Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Yu-Gi-Oh! Whatsoever. *sob*
Disclaimer II: I don't own Bartimaeus either, unfortunately…
AN: Hello! Rosie here! Well, welcome to my first ever Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction. Hell, welcome to the first fanfiction I've written in a year!
Yami: She's been going through a dry spell… Or so she says.
Rosie: *growl*
Yami: *shit-eating grin*
Rosie: Well, this story is an idea that attacked me like a pack of wild monkeys and didn't let go. I recently finished reading the first book in the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and I absolutely adored it! Haven't come across a book that good in a VERY long time. They had also just started showing the second season of Yu-Gi-Oh! here (where I live. In Israel. Yes, I know it's very far away.) So, add my favorite demon ever to hit the literary market coupled with the return of the bishie in the tight leather pants and I suppose this is what you get…
Perhaps I should warn you that Yami will be very out of character at times, though in general I'll try to keep him as true as possible. When putting Yami in as Bartimaeus, you've got to expect the transition is going to be a difficult one.
Perhaps I should also warn those of you who have read Bartimaeus that the plot-line has been changed drastically. Really drastically. But the basic outline is the same.
Another warning… This is going to be yaoi. Very mild but it is definitely a Y/Y fic.
Last but not least, you do not have to have read the book to understand the fic whatsoever. The reason I'm mentioning the book at all is because it's the inspiration and the plot is taken from there.
Yugi: Eh, Rosie-san, are you finished? Gomen-nasai, it's just… well.
Yami: You're scaring my aibou, to put it plainly and he just wants to get on with it already.
Rosie: Do you realize how bad that sounds?
Yugi: *blush*
Yami: *evil grin*
Puzzle of Darkness
Chapter One: Yami
Dark mist curled across the floor in tendrils and wisps, dispersing, interspersing, gathering and spreading. The small lamp had blown out already from the beginning and the room had been plunged into a darkness relieved only by the thin glimmer of moonlight trickling in through the open window.
The room, which had been as silent as death until now, was suddenly filled with the sound of whispering voices and soft cackles of amusement, enough to chill the bone marrow.
And while the bone marrow chilled with fear, the temperature dropped in earnest, until little icicles began forming on the light fixture in the ceiling and every breath released as mist soon turned to droplets of ice before hitting the floor.
The mist had long ago become thick smoke, so black and dense it almost seemed solid. It rose up in a wall that reached the ceiling, menacing, terrifying…
And then two crimson eyes, red as pools of blood, appeared from the center.
Hey, it was his first time; I wanted to scare him…
"He" swallowed nervously, eyes round in something very close to terror, I noted smugly. He licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Again, mouth opened, no sound came out. Mouth opened, closed, opened, closed. I watched on in something akin to amusement as he spluttered like a fish out of water. Over and over… I suppose I could have watched for a very long time. I do love the effect I have on humans, but let's face it. I really didn't want to be here and this kid wasn't going to let me go until he got what he wanted, which was probably levitating some object or other. Young first-timers…
I narrowed my eyes, which was probably a mistake, because the boy made a noise very similar to a mouse being trodden on and turned several shades paler.
Finally I sighed and the smoke dispersed. I reverted to my favorite form, a form I also knew would be much easier for him to handle.
So.
Instead of a wall of smoky terror with eyes that promised death and destruction along with torture and severe pain, I became a young egyptian teen. Tanned skin the color of bronze, ebony hair tipped with red and light blonde bangs. The eyes remained; they were mine, after all. You can't change your eyes, though perhaps in this body they would prove less menacing.
My clothes were far from egyptian, though. Hey, you have to move with the times. I didn't plan on walking around wearing white robes and wrap arounds. Not only would people think I was crazy, but I really didn't need police putting me away for improper dress in public.
I really don't mind, though, to tell you the truth. Modern clothing is far more appealing. Tight black leather pants, tight black sleeveless top, a black leather collar and golden arm bands. I'm not the vainest of demons but I know when I look good.
