There was a long span of silence, in which time Tèa, Joey, and Tristan, each stared at the 'stranger' in shock and surprise.
Though, after a few minutes, Joey finally managed to speak, "Pharaoh–?"
The young man's smile broadened, and he gave a nod of confirmation, before holding out a hand.
Tèa then grinned and ran to him, skipping right over handshakes to wrap her arms around his middle in a hug. He was a bit startled, but smiled and put his hands to her shoulders fondly.
However, Jessie and Sarah stood by each other and looked to the pharaoh in a slight bit of anxiousness. Sarah was first to ask, "Dad—wh-who is–?"
Tristan smiled in a reassuring manner, "It's okay, girls. This is a very good friend of ours."
Joey grinned to the pharaoh as Tèa let go, shaking the other's hand in excitement, "I can't believe it! What're you doin' back?"
The pharaoh shrugged nonchalantly, though his smile faltered just a little, "That'll take a bit to explain…but—I want to know how everyone is, and—"
He stopped abruptly and the smile faded from his face rather quickly. "But…Where's Yugi?"
This caused all to straighten, and Joey and Tristan each cleared their throats in discomfort.
Tèa took it upon herself to take a deep breath and look to him sadly, voice quieted a great deal. "Yugi is…he's gone. He's been gone…"
The pharaoh's eyes widened sharply and he straightened, stunned to silence for a brief moment.
Then he spoke quietly as well, still a bit confused, though surprised as well, "No…How? He can't just be 'gone'—where is he, what happened to him?"
"W-We don't know…he disappeared almost ten years ago and there hasn't been any word from him since…"
"He wouldn't just leave. Something had to have happened to him," He replied, eyes determined, while a hand moved over the Puzzle, "Not the Yugi I knew."
"I know that…We all do…" Tèa said softly, "But before he disappeared, he started acting very strangely…Not like himself. It went on for two years beforehand. And then he didn't come back home, and he hasn't been found elsewhere, either…"
She fell silent at the pained look that came onto his face, but then Joey looked between them, "Yug's been gone for a long time. But right now, that is not the more prominent situation."
He straightened and put his hands to his waist, "So I repeat my earlier question: Why are you back, man? We know what happened before layin' your spirit to rest, and that was supposed to be that. So, what's goin' on, Pharaoh—?" Then he jumped and rubbed the back of his head, "Wait a sec—I mean—"
"Atem," Tristan corrected, giving a small smile of apology, "And we said we'd get used to that…"
The Pharaoh—Atem—gave a small smile and shrugged again, "I'm used to both. It doesn't really bother me."
Sarah looked to him in interest, "So…you're the spirit our parents traveled with before we were born–? H-How do you look so young, then?"
"That falls under the explanation I need to give…" Atem addressed first, "Currently, I'm 'borrowing' Noah's physical body. Therefore, I'd look about the same age he is, though I'm actually a great deal older."
"And how old is that?"
He shrugged, "Several thousand years, but I've lost count for an actual number."
Each girl looked to him in shock, but then Joey chuckled a little, "Starting to become an old man, huh?"
Atem smirked just a bit, but then Jessie frowned at him, "Hold it! What did you mean you're 'borrowing' Noah's body? Where is he? And why are you here?"
At this, Atem leaned back on the wall, looking downward as he 'hmmed' for a moment, "That'll take a bit to explain…"
"We got time," Joey replied without missing a beat.
For a moment, it was quiet, but then Atem sighed softly, "Noah carries a strange energy within his soul. Something strong, and very powerful, but it isn't like he carries it, it's like it's a part of his being."
This caused a ripple of silence until Tristan arched a brow, "That's…a pretty big place to start, man."
"I know…but it's the root of the present situation. Not long after he was born, Noah somehow managed to summon my spirit from the afterlife. I can't recall why, either, but it seemed to be drawing on that power within him."
He looked off distantly, "Just...to converse with me. To have someone to talk to. No one else could see me, but he could."
"That still doesn't explain how you're here now, though."
Atem moved a hand to the Puzzle again, "At some point, I was sent back to the afterlife again. Like…he had sent me away. I don't know the reason for that, either. But—just now, when his life was endangered, he somehow summoned me again. And this time, it was much stronger than before, and it awakened that power from within him again, drawing on it."
