Oops. Dropped off the face of the Earth for a bit there. Sorry!
Yugi had felt the change come on slowly at first.
He tried to keep it all at bay. He took deep breaths when he felt even the slightest bit of irritation. How did he remember never getting angry?
He knew his change was more obvious to Yami than anyone else at this point. He could hide the anger pretty well, but Yami was the only other one who knew how angry he really felt on the inside.
And gods, that whispering! Always trying to get him to do awful things. Steal that pencil. Tell that girl her hair looks stupid. Make that geek trip and tell him he owes you five bucks for helping him up.
No. Stop it. SHUT UP!
How could Yami never hear it? They shared a head… literally.
But it didn't take Yugi long to figure out it wasn't in his head. It was in his very soul. In all his years of being Yami's Hikari, he had never once thought about what it might be like to be the dark one.
Strange, since he had known it would happen one day…
"Would you just stop fighting me and please let me rule the world? You can have half of it afterwards!"
"I don't want half the world. I don't want any of it! I just want to stay me."
"You'll always be you! …Buried under a lot of me!" He somehow felt it smile. It sent shivers down his spine. He tried to shake it off.
"Aibou? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Other Me. It's just a little cold!"
"Yugi… I sensed fear…"
"Fear of getting sick, maybe!" he forced a laugh. That was the worst cover-up in the history of cover-ups. But Yami, thankfully, was never one to argue.
He knew he was supposed to give into it as soon as possible. Save his energy. Give his sister as much of a chance as he could at surviving when the time came. But he couldn't leave Yami and his friends just yet… He knew it was silly, since every friend he'd had in every lifetime was a once-in-a-lifetime friend. But what he had with Yami… even if he was reborn a million times, he may never see Yami again. He couldn't let go yet.
He dreamed about it. That voice in his head- his soul. In his dreams he could see it. It had the form of a man with large, dark, feathery wings, and small black eyes set into a slim, handsome face. It told him horror stories all night. Things he had done to Yugi's friends and family in past lives. To Yumi's. To Yumi... Yugi slept less and less well. Soon the Angel began to show him, through his eyes. The violence was unimaginable before. Now it was just unbearable. More than once Yugi woke up having to vomit. Yami did all he could for Yugi during these nights. He took control when Yugi let him and cleaned them up, tried to get Yugi's soul to rest while he showered and got back into bed. Yugi refused, and instead they stayed up all night talking. "I told you I was afraid of getting sick!" Yugi joked one night. Yami smirked, and though Yugi could sense that he wanted to question it Yami had no further response.
One night as their conversation slowed down, Yugi brought up the third presence that had been with them. He asked Yami if he had noticed it at all. It seemed that he hadn't… Yugi did his best to explain it, but when Yami asked if it had been hurting him all Yugi could do was weep. He had kept it to himself for so long that the simple act of crying made him feel ten tons lighter.
"Why haven't you said anything? Whatever it is we'll find a way to-"
"We can't just get rid of it, it's ingrained in my soul. I can't do a damn thing- I've tried for centuries. But I tell you because… I know it's changing me, it's taking over and I just want you to know it's not really me. I love you more than anything, you and Jou and Anzu and Honda- please tell them not to hate me when it starts using me for terrible things."
"We could never hate you, Yugi. We would have figured it out on our own," Yami assured him, and he felt Yami bury his face in his hair. Yugi simply continued to cry, unable to form the words to explain to Yami that when things got bad enough he had a sister that would come and kill him and they would probably never see each other again.
Yugi hadn't predicted that this was their last night together, falling asleep without ever finding the words to deliver the bad news.
"I should put this card here!" Yugi thought to himself as he played a match against Jounouchi for the thousandth time. A few turns later, that very card had screwed him over. "Jeeze Yuug' what an unlucky mistake, eh?" Jounouchi laughed.
That was when the rage finally took over. Rage at losing, sure. But mostly at listening to that damn thing's advice about that card. Somehow he had been tricked- even the thoughts he had once known were his were not! He did what any outraged and confused person would do. Punched the only thing in front of him.
And he hit Jou smack in the jaw.
"Yugi! What has gotten into you!?" Everyone shouted. Yugi couldn't take it anymore. He got up and ran straight home, ignoring his other self when asked to stop. But he couldn't, he just had to run. He wanted to get away from the Angel in his ear that was screaming louder and louder, trying to convince him to give up his life, since it was over now that he had turned his friends against him. They all hated him now. If they didn't before- and they should have- they hated him now. Even- especially- Yami.
Yugi knew what he had to do. …No he didn't. That could just be the Angel taking over his decisions for him again. But even so, what would he make him do next? "I can make you do anything I want, and I will!" the Angel assured him.
"No… I can't risk you doing that to me again… I will protect my friends…"
Yugi got the puzzle box down from his closet. He took off his Millennium Puzzle, and Yami somehow got louder. "Yugi! What are you doing now? Why? I just want to help you!"