I looked at the boy before me once again, this time appraisingly. One eyebrow raised in slight surprise when I realized he wasn't all that young. I mean, ok, compared to me he was still an infant, but in human years he wasn't a boy. He must have been about sixteen, he was simply short for his age, but you could see the maturity in his eyes, behind the fear, which had lessened somewhat since I had changed my form. His build was not that of a boy either. There was muscle there, not very much, but just right for his height.
What really caught me off guard though was that he looked more or less just like me. Besides for the shade of skin, the color of the eyes (his were violet) and a small difference in height, we could have been twins.
At the moment, shock was reserving itself on the youth's face as he realized what I had just realized. But he simply shook his head and took a deep breath, finally speaking.
"Yami!"
I winced as he called out my true name and immediately felt the tug at the bond that had already been formed between us.
"By the ancient rules and spells of summoning I have summoned thee-"
I snorted, interrupting his dialogue.
"Thee?" I asked him incredulously, in a low, rumbling voice. "You're joking, right? Who talks like that nowadays?"
The teen looked a bit flustered and furrowed his brow, scowling. "That's not the point, what I'm trying to say is-"
"Look, kid, let's skip the whole traditional speech, ok? I'm pissed off at being here and you look like you're hardly out of diapers. To tell you the truth, you can't even hold me here. The pentagrams are all wrong."
The kid's eyes narrowed at my comment about the diapers but widened in terror at my mention of the pentagrams. He immediately scanned both his protective pentagram and the one that he had summoned me into, looking for the fault.
I laughed, a rumbling sound that reminded me wonderfully of thunder.
"I'm just toying with you, brat. Nothing's wrong with them."
The kid glared at me, forgetting that if not for the pentagram I could squash him like a bug in 0.27 seconds. 0.26, if I'm really annoyed.
"That wasn't funny."
"Really? I thought it was hilarious. Look, the point is, let's just get this over with so I can go back to the smoking pits of hell where I came from or wherever you humans think we demons spend our free time." (In truth, I'm actually the proud owner of a rather lovely condo on the demon plain which is fiery and dark, yes, but we like it that way so we don't really mind.)
The teen looked rather frazzled, his whole planned out speech getting thrown out the window. But he took a breath and continued nonetheless.
"All right, I summoned you because I want you to steal the Sennen Puzzle from Maximillian Pegasus."
…
…
Whoa.
Wasn't expecting that at all.
Sudden dark memories I'd thought long forgotten rushed back in an unwanted flood and I had to grit my teeth to keep from wincing and to keep my features passive. My breathing quickened ever so slightly (yes, demons breathe when in the human world) and my mouth went dry. I struggled inwardly for a few moments before I finally got a hold of myself. The whole event took about two seconds. The boy probably hadn't even noticed a change in my attitude.
I'd have backed away if I'd been allowed to move. As it was, I brought up my hands in front of me as if to ward off some great evil. Usually I'm the great evil in question. I hate it when the tables turn like that.
I appraised the youth a second time. Obviously I had underestimated him. But-
My brow furrowed, I asked the obvious question.
"Who are you working for, kid?
He blushed an angry red, hands forming fists. "I'm not a kid, and I'm not working for anyone!"
I snorted. "Yeah, I really believe that. What would a sixteen year old want with the Sennen Puzzle? Do you even know what that thing is capable of? Hell, even I know not to get too near that thing. I've come across it exactly twice in my five thousand years and neither of those times were pleasant." I didn't mention that it was because of the puzzle I was who I was to begin with. The puzzle was extremely dangerous and extremely powerful. Somehow, I didn't think squirt here realized these two very important, not to mention, obvious facts.
I would have loved nothing more than to laugh in his face and leave, to tell him he was completely crazy and that if he wanted to die so badly, he could do it by himself. I wanted to run as far away as I could. This could only end badly.
But I couldn't. I had been summoned, chained to my current master until I had fulfilled his wishes. He had the upper hand and he knew it. He knew my true name; I didn't have a clue as to who he was.
