed when it began.
He should have probably seen it coming.
It was winter; the garden was covered in snow, he watched as Yugi played with it, it was in moments like that, that he remembered what Yugi was, a doll, immune to the cold, he ran around wearing only a sky blue robe, with no sleeves and not long enough to cover his knees. But it wasn't sad.
He was proud of his work, and he was grateful, because he was not alone anymore, he had Yugi now.
Yugi was calling out for him, telling him to come and play; he stood up and walked to his darling but then his vision became blurry and he lost his balance, Yugi noticed this and ran to him while he fell onto the snow.
"Atem" Yugi cradled him in his arms "Atem?" he sounded worry "Atem, what's wrong?"
What was going on?
His chest ached, his limbs suddenly didn't want to move and his head was fuzzy.
"Atem?" Yugi started sounding more desperate "Atem, please say something. Atem"
"Yugi" he said, his voice was soft and tired.
"Atem" he said, relieved "Atem, what happened?"
"I, don't know" Yugi helped him sit up, it made him feel nauseous so he covered his mouth with a gloved hand.
"Are you feeling ill?" asked Yugi, concerned.
He couldn't keep it in, Atem threw up.
"Atem?!"
His blood tainted the snow with it's dark red color.
Pharaoh gasped and opened his eyes, his body was covered with sweat, he looked at his hand almost expecting to see his blood.
Another dream?
A nightmare.
It felt so real it was unsettling.
It was almost as if he was living through his dreams the life of Doctor Sennen.
He looked around, right beside him was the original diary, Yugi still lied lifeless in a couch there.
He didn't feel like going back to sleep, so he walked to his desk and lighted a candle to continue reading the translation.
xx - xx
I've fallen ill, it's the same illness that took my family and friends. Why is it that now that I wish for life death is running to me?!
But I can't say I'm surprised, I always knew that sooner or later I would fall victim to the plague too.
I fear for my life and for what will happen to Yugi when I die; I don't wish to leave him alone, much less with Yami, who haven't visited me again.
But no matter what happens, my soul and heart will always be with my dearest partner.
xx - xx
I'm bedridden, I can barely write anything, Yugi has been taking care of me, he never leaves me alone for long; he doesn't really smile anymore and it saddens me more than anything.
xx - xx
Whenever I apologize Yugi shuts me up and repeats that there's nothing I should apologize for, he says I only need to take care and get better, I don't have the heart to tell him that this illness has no cure, I wouldn't be able to stand to know I took the little hope he has away from him.
xx - xx
I heard Yugi cry last night, I wanted to comfort him but I can barely move anymore.
My dearest Yugi, if you ever read this, I want you to know how much I love you, thanks to you I learnt to enjoy life once more; you're the light of my life, my ray of sunshine, my one and only true love. You have no idea how much I love and adore you, every single thing that makes you you. Please never forget my love, even if you forget my face and name, please remember how much I love you.
I'll say it one last time here, and I'll tell you before I breath my last breath.
I love you Yugi, and thank you for everything.
Atte. Doctor Atem Sennen
Pharaoh wasn't sure when he started crying but he didn't try to stop. He closed the diary; when had he opened the original one?
He put it away in a cabinet. He looked outside for a couple of minutes before deciding to start the diary of Timaeus, the legendary dragon Knight.
At least start it the next morning.