Kitty-chan: OMG! It's been so long since I updated! x.x Gosh darnit... I'm lazy... sorry! Well, this is a Yuigioh idea that has been swimming in my brain for quite a while, and though A Clash of Desires was actually first in line to be written and posted, this story wouldn't leave me alone. not to mention that I have the plot all figured out on this one, and the plot for A Clash of Desires has several holes that I am stumped on. This one was done and ready to be typed, so I thought 'what the heck? I'll post it!' So... I did! Welcome to Shadow Games! I know the title sounds lame and overused, but the story is actually named after a song on the Yugioh movie soundtrack (coincidentally called Shadow Games -.-;;). That song will be featured in a later chapter. I'm not too sure if the lyrics of Blind Ambition will be featured in the story, but that song also inspired a mini plot within this story, so I thought I'd give it credit. Anyway, enough with this rambling!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of the characters associated with the anime. I do own the plot and the characters known as the sanoni. Enjoy! Oh! And for those of you who are not familiar with the Japanese names, I will post the names that diffe between the two versions at the top of each chapter. Specifically for this chapter, the beginning is to be a section of the manga called "The Ceremonial Battle". The lines that I wrote are similar to the ones that are in the manga, but they are changed just a little bit to allow for internal discussion on the characters. The dialogue is therefore slightly different. I basically included the important lines that the manga had in it, then added my own, similar, but not the same. So you fanatics who are obsessed with things being exact, I apologize. ;

Name Translations
Mazaki Anzu: Tea Gardener
Kaksyuta(sp?) Jonouchi: Joey Wheeler
Hiroto Honda: Tristan Taylor
Isis: Ishizu (The Japanese pronuciation of Isis is Ishizu, but for those of you who are confused. XD)

The things with a (#) next to it is translated at the end of the chapter.


He watched as his partner collapsed to the ground, silent sobs shaking his body. He stared straight ahead as his monster vanished, his mind fully accepting what had happened, but taking a moment to allow it to make peace with recent happenings. After that moment, his amber eyes drew downward, toward his crying partner, sympathy shining in his eyes. Tears threatened to come to his as well, but he held them back. If there was any time he needed to be strong for his partner, it was now.

There was silence in the area, though there were quite a few people occupying the cold, dark, underground cave. The group off to the side of the giant stone stage stood still and silent, almost in reverence for the departed. Perhaps they were indeed praying a prayer for the soul about to leave this world. But for the most part, the group seemed in awe of what they had just witnessed; a clash of two card-game titans. The clash itself was a powerful one, but the thing that made it so awesome was the fact that the two fighting it had seemed, until very recently, to be of the same mind and body. Their closest friend, the one who seemed to tie them all together, and his other soul, the dark, powerful, mysterious and confident warrior that they had become enamored with over the time they knew him. Though the two had been one in previous fights, they had separated to fight as separate entities, something that they had scarce done before.

The dark one slowly approached the young one, kneeling before him. "Why do you cry?" he inquired softly, brushing a hand to his cheek to take a few of his tears onto his finger. "You defeated me. You won the duel."

The young one shook his head, and sat back onto his knees, tears replacing those his other self had wiped away. "I may have won, but... how can I be happy? You are leaving."

The dark one felt a small stab of pain at what he could call his heart, and was tempted to put a hand to his chest. He refrained, however. Once again, he must be strong for his other soul. Usually, this was an easy task. As a soul that had lived for over three millennia, he often found human feelings and emotions difficult to grasp, and therefore, easy to mask, giving him the ability to dawn the perfect "poker face". Unless the emotion within him was powerful, he had a hard time feeling it hit him. There were long periods of time when he felt nothing. The pendant in which he dwelt was cold an empty, his voice echoing forlornly in its endless halls. His soul shivered in the emptiness, and it was at those times that he would call out to his partner, desiring to bask in the younger one's warm mind, allowing it to restore its strength, and give him comfort. It was at these times, when he simply sat and enjoyed the younger one's presence, that he was most happy. His own soul was dry and rigid from three thousand years of emotional wear and tear, but the young one's was fresh, and gave energy to him by simply being present. This feeling of happiness drove him to want to be near the young one at all times. This was easily accomplished, since his soul was sealed within the pendant, and the young one never removed it.