Téa frowned, "You don't have any idea what that power is? Where it came from?"
Atem gave a shake of his head. "No. It doesn't feel like anything we've faced before. Especially since part of this power seems disconnected from him—like it's merely housing itself in him."
"But then is he okay?" Téa then rushed to question, "I-If there's some kind of power in him, then—"
"Noah is all right, Téa," Atem quickly reassured, taking her hand, "Unconscious, at the moment, but he's safe."
Téa gave a sigh of relief.
Jessie then looked down at his chest, pointing at the Millennium Puzzle that hung there, "And…that's the same Puzzle? For real?"
He gave a nod, putting a hand to the Item again, "Yes. Before, it held my spirit. Now it just holds the power that my soul generates naturally. And it'll make it easier for Noah to handle my energy, along with this other enery within him."
Then he glanced between Joey and Tèa, "Did Noah mention anything else about what happened? Anything he noticed?"
"Not really."
Atem gave a small nod, then putting both hands to the Puzzle and straightening while looking between each face, "Make sure he rests. No doubt this did a number on him, and he'll need to recuperate after I give him back control…From what I can feel, he needs a lot of rest in the first place."
The glow returned and engulfed him, and everyone backed away as it did so; the white silhouette changed and shifted, and when it disappeared, Noah stood before them again, eyes closed and expression relaxed.
Except, he then fell forward, and Joey caught him before he hit the ground. He laid Noah down, and there wasn't a single flinch from Noah as he was moved.
Then a bright glow sprouted from his chest once more, and the Millennium Puzzle rose from it, the chain once again sprouting from the top and shooting around his neck so that it laid perfectly still on his chest as the glow died down.
Joey's brows rose, and he flatly replied, "Well, this should be fun."
After quite a bit of time had passed, Noah finally opened his eyes; except he didn't find himself in his living room. He didn't even find himself in any place that he knew, and somehow he was already standing up.
It looked to be a bleak desert of some kind, the skies black with thundering clouds and loud winds. The sand was black as well, and fairly hot as if sunlight was shining directly on it. Every time Noah took a step, he winced from the small bit of pain it sent into the soles of his feet.
He took a look around, seeing he was alone, and then shouted out into the emptiness, "Hello? Anyone there–?"
There was no response, and he gave a sigh before the winds suddenly grew stronger, whipping around him to create an abrupt sandstorm.
He shielded his face, his loose white tank not very helpful in keeping the sand from stinging against his arms, "Oh, great–!"
Noah gave a few coughs, but then felt the ground quake beneath him, and squinted into the distance to try and see what the source was. The only answer was the rumbling ground grew still, and what sounded like a low hiss came from the clouds.
"Wh-Who's there?—Show yourself!"
A pair of red eyes opened up within the clouds, large and glowing; Noah flinched back. The clouds began to swirl around at the center of the sky, and the red eyes—seemingly detached from anything—came down closer to him.
"Well, well…" It replied darkly in midst of a chuckle, "Look what was dragged in with the dust…I would never have expected a pharaoh to be so friendly with the darkness…"
Noah's eyes widened, "Pharaoh–? Y-You got the wrong guy!"
Another chuckle was the reply, "Who said it was to you…? You cannot fool an old 'friend' this way…"
Noah glared at it, "I am not your friend!"
But then the red eyes became covered by more dust, and Noah took a step forward, "Hey, wait a minute! Who are you?—What are you!?"
A detached chuckle answered him while the sandstorm grew fierce and he coughed as the sand came at him from all directions.
"For you, I am one to be feared…All will become clear, in time…"
And all became black as the sand covered Noah from head-to-toe, disrupting his vision and making him fall flat on his face.
Noah shot up in his bed with a gasp, eyes wide open before he took in quick breaths.
This time, he was in his bedroom, dressed the same as in his nightmare, but he had his wrists bandaged where they'd been burned.
He took a look around the room, and when he saw nothing unusual, he gave a heavy sigh of relief and ran a hand through his hair as his hair dropped forward.
"Thank the Lord…" He said softly to himself, though his head snapped up when there was a light knock to the door, a light gasp along with the action.
