There have been plenty of times that I've wanted to throw in the towel. Sink to my knees and accept that this is one game I cannot win. Plenty of times I've felt despair so strong that even Yugi, who is always smiling, always hopeful, stands grimly by my side and waits with me for the end. There have been a thousand near-misses, a thousand close-calls, a thousand times when I've stared at my opponent and realized that I'm going to lose.
It's the most horrible feeling.
And then…a voice, your voice, "Since when do you bow to your opponents?"
A fire rises in my gut. I feel my strength returning, roused by the challenge in your eyes.
"Never." And in that moment, it's true. I stand, lift my head proudly, and keep on fighting. I've never lost a duel.
I don't know what you think of me. You're hard to decipher, for all your posturing. I don't know if you think of me as a friend, a foe, or something in between. I doubt you know yourself. You scoff when I mention friendship, or shrink away as though it's a communicable disease that rots you from the inside out. But I offer it all the same.
You'll never acknowledge me as the Pharaoh. You are not Seth, not a priest. You don't even believe in magic. But it would be impossible for you to be any other way. I value your independence, the way you stand tall and proud and force me to do the same.
You are a bundle of contradictions. A raging ball of fire, so strong that nothing can contain its fury when aroused, housed in a cage of ice. When I speak to you, I see the fire. When I look up from the ground and see you staring down at me, as disdainful as any lord, I see the ice.
But it is the fire that keeps me going. That infernal stubbornness and irritating pride, the inability to back down, the ambition to achieve the impossible…and above all, a loyalty that knows no bounds. You anger me, you challenge me, and yet I trust you with my life.
Friend or foe, you challenge me to rise higher, to never give in to despair. You've reminded me a thousand times that a Pharaoh's heart must be strong and unflinching. With taunts and jibes, you've urged me to my feet; with insults and disdain you've propped me up.
You turn away; your job is done. I am on my feet; I have won the fight. You consider your debt repaid. You owe me nothing.
And looking back, I realize I owe you everything.