But that one time... that awful time... the horrid moment when the dark one's self-inflicted evil had risen, and summoned a device that lead to the separation of the two. Oh how he had suffered. His soul had wandered the halls of his intricate mind, desperately crying out for his missing half, but finding nothing. During that time of loneliness, the only comfort he could find was by wandering those halls while the body rested in sleep, finding some use for his wretched soul. Keeping himself occupied. He did not feel often, but he knew he did not want to feel that again. If only for his own protection, he promised himself he would never again let something like that happen. His obsessive protection of the young one had often been laughed off as "the big brother syndrome", but it went much deeper than the joke, and oftentimes, the dark one found himself willing to defy death, if only to keep his light safe.

The weak feeling that glowed now in his heart was strikingly familiar to the one he had felt at that time of loneliness, though not nearly as overcoming. He knew that at that moment, the young one had to be feeling the same thing. What could he say to him? It was true; he was leaving. Leaving for the embrace of death which should have been his three millennia ago. Something he had waited for for so long. Something that was welcomed, yet hesitantly. Even in death, he had been surrounded by those he came to love. Was he to give them all up again and begin anew in the world known as the afterlife? After a moment, he spoke. "That is the destiny of the one who has solved the puzzle. Perhaps the plan of the gods was to have you send me to the afterlife all along. Perhaps the one who was to solve the puzzle was also the one to free me from the confines of the Sennen Puzzle. Perhaps it was your destiny from the beginning to surpass me."

The young one looked up. "Mou hitori no boku...(1)" he whispered, the name by which he called his other self coming as the only substitute he could muster for an answer.

The dark one shook his head with false confidence. "No... I am no longer Mou hitori no boku. And you are no longer aibou...(2) You are simply Yugi. No one else." The pain came again. Denouncing those nicknames was like rejecting the whole life they had shared up until this point. Mou hitori no boku... the young one's name for him. The name he had responded to for a few years, and had grown to love. Aibou, his name for his lighter half, the name he had grown so attached to. For the word, to him, no longer meant buddy, or even partner. The word, by definition, meant the young one.

There was a long moment as the young one stared into his other's eyes, trying to comprehend if he really meant that. If their life together really was at an end. The dark one met his gaze with confidence that was not his. He didn't know where the confidence was coming from, but he had apparently found it somewhere in his theoretical box of masks that he dawned so often in battle. He couldn't back down from this. He knew that. From the moment he had accepted the challenge to battle the young one... no... from the time the young one had solved the puzzle, there was no turning back. He went down a one-way road. That was his life. Finally, in an effort to convince his other that he knew what he was doing, he stood, and removed the duel disk from his arm, allowing it to fall to the ground with a shallow clang that seemed to resonate unnaturally.

The group watched the duel disk fall. He was really doing it. He was letting go of this world, letting go first, of his desire for battle. His eyes did not meet any of theirs as he passed the group, his gaze set upon the giant tablet that stood at the other end afraid that if he did look at one of them, that pain, the feeling that ripped at what was left of his heart, would return and weaken his already feeble resolve. He could hear the thump of their footsteps as they began to follow him. Again, he did not look back, nor did he slow down. If he showed his weakness, in return they would feel unsure, and perhaps frightened. He didn't want to worry them. After all, despite all his doubts and fears, there was no challenge to the fact that this was the only path he should take. He understood that clearly. He reached the tablet and gaze up at the intricate carvings until his eye reached the large Wedjet eye at the top. He gazed into it's frozen iris and hesitated. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but to the dark one, it felt like hours. For a long second, he could not force himself to speak the name that would open the door and end his life here. So easily could he remain silent and turn back to his friends, his loved ones. But he didn't, he opened his mouth and spoke.