Tèa came in shortly after, smiling weakly, "Easy does it, it's just me…"
He relaxed upon seeing her, and a very small smile grew on his face, too, "Mom…!"
She smiled a bit more and set a tray down by his bed. Then she kissed his forehead before embracing him; Noah gladly returned the hug, shoulders relaxing. It wasn't something he'd admit aloud that easily, but he was a touch-oriented person. Hugs were his comfort zone, one of the few ways he showed he really cared about someone (especially his mother).
Then he slowly let go, looking to her with knit brows, "M-Mom—th-the house—"
"I know," She replied, having him lay back down.
"Bu-But those guys from before—"
"Yes, I know. The police arrested them already."
"B-But what happened after I passed out?"
She looked at him in surprise, pausing in midst of putting a cold pack to his forehead, "Passed out—?"
"Yeah—a-after you'd told me about the Puzzle and all, my chest started hurting and my head, and I got really dizzy and blacked out, and I—I-I—"
But the look on her face made him trail to a stop, and his brows knit, "D-Didn't I pass out?"
She hesitated before smiling weakly, "Something like that, I suppose…"
He took a deep breath, "S-So, then…what happened after I passed out?"
Téa looked back at him with worry, but sighed, and then spent the next half hour going through what Atem had explained to all of them, in as best detail as she could. At first, it didn't seem like he believed her. After she specified some of the strange occurrences Noah felt, though, and explained the origin of the Puzzle now around his neck, that disbelief slowly grew to distress.
When she was finished, he shook his head and looked away, a furious glare coming over his face as he sat up in bed, "No. No—I told myself I wouldn't have anything more to do with Dad. I'm not having anything to do with this, either—he can save the world if he wants, but not me."
"Noah, no one said anything about saving the world. And this isn't something you can control," Téa replied with a frown, "The Puzzle that hangs around your neck proves that. This is your destiny."
"Then the universe can just give me a new destiny!" Noah nearly shouted, removing the Puzzle from his neck, and made motion to throw it across the room.
She gasped when he did, jumping in the process to stop him if necessary. However, he stopped mid-throw, some kind of force holding onto his wrist so that he didn't throw the Puzzle. He didn't seem to fight it too much, instead gritting his teeth. Téa relaxed when he stopped abruptly, figuring Atem had stepped in.
Then she looked at Noah with a frown once more, "Noah…I know you have a lot of anger towards your father. But Atem, firstly, is not your father, and he doesn't deserve that anger. Secondly, he's a part of you, now. You can't just demand things be different, not in this case. This isn't something you can run from."
Noah looked at her for a long moment, it having been a while since he'd seen her this serious about something. Gradually, he relaxed, the force moving off his wrist and he set the Puzzle in his lap.
After a minute, he sighed, and then looked back to his mother again, "So...h-how long've I been out, then?"
She gave a small shake of her head, "Just a couple of hours. Joey, Tristan, and the girls all went home just a little bit ago, once it was sure you were okay. You slept just fine for a while, but it looked like you were starting to have a nightmare."
Noah gave a small nod, looking off in thought, "Yeah…I-I was in this desert…the skies were cloudy and thundering, and the sand around me was all hot, and black…and then this—this thing came down from the skies and kept calling me its 'friend.' It had these large red eyes that just kept staring at me, and—"
"Did it do anything to you–?" Téa asked abruptly, shoulders tense and her eyes wide.
He arched a brow and shrugged, "No…? I-I mean it was just a dream. It couldn't've hurt me, anyway."
She looked tense still, but smiled weakly, "Yes…right…"
Then Téa stood, smiling a bit more, "I think that's enough talking about things for a bit. Just…try to get a bit more sleep, okay? You've been through a lot."
Noah sighed gently and gave a nod, looking to a wall, "Yes, ma'am…"
She sighed lightly herself and went out, giving him one more glance before gently closing the door. Noah sighed himself as he laid back down on the bed, moving the Puzzle now on his desk by the bed, and then laid back and looked up at the ceiling.
To him, this was all discomforting, and unwanted; he was an avid lover of Duel Monsters—though he didn't play it anymore—but things like evil forces, shadow games, spirits, magic—
'It's all impossible.' He told himself fiercely, 'Duel Monsters is just a card game. Two people can't occupy one body. Magic isn't real, it's just some illusion meant to keep a child's attention. This is all just crazy!'
