Thanks to my reviewers: Divine Calibur, Chaos Twin of Destruction, vaselover, Atem-Lover4eva, SerenePanic

You guys seemed to enjoy the prologue so I am hoping that you enjoy this as well!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

The mood in the house was very subdued. The two occupants of the house sat in complete silence; they did not speak or even move. It was eighteen months to the day that Atem had disappeared. Eighteen months and they still knew nothing. They did not know whether Atem was dead or alive, where he was or what happened. There was no point even going to the police to ask if anything had changed because it wouldn't have. The police gave up the search some time ago stating that if Atem was going to be found, they'd of found him or even some trace of him. They'd been told that they should start moving on but that was difficult. It was not easy to move on when they did not know what had happened. Perhaps if they knew whether Atem had died or was alive but not willing to contact them, they could move on. But the fact that they knew absolutely nothing made it impossible for them to move on. Sitting in the arm chair by the window, Yugi gazed down at the street. He could see children playing in the rain without a care in the world, he saw two teenaged brothers walking up the street. The sight saddened him as when Atem returned from his afternoon walk he could be seen walking towards the shop from this very window. So part of Yugi thought that if he kept looking out of this window he would see Atem returning. But that was not going to happen. Yugi toyed with the cuff of the hoodie he was wearing. The hoodie in question had belonged to Atem, it was his favourite. Yugi had taken to wearing it after the second week of Atem's disappearance. It was comforting to him, he wasn't sure why but it... just helped. Finally taking his eyes off the window, Yugi looked at Grandpa. He was sitting in the arm chair clasping his coffee mug tightly. He knew that Grandpa felt extremely guilty about Atem. Grandpa felt that he should have searched for Atem sooner then they would not be in this situation now. Yugi got up, walked over to Grandpa and embraced him. They both needed comfort from one another, especially today.


It was raining heavily outside; perhaps the weather knew that this was a particularly sad day. The weather didn't help Joey's mood. He was tugging through a muddy forest, in the rain looking for his damn dog. He didn't even want the dog but his sister had insisted that they get one. Joey huffed angrily as he stomped through the forest.

"I'll walk it and look after it, Joey" He mimicked, "No matter the weather I will walk it!"

Joey stomped further on, the mud squelching under his feet.

"Yeah right!" He yelled, "Now I'm the one walking in the bloody rain while you wrapped up in the warm."

There was no sign of the dog which didn't help Joey's mood. He continued the trudge through the mud keeping up his ranting. By this point he was not even aware of where he was going, his feet were just taking him somewhere while he was lost in thought. He was brought out of thoughts when his left foot connected with something and he fell over. His face had landed in mud… perfect. This was all just perfect. He slowly sat up before wiping his face on his sleeve. Swearing loudly, Joey turned to see what he had tripped on. It was… a person! Why was there a person laying on the forest floor?

Joey's eyes spotted rope tied tightly around the person's wrists and tied to the nearly tree. Joey then looked into the person's bloody face. The eyes were opening slowly, amethyst eyes. Joey's eyes widen. It couldn't be… it was!

"Atem!"

Joey was by the former Pharaoh's side in a flash. He took in the other's appearance. Cuts and bruises all over his face. His clothes torn, soaking wet, blood stained and almost hanging off him. Every part of exposed flesh was either cut or bruised. His face was pale and he looked very ill. Both arms had rope around the wrists which then was attached to nearby trees, his feet were tied together. Joey was shocked to believe that after all these months here the Pharaoh was here and alive. Well, Atem was alive but Joey was fearful for the other's condition. It looked as though the Pharaoh was lucky to still be around given his current condition.

"Don't worry. I'll get you out of here, Pharaoh."

Joey began untying the rope around the Pharaoh's wrists, which he discovered was a very difficult task. The ropes were thick and wet which made it very difficult for Joey to undo them, but eventually the Pharaoh's wrists were free. Just as Joey began to untie the rope attached to the ankles the dog came bounding up to him, barking loudly.

"Shut up!" Joey growled.

