Thank you all so much for all the reviews! THANK YOU! You've made my day! I've got chapter 7 for you (sniff, sniff) it's long but I hope you like it! Please review! (And for all those who said Seto was the assassin at the end...we'll see...we'll see...)
Chapter 7
"A whisper from his dawn of life? a
Breath
From some fair dawn beyond the
Doors of death
Far-Far-Away?"
- 'Far-Far-Away' by Alfred L. Tennyson
The world spun, round and round, like time had zoomed faster than the speed of light. The earth seemed to tremble below his feet. All around he could hear people screaming, shouting, shrieking, but when he squinted all he saw were pale, faceless men and women with stringy black hair that disappeared as fast as smoke in a breeze.
Yami blinked, feeling emotions surge through him so strong he felt like he was going to collapse onto his knees. Love. Hate. Anger. Relief. Darkness. Coldness. Warmth. Strength. Passion. Desire. Thirst.
His crimson eyes narrowed, and it was then that the whirling vortex suddenly stopped so that he could clearly see what was going on.
Blood, everywhere. Men and women screeching, jumping at him. He recognized those faces this time. They were vampires.
To his horror, his body moved of its own accord. Whirling around, he tore of their heads, pulled out their hearts, slicing them in half with his claws. His shadow magic whirled around him, clashing with that of opposing vampires. Shadows swallowed shadows. Yami ripped, shredded, slit, slashed…
He growled as his eyes landed on the Council. But it was a strange feeling, almost as if someone else was rumbling in his chest like thunder. Desperately, Yami tried to stop his arms, even though he truly hated those vampires.
They cackled at him, and pointed, as if he was something to be admire. It was then that Yami realized that the Council had treated him so harshly.
It was so he would become like this.
A few minutes, the joyful and laughing faces of the Council lay cold and bloodless. Holding up his hand in front of his equally crimson eyes, he felt cold horror and terror run through him as he saw the bits of flesh and blood clots sticking like barnacles to fingers.
Yami ran.
He was sopping wet with scarlet. Blood droplets were flung off him as he ran, sprinting away, far away from the place where vampires live.
Or rather, where vampires once lived.
After having run a little over a mile from that horrid place¸ Yami stopped as feeling began to return into his limbs. Yami collapsed.
/Are you okay?/ a voice whispered.
Yami turned his head sharply from his position on the ground, but there was nobody there. His crimson eyes widened in panic, and he tried getting up. It was no use. He fell once more.
/Yami, stop freaking out. I'm right here, inside of you. Now, are you okay? You just suddenly fell. I didn't hurt our body, did I?/
As the weight of what he had done continued to sink in, Yami felt weak. Than the words from the voice inside his head wrapped themselves around his thoughts, and he felt emotions tumble into him like an avalanche.
"You did this?" he hissed weakly. He heard a faint chuckle.
/Yes. I suppose I should introduce myself. The name's Atem. The other you. The anger that you fear like death. That's me./
Yami gulped in pure fright. He was talking to his other self, the person who had killed everyone, and the one who had hurt Yugi.
It was him.
"Why?" Yami asked weakly, feeling dizziness spit in his face.
/Those bastards deserved what was coming to them for making you angry and for hurting your precious little one. I could not let that slide./
"You killed so many innocent people! Women! Children! And you hurt Yugi the first time you saw him! How can you possibly-!"
/You're saying you didn't want me to kill the Council? You saw for yourself. They only wanted to use you- to use me as a weapon. They subjected you to countless taunts to try and get me to surface. They tried to kill you. They almost killed your lover-/
"Do not bring Yugi into this! You tortured him for your own pleasure! And he's not my lover!" Yami sat up, anger and adrenaline giving him new strength. At the same time, he wished that Yugi was his lover, but he didn't want to think about that right then.
/I didn't know of his importance to you at the time./
"That's not the point! You used my body to kill my own kind! To hurt Yugi!"
/They deserved it!/
"YUGI DESERVERED IT!?"