"My name is Atem!" he announced. The eye glowed a golden radiance that made the pit of his soul churn like millions of butterflies had been released from their binds. The tablet seemed to fall away to reveal a bright white light; the bridge to the afterlife. He merely needed to step into the light, and his life would end.

He could not move... his body was rooted to the spot. He simply stared into the doorway, the permanent scowl on his face, showing nothing, though his mind in chaos. Could he convince himself to walk through the doors. At this moment, he feared he could not. No... he had come so far, and he knew he had to do this. One whose time is over is not meant to dwell in the land of the living. He had no right among his vibrant and lively friends. Yes, he desired to stay with them, no matter how wrong it may seem, but deep down... he knew this was the only path for him. There was nothing for his soul here but withering. Slowly, his soul would be whittled away to nothing, and he would be of no use to anyone. He took a single step, and stopped.

"Wait!" he heard several voices call to him. Slowly he turned to look at his friends, his family. The young one still had cascades of tears trailing down his cheeks, and he was surprised to see that Honda also wiped tears from his eyes. Kaiba stood off to the side, his face blank, his mind not quite sure what to make of the scene, though not caring to decipher it anyway. Malik and Isis stood together, grim smiles on their faces, happy to fulfill their duty as tomb-keepers. Though they did not fully understand the grief that came to others in the room, they could sense the heavy sadness that weighed down on the occupants of the tomb. Jonouchi was fighting tears as well, his handsome countenance marred by salty water, and scrunched with the failing effort to keep from crying. Anzu was not hiding her tears, and openly sobbed, quiet, but distinguishable. Anzu had been the one to speak, and after a few quiet hiccups, continued.

"Why does it have to be this way? I don't understand this."

The dark one was tempted to turn and comfort her, but knew that if he touched her, he would not be able to force himself toward the light again, and so stood, in resolution not his own in the path of the light, praying that someone could answer her, for he did not have the strength. To his relief, someone did answer.

"It's alright." Jonouchi said, his voice cracking in grief, but his words confident and uncharacteristically wise. "It's good that there are some things in life we don't understand. If we understood everything, life would be a bore." He looked to the dark one, and held up his thumb. "Go on, Atem! Go to your new life!"

The dark one managed a smile and nodded, turning with one more glance to his other. The young one was now smiling, his tears still coming, but comfort filling his face. Once more... he found himself thinking. Once more lend me your strength... He stretched out his soul, opening the connection between them one last time, as he faced the doorway and felt the younger one's warmth bathe him. It gave him power and strength, allowing him to take another step. In a last effort to prove to them and to himself that he was firm in his decision, he slowly raised his right hand to the side, sticking his thumb up. He continued on, each step killing off a piece of his heart until he felt the cold rush of something that can be described as wind blow away his modern clothes and replaced them with his garb of his true life; the garb of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Anzu took a few longing steps foreward, almost as if she could stop him, but she was halted by Jonouchi, as he put a hand on her shoulder. He said nothing. She already knew why he did so. She didn't need to be told that there was nothing she could do to stop him. He was to choose his own path, and this was the only one for him.

The door began to lumber shut, and the young one took one last glance at his retreating back as those of his past appeared to meet him at the bridge. The pang in his heart had dwindled from the reassurance he recieved from both his other and Jonouchi, but their words did nothing to change the fact that he was gone... Atem was gone. His mind felt oddly spacious, for there was a section of it that was gone and would not return. The hole in his mind that had opened up to allow the soul of his other entry was now empty, and after having it for so long, he was at a loss as to what was there in the first place.