"I know, Other Me… But I can't be helped now…" Yugi kissed the eye of the puzzle as tears streamed down his cheeks, and he placed it gently into the box, put the lid over it, and set it in his closet. He could still hear Yami calling to him… He had to get out. He had to weaken the link. He had to silence at least once of the voices, and he couldn't hurt Yami this way.
And Yami couldn't see what he was becoming.
Yugi didn't go home for three days. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so he never even tried. He just wandered around town for hours on end, stopping only to rest his tired legs and grab a small bite to eat. He only had so much money when he ran off. He couldn't go home until he was at least sure he could stay downstairs and not hear Yami. He knew Grandpa was worried. All his friends were. He turned off his phone after the first two hours because it would not stop ringing. Between all of that and the Darkness he could not get away from, he was losing his mind. His soul. But he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet… he couldn't leave Yami in that closet forever… There was one person who might still be able to care for him… They had been born as twins for thousands of lifetimes. If he could just hold on to himself until he met with her, then Yami would be safe.
It had been a week since Yugi had placed Yami into the box. He stood outside of his room. The only voice he heard was still that of the Angel. It knew he was on the edge of giving up. But Yugi wasn't quite ready. He pulled out his phone, dialed a number and held it up to his ear. "Yumi… I need a huge favor… please come to Grandpa's house today, as soon as you can."
She was there within the hour. He tried to hold himself together. He didn't speak unless he absolutely needed to. The Angel was ripping and tearing away at the chance to get the jump on his enemy's vessel. But Yugi could not allow him to harm his sister, so he bared this pain on top of everything before. He was moments from shattering under all the pressure.
She seemed to understand him despite his silence. Perhaps she had suspected. But it didn't matter. Yami just needed a new Hikari. They walked upstairs and into his room. Yugi felt the faintest glimmer of Yami, but nothing else. He got the box down one last time and handed it to Yumi. He took a deep breath, "In this box… is my best friend. He lives in a puzzle. He is an ancient Egyptian spirit. He will need help getting home."
She laughed, "Yugi, you know that sounds crazy, right?"
Yugi reached for the first thing in his closet- a pencil box- and hurled it at her in rage. She jumped out of the way, then looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry… How can I help?"
"Just help him after I'm gone. If you wear the puzzle, I think you can talk to him as I have… over the years… We're twins down to our souls… I'm really hoping he will accept you as he accepted me. I've kept him in this box so he can't… see what I've become… I want him to remember me… as his Hikari." Speaking made him feel so out of breath.
"Yugi… if he really is an ancient spirit… don't you think he could help us break the cycle?"
"Yumi, don't ask him to do that. He has his own problems. He'll feel awful when he fails. I can't do that to him."
"Who said he would fail?"
"Yumi, stop. We've tried breaking the cycle. It cannot be done."
"That's the darkness talking… I know Yugi wouldn't give up until-"
He throw a shoe at her this time. "Take this and get out before I decide to try to hit you." That's not what I wanted to do… that's not me talking! Yumi, I'm so sorry!
With that she grabbed the box from him and ran out.
And then Yugi was finally left alone, almost guilt free and exhausted from fighting for so long… maybe now he could finally get some sleep… he collapsed onto his bed and gave in, feeling the darkness closing in faster but unable to even summon the will to care.
Sweet, sweet sleep…
…
…
…
…Yu…mi…?
Only ten minutes had passed, but it was very difficult for Yugi to regain consciousness. Through blurry vision, he saw his sister standing there, his puzzle around her neck. Dammit… Yumi… please, just go and leave me alone. I want to sleep. "Go." Was all that actually came out of his mouth. Yumi responded, "Yugi, I know you've tried to get rid of this… whatever it is, but we've changed fate before and I know we can change it again. We'll change it as much as we need-" Oooh gods, Yumi, how could you… He thought, which somehow was channeled into "Yumi, I could kill you!" He sounded like he was under water. Then he saw himself attacking her. "No…!" He reached out and tried to grab the Angel that had taken control of his body, kicking his sister repeatedly. It was enjoying it. "Stop!" Yugi's soul was so heavy, it took a lot of effort just to stand. He started to walk. It took forever… he got hopeful when he saw that Yami had flipped the Angel and pinned him down, but those hopes were quickly crushed when the Angel turned the tides and began to choke him. He was trying so hard just to reach the Angel but had made almost no progress… He heard Jou and Honda rush in and pin his body against the floor, much more successfully than Yumi who had probably never worked out a day in her life. In his surprise some of the weight the Angel had placed on him lifted, and Yugi tackled him. He had control again. But he knew it wouldn't be long… He sat on the bed quietly.
Fight it. Fight it. Fight it. Wait for Yumi and Yami to leave. Fight it. Fight it. My soul, my body. Fight it.
He heard Jou and Honda yelling at him, but it still sounded like he was under water. He couldn't understand them, let alone muster the energy to respond…
Finally he heard the front door open and shut.
Yugi gave in to exhaustion once more, and the darkness consumed him.