"It looks that way, doesn't it?"
Noah gasped in surprise and bolted up in bed, not even hearing someone else come into the room. Well…someone was in the room, just not physically.
Atem leaned against the opposite wall, watching Noah in interest, though a light smirk laid on his face from hearing what Noah had thought. He seemed nearly translucent, but he was wearing exactly what Noah was. Noah could feel some kind of weight in the back of his mind, though it wasn't anything painful.
He stared wide-eyed and silently for a while. It still looked like Atem was someone he had known at some point, especially with the royal garb now gone.
But then he spoke quietly without looking away, "Please tell me I'm dreaming or hallucinating and I just need to smack myself to get my sense back."
"I would, but I'd be lying."
Noah ran his hands through his hair, looking away and sighing, "Yeah, I thought so…"
Then he looked back to Atem, still shaken, "S-So…you're the pharaoh?"
"'Was,' but yes."
"And y-you're…'existing'…i-inside me–?"
"As awkward as it sounds, yes, for the time being. You're still 'you,' though. I mainly occupy the Puzzle."
A quick breath of relief left Noah, but then he took a deeper breath and looked back, "And you…y-you knew my Dad…?"
"Very well, and I still do. I just haven't seen him in quite some time."
Noah looked away again in thought for a long moment, before looking back in hesitant curiosity, his brows furrowing, "What…was he like when you knew him? S-Since you…sh–shared a body with him, and all…"
Atem relaxed a bit at this, coming a little closer, "When I knew him, he was a very kind individual. Much stronger than he ever saw himself as. He always fought for what was right…for what was important. He never thought of himself before others, and saw the good in people first."
The description made Noah look away with a light glare, which made Atem straighten and look to him in with knit brows.
"Noah, how exactly did you know Yugi? Téa only mentioned that he'd 'changed' a few years before he disappeared."
Noah was quiet for a moment before sighing and his glare lightened.
"I don't even know…" He replied quietly, looking off still, "When I was a kid—h-he was pretty much the same as you said…was actually really cool to me when I was little…I was bullied at school a lot, but he'd always encourage me and make me feel better after I got home. Somehow he could just tell when I'd had a bad day."
He brought his knees up and folded his arms on them, "Then, when I turned seven…he just started changing. H-Hewould…be away from home a lot…hardly spoke to me when I got home anymore…would tell me he was too busy. Mom started to get suspicious, I think. I remember they had a big argument about it…First time I really saw them yell at each other and mean it."
Noah shook his head once, "I started to think he didn't care anymore…At one point, he looked really sick, but he wouldn't do anything about it…He kinda-sorta stopped ignoring me, but… then we'd just sit, totally silent and not saying a word…I hated it, but I was just happy he was noticing me, somewhat…then…the day before I turned nine, I got really mad at him and shouted at him, a-and…then he disappeared the next day…"
Noah seemed very stoic about the whole thing; Atem, however, had his arms by his sides at this point, eyes wide with shock for a while before he let out a silent sigh.
"I'm…sorry…" He finally said at one point, looking to Noah with knit brows. He was quiet for a moment more before continuing, "It isn't fair that we all knew him to be a good friend, and you didn't have a chance to see that for too long…"
Noah was quiet in reply to this, but shrugged nonchalantly.
A light blanket of awkward silence fell between them briefly before Atem took in a breath and looked to Noah again, "It would be good if you slept again, you know…"
Noah hesitated, but nodded, and his shoulders relaxed as he moved to lay down.
"And don't worry too much about nightmares right now." Atem added gently, "In many ways, dreams are meant to fool the mind for better or worse. It's risky to trust in them."
"But what if they feel real?"
Atem straightened, arching a brow.
Noah shrugged a little, "I-I don't know—but the nightmare I had definitely didn't feel like a dream. I could—almost taste the sand. My chest felt tight, like a weight was on it…"
Atem's eyes narrowed, but Noah then shook it off, "Nevermind. It was probably just lucid dreaming or something. I-I get those a lot, actually."
He turned to his side, though Atem still looked to him with knit brows. It was quiet after, as Noah let his eyes close and he drifted back into sleep.