But the dog continued to bark and after a few moments Joey heard approaching footsteps squelching in the mud . His blood turned cold; there was no time to undo the rope. Sliding his arms under the limp King, who was barely conscious, he lifted him into his arms and ran off back into the depths of the forest. Not a minute after Joey had departed with the King then another man appeared in the clearing. This man was tall, muscular with short dark hair. He wore a black trench coat with dark trousers and shoes. The man stopped in his tracks upon seeing the empty clearing. He looked down at the ropes on the floor. His fist clenched. Where was he? His anger was quickly at breaking point. How had the Pharaoh gone? The man was too weak to even open his eyes for longer then a minute so how had he untied his restraints and walked away. It was not possible. His anger had broken, his fist connected with the nearby tree. He had to get the Pharaoh back. He needed him. He needed him for his plans, there was no way he could go ahead with his plan without the Pharaoh. Swearing loudly the man stomped off; he had to come up with a way to get the Pharaoh back and as soon as possible.


Outside of the forest Joey had run straight to the nearest house where an ambulance had been called. It arrived within a matter of minutes so now Joey was sitting in the ambulance watching the paramedic as he hovered over Atem. He didn't dare speak. Atem needed every bit of attention he could get, if anything was missed then it could spell disaster. Joey had to consider how Atem how long he had been there. It was so close to the city. How had the police not found him? Joey continued to ponder until the ambulance came to a sudden stop and the door opened.

"Atem Moto, 19. Found tied up in the woods. Lacerations to the chest, arms, legs.. everywhere. Burns, scratches, bruises you name it. Possible pneumonia setting in. GCS was 6 on the scene and has not changed since."

Joey was following behind as the doctors took Atem away and through the double doors to a room that he was not allowed to enter. Instead Joey was directed to a private room and instructed to wait. Joey didn't need to ask why he had been told to wait here. It was obvious. Atem was registered as a 'Missing Person' which meant that the police were going to come. This was proven right when two police men came and began asking him questions. He had to explain exactly where he'd found Atem and how he'd been found. Joey didn't like having to explain it again, it was difficult to describe the way he'd found Atem as it had frightened him to see his friend so weak. They seemed to ask him a million questions but eventually they thanked him and left.

Exiting the room Joey tried to find Atem, but the nurses told him that the doctors will still with him so he could not see Atem. He was directed to the waiting room, where he pulled out his phone. Flicking through his contacts he'd sent a text to his sister telling her where the dog was. He then found the contact for 'Yugi Moto'. His finger hovered over the 'Call' button for a minute before he pressed 'Call'.

"Hello? Joey?"

Joey hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"What's wrong?"


Yugi entered the hospital, Grandpa following behind, both were as white as a sheet. Yugi's purple eyes found Joey's brown ones. He approached Joey very slowly as if there was lead in his feet, mouth slightly open. Joey stood as the other approached, he didn't say anything. He waited for Yugi to speak. Yugi just stared at him for a few minutes before speaking.

"You... you found him?"

A nod.

"Where?"

"In the forest."

"Was... was he alright?"

Joey thought for a moment, part of him wanted to lie to him but he knew in this situation Yugi would need the truth.

"No.. no he wasn't. I will explain it to you fully later."

Yugi nodded. He could not take in the fact that they had woken this morning and Atem was still missing. Now they will in the same building as him after eighteen months of looking for him. The three of them sat and waited. Hours past, in complete silence, but finally a doctor appeared calling Yugi and Grandpa away. They were led to a private room with a hospital bed. Lying on that bed, was Atem. He looked so fragile with all the tubes and wires connected to him. Even from this distract Yugi could see that the former Pharaoh's skin was so pale. Atem was unconscious, one of the many machines attached to him was beeping in time with his heart rate. Another machine was connected to the ventilator in the Pharaoh's mouth, it was breathing for him. Yugi, if possible, paled even more as he took in the appearance of his friend. He only had one question at the moment. What the hell happened to him?

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That's it for this chapter. I hope it's alright.

I don't think all chapter will be this one but I didn't want to separate the things in this chapter.

Zzz... it's 11:50pm I'm going to sleep.

Please review!

See you soooooon!

~RedRosePetal