Arrow: All right everyone, this is a story I have had in my head for a while. Worry not for I shall continue On The Straight and Narrow as well and will update both of these stories randomly. Anyway, here it is, Tales of Darkness.

Disclaimer: I own only the plot and nothing else. No part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise belongs to me.

italic writing is used for a characters thoughts.

Regular Bold writing is used for normal narration or spoken words.

Tales of Darkness

Chapter One

Jaden's Secret

Silence was prominent in the Slifer Red dorm as only Jaden Yuki still resided there. Dorothy still came to cook and his friends still hung out with him at the dorms everyday. In fact, it was rare that Jaden was ever alone in his dorm now, especially with finals approaching and the entire gang coming to cram in the relative peace of the smaller dorm. Today, however, Jaden sat alone in his dorm, seeming to search for something.

He wore his usual outfit of black shirt underneath the Slifer Red jacket, white pants and red sneakers. After checking every corner of his room to make sure he was alone, he locked the door. This was unusual as it was Jaden who often invited his friends to do something at the dorm or anywhere else for that matter. For the happy go lucky dueling star of Duel Academy, to be alone was usually the last thing that was sought. However, today all he wanted was to be separate from his friends.

Once the door was secure, the young duelist closed the blinds and turned on the lights. Sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, he began to chant in a different language, one that had never been spoken by a human. During the chant, his outfit and appearance changed. Instead of the Slifer uniform he was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with gold and silver seams, black pants and black hunting boots. Replacing the red school blazer was a cloak of royal purple clasped about the neck with a simple gold chain and a single amethyst gem. On his right ring finger, Jaden wore a gold signet ring embossed with a single calla lily. Around his waist was a black leather belt that held his hand and a half sword in its sheath, etched with a matching silver calla lily as the ring. His face more serious and angular; he looked like he could take on the world and win without even lifting a finger.

The boy looked in his mirror, sighing in relief that the illusion he was forced to wear had been dropped. For you see, dear readers, Jaden Yuki was no ordinary boy nor was he the bumbling idiot he appeared to be when a person would first meet him. In actuality, he was His Royal Highness, the Prince of a realm known to us as Dark World. The calla lily was the symbol of his family, one that, when he was in his own realm, he had worn proudly standing beside his older brother, His Majesty, King Haou who ruled Dark World firmly but fairly with his twin sister, Queen Hinata, by his side. Jaden and his twin sister, Her Highness, Princess Jasmine, were well loved by the people and their brother and sister. The reason Jaden resided in the realm of Duel Monsters was that it was necessary for him to learn of those who lived there, if their habits and customs were similar or severely different and if their was any chance that they could establish contact or maybe even trade.

Seeing his true appearance caused a sense of despair to be born in the chest. He was happy that he could drop his illusion but sad that he soon had to go back to pretending he was an idiot for the sake of his country. He knew that it was necessary, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. Jaden was a very good actor but it was still difficult to pretend that he didn't know anything when really he knew more than even Zane Truesdale.

However, the Prince still understood the reasons that he was required to act like a dork and an idiot. His older brother, the King, would not be happy if something were to ruin his plan of secret observation. The point was that Jaden act like a normal human, one who could find out all he wanted of the world around him and not be suspicious. The entire royal family knew that, if Jaden's true identity was revealed, everything in that world would be sugar coated for the Prince's enjoyment and they would only know the true nature of those citizens after the contracts were signed.

The clock struck eight in the evening. Soon Jaden's friends would be looking for him to join them for dinner, so he had to hurry. Looking longingly at his true appearance, he sighed again.

'At least the summer is almost here. Then I can go home for a few months, report my findings, and relax before coming back here for another year. I can't wait to see everyone. Maybe I can convince Haou and Hinata to let me tell one of my closer friends, then I can have someone here that I don't have to pretend around.' He laughed. Which of his friends would take this big of a secret the easiest and be trusted to not say anything to anyone? He didn't know and knew that if he wasn't sure about whoever he chose to tell, Haou would never allow it. Not that he could blame him, Jaden didn't want this plan to fail either.

Jaden smiled as he thought of the coming summer, even as he began the chant to return himself to the disguise his friends thought of as normal. Once his fake appearance was firmly in place, with no chance of failing, he began to prepare his mindset for another painful day of pretending to be who he wasn't and acting like a completely different person. He grabbed his duel disk and walked down to the cafeteria to await the arrival of his friends.

Little did he know that not one, but two of his friends already suspected that something was being kept from them and they would confront him about his secret soon.

Arrow: Alright, review and let me know what you think. Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out who those two friends are. I think you will all be surprised about who I have decided will be the most perceptive of the GX gang.