After a decent time of just deep, empty sleep, Noah could feel the heat on the bottoms of his feet again.
He opened his eyes, soon closing them again; the earlier sandstorm was already raging, the black sand still burning and even darker than before. Once more, he was on his feet, and he could feel a sudden sense of dread.
Noah tried to look around, but a low, rumbling chuckle made him look forward.
'That thing again…'
Except this time, the red eyes loomed from up above, the clouds swirling in a dizzying, circling manner around a much larger shape.
"So, THIS is the nature of your mind…" It replied finally.
Noah straightened, "N-Nature of my–?"
"Idiot. This landscape represents your inner being. Such barren, dark areas…Quite impressive to me. Though so underdeveloped and full of potential…"
"What are you even talking about–?" Noah questioned heatedly, squinting through the sand.
"It's easy enough to tell…Your soul has become so barren, it's nearly dead entirely. Not even the trees here are living. Hot, burning sands…a deep anger seeded in you. And the thundering clouds swirling in your confusion and doubt about yourself and others around you…"
Noah shrunk back at that, looking around at the area in realization; it made his heart plunge, though the sandstorm began to die down just a little.
"And the winds of fear calm with a wave of despair…" A chuckle came from the creature, "Winds are meant to push back on something. And the sand blown with it means it is because you HIDE something."
Noah swerved at this, a sudden rush of courage filling him up just enough, "I have nothing to hide, least of all from you!"
A deep chuckle followed after that and Noah had begun to step back again; with the sand no longer disrupting his vision, Noah was finally able to look at the creature directly.
It was large, and black, but had claws for its hands and feet, its top half some demonic creature while its lower half had a whole snake fused into it. Large black wings sprouted from the back, with sharper teeth splitting into a permanent smirk. The two pairs of red eyes, from the head and from the snake, looked down on Noah with a bright glow.
"Wh-What the hell are you–!?" Noah got out, winds blowing from the bit of fear he felt, looking up at the thing with wide eyes.
One pair of red eyes narrowed, "I am your greatest ally…I am what will lead you to power and immortality, if you do as I say…"
Noah cringed, backing up a bit more, "I-I don't believe you–!"
He made a mad dash in the opposite direction, but soon something black swooped down and brought him up from the ground into the air.
"You dare run from me?" The thing asked him in anger, keeping him trapped in his hand, making a cage with his claws, "Someone of YOUR blood, dares to run from the almighty Zorc Necrophades?"
The name made Noah's eyes widen, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He'd never heard the name before, or perhaps it had been many years, but it filled him with dread.
Then Zorc chuckled lowly, eyeing Noah, "We'll see exactly who you are, in time…I need to stall the Pharaoh while I get the last pieces of my groundwork laid out…"
Though trembling and having absolutely no more courage to muster up at this point, Noah still managed to get out, "And h-how do you p-plan to do that–?"
A chuckle answered him first, but then the red eyes widened, "By keeping your heart within the darkness, to blot out any light you may still have out of sight! By the time I'm finished with you, you'll be nothing but the HUSK of a mortal being–!"
It all sounded like nonsense, but Noah's heart pounded harshly in his chest as he watched Zorc's claws close in around him.
"And then my REAL plan can finally take place…!"
The building was away from the main suburbs of the city; it was on the smaller side, at least for it being a lab of some kind, a second story for a few offices. The rooms were dark, and it hadn't been touched in quite a while.
Except, one person now lay in the back room with a flash of brilliant white light.
The same back room where there had been a disappearance ten years earlier, and had been so overwhelmingly heavy in darkness that no one dared enter it. Police had searched every inch, but there wasn't any sign of what had happened. So, the person being there was really very strange.
Then their hand twitched, and they tried to open their eyes. Everything so far was a blur, trying to rush back into their mind all at the same time. But one thing was clear: someone needed them. Someone very dear to them whom they had begun to be ungrateful for right before the 'disappearance.'
They started to get up, heart feeling heavy though their mind finally started clearing after years of being clouded and jumbled. Walking felt like the most difficult thing in the world, and they stumbled against the door frame and anything else they could lean against.
All they knew now, though, was that they needed to get to them. That person who needed them, who had been needing them, who he desperately needed to apologize to and see again after so long. They had to see that smile, at the very least one more time.
