Chapter Six: The Duel Part III
"Yami!" Yugi called from the dismal labyrinth of dark rooms that ringed the chamber that lodged his yami's soul. No good. Even now, in the gloom of the maze, he could not establish contact. Yugi felt frustration welling up inside of him. Yami was his other self. They were two souls in one body, bound by the most powerful friendship conceivable. They had no secrets from one another until now that is. A sob built up in Yugi's chest. Determined to be strong, he squelched it. However he could not stop the tears. They rained down his cheeks, soundless as they fell to dust and darkness. Yugi felt the anguish building to a terrible crescendo inside of him. "Yami!" he screamed in agony. The cry cut through the stones of the pharaoh's soul, sliced through time and dimension, cut through the barrier that blocked the light from the dark. And Yugi knew that his other self had heard him.
"Aibou?" that deep voice, so multifaceted, so kind to friends and harsh to enemies, a voice of both darkness and justice, the voice that commanded a glorious empire broke through the darkness. The braziers that lined the walls flared with ghostly silver flames. Yugi wiped at his eyes. "How did you break through the block?" Yami questioned.
"Why did you lock me away?" Yugi challenged him. Perhaps it was because he was in his yami's soul room, but Yugi could feel his other self's frustration just as he felt the tears on his cheeks.
"Please forgive me, aibou," Yami said. If Yugi listened really hard, he could hear other voices in the room with his yami.
"How is the duel going? Have you rescued Jounouchi yet?" Yugi fought to keep the link from sealing shut again. The only way he could think of to do it was to fill it with endless prattle. "Are you okay? Do you need me to take over for you?"
"Be silent!" Yami snarled when his hikari paused to take a breath. The connection between them snapped. Like a sea of dying stars, the torches winked out. The impact in Yugi's mind was like a physical blow. He reeled backwards, moaning in pain. His head sang as if a sword were whistling just behind his ears. The old nothingness returned, no matter how Yugi stretched his mind, straining to reach his yami. At last the effort overcame him. He sank again to the floor. Terror jolted his every nerve. He knew something was terribly wrong in his yami's duel. Why else would his other self behave as he just had?
Helplessness and frustration filled his mind with a roar, happy to evict the emptiness for a time. The force of the two destructive emotions immobilized Yugi. For a time he remained motionless in the dark, another forgotten shadow occupying the pharaoh's soul. Then the desperate voice of reason permeated the gloom of Yugi's own heart. Though he could do nothing, interred in this labyrinth as he was, he could at least, continue to try to contact his yami. It was a foolish notion and yet a wise one. If united with his yami, Yugi knew, for time had thus proven it, there was nothing that they could not do together. Yet to break through the barrier that his other self had set would be incredibly difficult, maybe even impossible. Nonetheless, it was the only thing that he could do…
{***}
Yami wondered how much longer he could endure this duel. Jounouchi's confession he had expected. Even though knowing Kaiba's baser instincts filled him with revulsion, he could cope with it. But having the two gathered in the same place, all but declared as rivals was another matter all together. Although it would have been helpful to double team Kaiba with Yugi, Yami wasn't sure how his aibou would hold up under the oppressive weight of Kaiba and Jounouchi's desire. His aibou was innocent and unspoiled. The revelation that two men loved him, particularly in a time and place where one was frequently ashamed of such tendencies, might well lose them the duel. And so, he thought, I remain alone. To win alone…or to fail alone.
Kaiba quickly took note of the unsettling effect that he and Jounouchi had made on Yami. He leered at Yami over the top of his cards and licked his lips suggestively. Silence fell over the field. "Yugi, you are finished," Kaiba whispered. "This game is mine."
"Masaka?!?" Yami gasped.
In his slender, pale hands Kaiba held the card Change of Heart.
In the instant that Kaiba played the card, Yami let go of the mental block between him and his hikari. The Sorceress turned to face Yami. A wicked grin twisted her visage as she pointed her wand at him.
Yami's face turned white. He doubled over his deck, his lips moving in an unheeded plea for a miracle.
Kaiba's triumphant voice echoed over the Sorceress's incredible wand blast. "The cards are instruments of power with no heart!" Yami's life points plummeted to zero. Dimly he heard Jounouchi shout his name in dismay. Kaiba had won.
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That's the end of part I, all that I plan on posting for this fic until mid June (my anticipated time of return). Part II is forthcoming. I hope you enjoyed the ride so far, but really, as Kaiba says, this is only the beginning…! Hope I'll see you at Part II!! Please don't forget me…