A rumbling forced their attention upwards, and the group found their stomachs churning. The tablet seemed to be collapsing and falling apart from the top down. The eerie quality of the crumbling caused everyone to pause before they ran. It did not come undone at the bottom, and the rest of it, without base, would follow. No, rather it collapsed from the top, the very top of the tablet crumbling, and the cracks winding their destructive way down to the floor, where the Sennen items were set. The young one took a longing glance at his puzzle before he turned and ran, his eyes held over his shoulder at intervals, as if to check on the tablet's progress of destroying itself. Amidst the thick dust and rumbling rock, Yugi could see a cloaked white figure staring out at him with pupilless blue eyes. Shadi... The look in his eyes offered him no comfort. Shadi's eyes were blank and cold as the stone, which collapsed around him. The group made it out to the surface, grabbing at hearts, and wiping sweat from brows. The unified gaze seemed to be held tightly to the doorway to the stairway leading to the cave as it, too, collapsed, crushing the option of reentry.

Good-bye... Atem. Yugi felt tears flow down his dusty face again as the group, without a word spoken, headed back to Malik and Isis' home.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

Atem stood at the doorway, as his amber eyes seemed to adjust to the light. His golden-decorated hand, reached up to shield his eyes. He was a creature of darkness. Being in this light didn't seem to suit him suddenly. Thoughts of his friends momentarily and miraculously banished, he looked ahead to see a group of people waiting for him. A young brown-haired girl bounced on the balls of her feet, smiling widely as he neared, and beside her a young man with straight brown locks smiled warmly at him. Her arm in the air, the girl darted foreward, and the man soon followed, trotting gracefully behind her. Following behind him was a man with a striking resemblance to Kaiba began making his way over, his long white cape billowing behind him, and his golden Sennen item waving at his side. After these three went, the group seemed to all move at once to greet him. There was a short old man waddling behind the other four priests, and behind them all was a great towering figure, his eyes thin and perpetually solemn, though his mind leaped in joy.

Atem stood in stupid surprise as the girl wrapped her arms around him, and nearly succeeded in lifting him off the seemingly invisible ground. After a moment he smiled and attempted to wrap her in a returned embrace. "Mana." He chuckled. Oddly, she said nothing. Her eyes spoke worlds as she released him so he could see them. She folded her hands to her chest and nodded. Atem then turned to the brown-haired young man. "Mahado." Mahado bowed, but Atem quickly moved foreward to grab him in a hug. Here, he felt no desire to be recognized as a ruler. They had all been equalized in the embrace of death. Death had embraced each of them the same way, no matter what the method, they were all in the same place. Mahado hesitated before returning the embrace. The greetings to the other four priests were brief, but filled with happiness held back for so long in their wait for his crossing. Finally, he got to the back of the crowd to meet with the great and powerful figure of the former Pharaoh. Atem stood in frozen awe. Through the scarce memories he had regained through his trip to the past, he knew his father's face, but meeting him in person was something he did not remember doing. For a moment, he did not know what to do. After all, he was royalty who had forgotten the customs. How did a child of the Pharaoh greet his father? He had seen Yugi greet his Jii-chan many times with an embrace, but somehow, that didn't quite seem fitting. Though it seemed more fitting than a handshake. Slowly, almost cautiously, he stepped foreward, and wrapped his arms around his father's middle. There was an awkward pause where Atem feared that prehaps he had not done the right thing. But he felt his nerves calm as his father's strong arms, those familiar arms, come across his back and tighten in a hug. Atem smiled. He felt... happy. He couldn't explain how he had come from his friends and felt this happy, but he had. His happiness suddenly began to ebb.

His friends... would he see them again in the afterlife? He shook the thoughts from his mind, tucking them loosely away for a few moments. He broke the embrace with his father, and looked around at his former family, smiling. There was a tense second before the group broke into cheering, chanting and yelling praises to the gods in Egyptian as the celebrated the long-awaited arrival of the infamous Pharaoh. The Pharaoh looked around at his past family, and his heart sunk. What about the family he had just left behind? Somehow, the pocket the thoughts had been tucked into suddenly broke, and his thoughts were consumed with them.