There was no way out.
"I- I'm not sure why I want it." The kid's voice sounded uncertain.
My head snapped up, disbelief engraved on my features. "What?!" My voice sounded harsh, even to me, and the kid winced. "Do you mean to tell me you're going to steal the Sennen Puzzle, one of the most dangerous artifacts ever created, probably from a man strong enough to own it in the first place and you aren't even sure why you're doing it?!"
The kid was biting his lip, looking at the floor and I was suddenly struck by how completely innocent he looked. The whole affair was so odd. The teenager before me just didn't seem to fit the part he was playing. He seemed small and vulnerable, yet he'd had enough strength to summon me, a demon of mentionable power. I'd asked him if he was working for someone, but somehow I didn't think he was. I had to admit it, the teen was working on his own and I could tell- his power was unbelievable. I hadn't even thought to sense him before. He'd looked so weak. But now that I had… He was radiating power, that was the only way to describe it.
I asked him again.
"Why?"
"I told you-"
"Look," I began, irritated, "Even if you don't know exactly why, there has to be something that pushed you to it! I find it hard to believe that you woke up today and said, 'Hm! I think I'll steal the Sennen Puzzle, haven't done that in a while!' I mean, how did you even hear of it in the first place?"
The youth sighed and looked at the floor. He seemed to be contemplating whether to tell me or not. At last he spoke.
"Ever since I can remember, I've dreamed at night. I don't think I've ever had a silent night in my life. Bad, good, nightmares…" He shook his head despondently. He continued in a voice barely above a whisper. "They always came true."
I perked my ears up at this comment. Prophetic dreams?
"Sometimes the things were wonderful and when they happened in real life I couldn't have been happier. But the nightmares… Mostly they're just dreams about nothing in general. Let's just say that I live an ongoing dejavu. I'll dream about someone lifting a teacup just so, or a red bird flying past my window and it'll happen. But every once in a while I dream events."
The kid fell silent for a moment, bending his head, steadying his voice which had become shaky.
"There's been one dream, though in which nothing happens. I just see an object, and it's been a recurring dream since when this all started. The Sennen Puzzle. I see it in my sleep almost every night. I don't know why. I only know that I'm supposed to have it for some reason. You might think I'm crazy, fine. I know I think so some times. But that's the reason. I don't know why I'm stealing it, only that I am and that I have to. Maybe if I do-" the kid stopped suddenly. I think he realized he was spilling all this to a five thousand year old demon. Not usually something considered as a smart move.
But it was obvious where he'd been headed. Maybe if he did steal it, the dreams would stop.
This kid kept surprising me.
The teen across from me shook his head and looked up at me, determination in his eyes.
"You have your orders. You're not supposed to ask questions. Now go."
He put power into the last two words and I felt my head spin and suddenly, I was out in the streets of Domino City.
The moon shone down on a pleasant city with pleasant citizens, and me landed straight in the middle of it all. No one noticed me. Just another guy out for a stroll. Some girls sent appreciative glances in my direction, but I didn't pay them any attention.
It was just all so-
Wrong.
What was going on here? Since I'd felt that familiar tug in the Shadow Realm, nothing had gone as it should. Not that being summoned was an every day occurrence, but when it did happen, things were supposed to go a certain way. Get summoned, hear your orders perform your task and go home to begin planning the bloody death of he who had enslaved you.
Like breathing.
This was all wrong. It was as though fate was playing a cruel joke on me. Of all the demons he could have summoned, of all the tasks he could have put me to…
How? How had it turned out this way?
I'd never expected to find myself going after the Sennen Puzzle again. The first time had been enough. It had made me what I was.
I shuddered in the cool night air, hating everything with a passion as I began to make my way towards the residence of one Maximillian Pegasus.
The cynicism and never-say-die attitude that I'd built up in the past two thousand years weren't going to help me here. Some defense mechanism they were. When it really mattered…
It had been a long time, but with the uncovering of the Puzzle my spirit was reverting truly to what it was in truth.
Darkness.
