A Good Dark Heart is a continuation of The Darkest Wish.
If you did not read The Darkest Wish first then this will probably make no sense to you what-so-ever.
Also, this is a Puzzle/Blindshipping fic.
You have been warned.
Yugi could sense something was wrong with the ancient spirit; Atem had not been acting like himself for days. In fact he had been acting this way ever since Yugi had told his friends about the pharaoh and the only conclusion Yugi came to was that it had upset him.
But whenever Yugi asked him about it Atem would always reply with a dismissive "Don't worry about it" followed by a smile. Still, every time Yugi looked into the other's eyes all he saw was black lost in thought and crimson dulled by confusion.
This continued for eight weeks, basically two months. Yugi was getting fed up and frustrated easily. He loved Atem, he truly did, but at the same time his patience was truly being tested.
So that night, Yugi would confront Atem, but he had to survive another day of school first.
The day started out normally. Yugi got on the bus, said hello to a few friends, ignored Anzu as she ignored him and got off the bus at school. He walked to the bathroom and wasn't at all surprised when the door slammed.
"You know, I think I liked it better when you screamed after the door shut."
"Well, when done one too many times, I kinda get used to it."
Atem smiled at Yugi as Yugi looked into the mirror. "I have an important question for you, Yugi. Whenever you awoke my soul, did you ever think there could be more than just me?"
Yugi shrugged. "I never really thought about it… why?"
"Oh, nothing." Atem's image began to fade. Yugi reached into the mirror and took hold of his arm.
"Wait! Please, Atem, I need to know what's going on!"
"Faith, Yugi… have a little faith."
Faith gave Yugi patience for three more days, but by the time he reached the fourth he was downright pissed. He approached Atem, with little fear of getting yelled at, and demanded, "Atem, tell me what's going on now! I can't stand this silence anymore and-"
A soothing kiss silenced him. His eyes shone in both rage and pleasure, but faded as Atem went to speak. "I've been keeping you in the dark because I wasn't sure if it was true, I didn't want to worry you. But Yugi, I believe I'm sure enough to tell you that you're in great danger." Atem put his thumb over Yugi's lips to keep him from talking. "I have rivals, many of them. Some of them I could not defeat alone, and that is how I wound up in this puzzle in the first place."
The room around them grew dark. Shadows danced up the walls and formed foreign figures. Yugi watched as two men appeared, and then three monsters, and a triangle shape that resembled the Millennium Puzzle.
"Marik was a dear friend to me. We used to see each other every day as children, but time separated us and he was taken away to Bakura's village. There he was alone, and could only cling to Bakura for help, while I grew up in a palace. I'd like to say they were jealous of me, but we all knew of each other's suffering."
The shadows turned red and warped into almost unrecognizable figures. Another appeared, this one older, and it stood arrogantly above all other figures.
"I do not know his reasons, but my father ordered the village to be burned. By the time I'd gained the courage to kill him, the damage had been done and a demon had corrupted both Bakura's and Marik's souls. When I was to become Pharaoh, their demons festered and spread through my land."
Now Atem's father had vanished from the scene. Atem, Marik and Bakura each looked a few years older, and Marik and Bakura's shadows were dripping with warped and demonic venom. The three monsters made themselves more visible, one a dragon, the next and bird and the final a titan.
"I gave my life so that I could summon the Egyptian Gods into battle. They blessed Bakura and Marik free of their demons, so long as I remained locked away. I believed this was a worthy punishment, seeing as how it was my fear that made the demons in the first place."
Yugi felt tears in his eyes, but he wasn't sad. He hugged Atem, the ancient spirit feeling his heart quicken at the movement. He seemed almost puzzled as he hugged Yugi back. 'I've held him many times, why is this time any different?'
"Thank you, Yugi, for you concern… but I'm not upset by the past. Worrying about what could have been done will prevent me- us from doing what must be done now."
"I want to help you, Atem. I'm… I'm ready to do this, ready to… to risk my life for you."
Atem blinked, not letting go of the boy in his arms. "Thank you… Yugi."
He smiled at his aibou before fading back to his Soul Room. There he sat upon his dark throne and stared at the cold walls.
"Everything that I've changed in him has faded away, but he's still responding to me in… such a loving way. I know I've told him to treat me as a superior, I know he's done so in the past. Where did that fearful, broken boy go?" Atem shifted in his seat, unaware of the light gold creeping its way across the wall behind him.
HOLY RA THIS TOOK A LONG TIME.
There, I said it for you. Please don't yell at me! T~T
At least it's here and I haven't abandoned it. Thanks to Darkest Fire19 and BrokenSouloftheDarkness, this story didn't die out and I've been motivated to finish it.
I know there were a lot of others who encouraged me to continue, but these two really went above and beyond to just sit back, be patient and stop me when I was about give up.
Thank you all~ :D