Akunahnkanen waved his arm and began to slowly walk away. "Come! The afterlife waits, my son!" The group began to follow, still muttering in Egyptian and chattering excitedly, but Atem stood in place. His eyes stared sadly at the bright floor, his mind wandering about. The King seemed to notice his son's hesitance and stopped the group to look back at him. "What is wrong, my son?"

Atem looked up to see the whole group staring expectantly at him. He blushed and shook his head. "Uhh... nothing." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The father smiled.

"Come, then!" The group nodded and a few resumed their excited chatter while others stared at Atem.

Atem couldn't stop thinking about the group he had left. Sure, the shadow realm and the monsters within it had been sealed for another while, but how long would that last? The realm could, and probably would, reawaken... they could be in danger. Ever so slowly, he turned his body, and he could hear their chatter turn suddenly to screams of panic and yells of warning. Atem ignored them. He knew that they were probably yelling at him, though with such intensity, he had no idea why. Finally, to more and loder screams of protest, Atem turned his body.

He looked back...

... and his heart ripped itself apart.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

"Shadi..." a quiet voice penetrated the shadows, echoing faintly. "Shadi..." the voice repeated with more force. Weather the owner of the name was ignoring her or simply not hearing her, she had no idea, but her frustration rising, she decided she didn't care. "Shadi!"

The Egyptian man gave a small jump and a squeak of surprise. He turned to look at her. "Mana... what are you doing here?" he inquired nervously.

Mana tossed her hip and sighed. "Don't play me for a fool, Shadi. Do you honestly expect me to believe you don't sense the problem?"

Shadi gave a defeated sigh. This is what he had feared. For now that she knew, it was assured that the King knew, and there would be no escape from his wrath at the disgrace. He not only feared for himself, but he also feared for the criminal. "I do sense the problem, Mana. I know the bridge has been crossed... in the wrong direction."

Mana paused as Shadi fell silent. She could understand his grief on the topic, and to be honest, he own heart ached at recent happenings. I wasn't really all that unexpected, to be honest. With the happenings at the bridge four years ago, the group had quietly been expecting this to happen sooner or later. But either way, she wanted to get this out of the way quickly. She had only found out about the event recently, and if they could work it out before the news given to the King turned from rumor to fact, perhaps the criminal would be spared. Perhaps. After a moment, she let out an indignant, "Well? Are you gonna warn the young Oji(3) about it?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're the only one who can since your soul is interwoven in the Shadow Realm as it is." It was true. Though the others, too, resided in the Shadow realm, their residence was simply a form of loose imprisonment for their association with the Sennen items. They could not move about with freedom such as was granted to Shadi.

Shadi crossed his arms. "You say that as if I can just walk up to him and discuss the matter. Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to warn him of this?" Though he was as desperate as she to get the matter resolved, perhaps he found it annoying that the young girl was giving him orders.

Mana waved her hand. "It doesn't matter. You need to tell him." She paused guiltily, the look in her eyes saying "don't kill the messenger". "And that's not all you need to tell him."

Shadi rubbed his temples. "Now what?"

"The sanoni are loose." A male voice cut off the words that were about to issue from Mana's throat. A body appeared to match it soon, amber eyes glaring furiously down at the two.

Shadi bowed low, and Mana followed suit. "Akunahnkanen..." he breathed. He paused mid-bow and straightened as he registered the man's words. "Wait! How in the name of Ra did the Sanoni get loose!"

"You know as well as I that once my son's soul moved on, the seals he had on them would weaken. They've finally broken them completely." The past Lord answered.

Shadi cringed, but his mind was working. Well, yeah they would weaken, but how does that help the sanoni? The seals were made to remain active even after the great Pharaoh's death. Even if they did weaken, they still shouldn't have had the power to break out. They were weakened too much. And last time I checked those seals, they were fine. What the hell is going on? He kept his thoughts to himself and spoke quietly, afraid that the King would loose his anger on him. "When did they get loose?"

