Faithful Servant (It's really just a tidbit from a ygo wip. Not too much to see.)
Yami watched as Yuugi pulled out a stiff piece of colored papyrus and in a strange burst of shadows, an extremely tall man, no, an extremely tall monster appeared on his knees, wearing richly purple armor and clutching an even taller staff. It was symbolic. The card, that was. Yuugi had no more need to pull out the card than he had need of the familiar-but-not DiaDhank, but he did so anyway. Ritual, Yuugi had said, familiarity. Preferred patterns of acceptable social interaction.
He accepted it, like he was forced to accept just about everything that Yuugi said. Yami knew nothing else. He found it hard to think, when he knew, almost, nothing. He didn't even know his name. He wondered too, if that was one of Yuugi's "patterns." His name held power, Yuugi told him, power that the world couldn't handle being released yet. Yuugi knew his name, but refused to say it. Yami could almost hate him for that. But he didn't. There was just something about Yuugi that made it impossible to hate him.
The monster smiled at Yuugi and rose to his feet when the human motioned for him to stand. "Pharaoh," he greeted warmly, smiling down from his impossible height.
Yami hung back, watching, as Yuugi greeted the monster equally warmly, "Mahaad."
The name struck a chord in him. He knew that name. He did. "Mahaad?"
He didn't realize that he had said the name out loud until the monster turned and his smile widened, "Pharaoh!" He turned back to Yuugi, "He is well?"
"As well as a being who exists almost solely as sheut can, yes," Yuugi said, holding out his hand to Yami who laced their fingers together. Yuugi pulled him closer, "Mahaad, this is the other half of Our soul. He is called Yami for now." Yuugi then turned to Yami, "This is Mahaad. He was a faithful priest of Ours in life, and remains a dear friend. He knew Us when We were one and gave his life to protect Us."
Yami stared up at Mahaad, tracing the lines of the tall monster's face with his eyes, feeling that echo of familiarity that haunted everything around Yuugi. "You used to be human," Yami said. It wasn't a question.
Mahaad bowed his head, "Yes, my Pharaoh, but no longer."
"Much like me…" Yami said thoughtfully.
Mahaad hesitated, glanced at Yuugi, then he nodded, "Yes, it is somewhat similar."
"But you remembered your name," Yami stated, though this time it was a little uncertain, even though he was still pretty sure that he had the right idea.
"I did," Mahaad agreed, "But much like you, I received a new one as well, to better describe what I have become." The monster splayed the fingers of his left hand over the purple armor covering his breast, over his heart, "Only my Pharaoh uses my human name because of the memories between us. To everyone else…" Mahaad raised his staff and rang it against the metallic floor with a sense of strength and finality, "I am the Dark Magician!"