"Around the same time that the bridge was crossed." Mana answered, waving her arms in exasperation.

"I see." Shadi sighed and looked to Akunahnkanen. He seemed to be taking the news a lot better than Shadi could've imagined. It seemed likely that the King would be furious with the crossing of the bridge, but to also hear that the sanoni were out would usually enrage him to the point of doing harm to Shadi's already dead soul. But the Pharoah remained calm, barely raising his voice. He was calm and levelheaded, uncharacteristic of the Pharaoh in a situation like this. It made Shadi wary. But, he pressed on, deciding that it was best not to question his reaction. He should consider himself lucky. After all, if the Pharaoh decided not to hurt him on an occasion that he usually would, who was he to change that decision? "So... I have to go and warn the young Oji-tachi(4) about it then?"

"Dei." Akunahnkanen nodded. The word was alien, yet familiar to Shadi. It was a Greek word that the Pharaoh had picked up on one of his trips and had simply taken a liking to. The three-letter word meant 'it is necissary'. This seemed to be something that had come into play throughout his rule. Doing things that were necessary, though seemed painful. His unknowing slaughter of the village of Cal Elna. His trip into the tombs with his son to ask the spirits to spare the boy. His creation of the Sennen items.

Shadi nodded. "Then I shall return when it is done. It could take a few days. I can only return to one spot at this point, and I have to somehow lead Oji-tachi to that spot." Shadi spoke over his shoulder, giving a suspicious glance at the King. He certainly had been acting odd since the idea of his son moving into the afterlife had been brought up. His return to the afterlife had been foretold of several weeks before the ceremonial battle had begun, and since then, the King had changed from who he was in the land of the living. He had become rageful and easily angered. Beating Shadi had been something never thought of before, but now the King seemed to resort to that option quite often. No one really questioned it, however. A lot of things could potentially happen to one whose spirit had been trapped in the shadow realm for over three millennia. Perhaps his aggression was simply a side-effect of the realm. And taking out his frustration on Shadi made sense in that light. After all, Shadi had freedom of movement that the others could only dream about. The King was at the mercy of the Shadow Realm's torture, while Shadi remained impervious. Perhaps he resented him for having freedom that was denied him? It didn't really matter at this point, though it did deserve later investigation. He had a task before him now. An important one. As he vanished into the living world, he heard Akunahnkanen speak once more. "Do whatever it takes Shadi."


Kitty-chan: Well... that took long enough. Whew! Well, what do you think? Review and tell me! Flames accepted. Here are the translations:

1: Mou hitori no boku- My other soul (Literally "another person of me"); the manga translates this, for the most part, as "another I", but my other soul is more grammatically correct. XD Yugi calls Yami this throughout the Japanese anime.

2: aibou- buddy, partner ; Yami calls Yugi this throughout the Japanese anime

3: Oji- Prince; this refers to Yugi. Mana and most of the others call Yugi Oji or young Oji because he looks like Yami.

4: Oji-tachi: this refers to Jonouchi, Honda, Anzu and Yugi. -tachi makes Oji plural. It literally means "Prince and everyone who is with him"

Alright! Chapter one is officially complete! Dunno when the next chapter will be up is. I need to find a stopping point in what I wrote. Shouldn't take much time, though.Should be up soon. I know I've said that before. -.-;;; I'm so laxy. x.x. Well, here's a preview of the next chapter:

"Well, everything is dark, and I'm just standing there. Then... Shadi appears."


"Yugi... Atem died almost four years ago."
"What happened exactly? How did this guy get past Kaiba Corp. security?"
"Little Motou Yugi. World's top duelist, and former host of a dead Pharaoh. You're quite the guy." He licked his lips and Yugi shivered. "Just imagine what the Pharaoh would do to save his former host."
Stay tuned for Chapter Two: Yomichi...