/No, I meant those bastards at the Council. They all deserved to die./
"Did those young vampires have to die? How about those children? Did they deserve to die?"
/…/
Yami sighed, anger subsiding and being replaced with fear. Fear, how it blazed, almost as powerful as his anger.
"Was Yugi alright when you left him?"
All Yami could remember was Yugi waking up after he had read his last poem. He had a vague memory of Yugi falling asleep, but he wasn't sure.
/Yeah, he was fine./
Yami sighed in relief. At least Yugi was alright.
"You didn't hurt him, did you?"
/No, of course not./
Yami stood as his strength was beginning to return to him. He looked back through the trees and down the long, lifeless road. Silence and shadows that filtered dappled through the trees stared him straight back, challenging him to return.
Yami turned around and sprinted down the road.
He needed to get to Yugi.
Every step he took slapped reality into his face. He was a murderer; he was a killer.
/No, that's me./
"Shut up."
Horror continued to seep through him. And when he did see his little one, on his knees in the middle of the road, the truth came down on him with the force of a death sentence. Tears. Blood. Tears. Love. Tears.
Death.
Yami jolted awake, the nightmare clinging to him like a memory. Only, he knew that it was a memory, but that only made it worse. Cold sweat ran down his arms and across his chest, where he felt warmth sink into him. Looking down, he smiled warmly at the sight.
Yugi was nuzzled up against his cold chest, arms firmly wrapped around his waist. Mumbling in his sleep, his little one hugged him tighter, as if sensing his distress.
Yami hugged him back, feeling joy leap through his heart. Yugi loved him.
The thought made him want to leap into the air and race around the world as fast as he could. Yugi loved him.
Currently, they were huddled underneath a huge maple tree, nestled in leaves and warmth. Luckily, it had stopped raining, and the canopy of leaves hade kept that particular spot comfortably dry. The perfect place for a nap.
Staring down lovingly at his little one's adorable form, Yami had to restrain a growl when his crimson gaze caught sight of his scars and his bandages.
/We should find the little one's father so I can kill him./
Yami stiffened.
"What are you doing?" Yami hissed, pure hatred sharpening his voice.
Yugi stirred once more. Yami hugged him tightly as if too protect him.
/Nice to hear from you too, mister. You seem to be forgetting that I'm a part of you./
"Can't you just leave me alone!" Yami spat. This time, however, big owlish amethyst eyes blinked up at him.
/You should tell him about me Yami. You know you should./
Yami shook his head. Yugi, face tilted in confusion, asked a question in his eyes about Yami's strange behavior.
Yami sighed.
"It's him." He murmured.
"Who?" Yugi asked, confused. Yami sucked in a breath.
"The other me."
Yugi's eyes widened.
"You can talk to him?" he said slowly. Yami blinked. His little one really was perceptive.
"Yes, but only just recently." Yugi nodded, resting his chin on his chest after a moment of thought.
"Does he have a name?"
Again, Yami blinked, surprised.
/I really do love that kid…/
Yami scowled.
"Oh shut up." He threatened, voice dripping with venom.
Yugi looked away, hurt and sadness glimmering in his eyes. He began to sit up, pulling away from Yami, thinking that he had been talking to him.
"I-I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't know-"
Yami's eyes widened as he realized what happened. He pulled Yugi into a tight embrace
"No! Don't be sorry. I'm the one who's sorry. I was just talking to him, that's all."
After a moment of Yugi forgiving Yami and Yami growling at his other self, Yui once again curled up on Yami's chest.
"So, does he have a name?"
"Yes, it's Atem."
/I'm surprised you remembered. And you can talk to me mentally by the way, just so you don't make the little one sad again./
Yami harrumphed.
/Like this?/
/See, even someone as thick headed as you could figure it out./
/Shut up./
"Atem…hmmm…"
Yami's attention snapped back to Yugi. Staring intently at his aibou's thoughtful face, he resisted the urge to flip him over and kiss him senseless. His precious little one was so kind and excepting. The fact that he still loved Yami despite knowing what he could do still shocked him like a poison arrow to the gut.
"Can I talk to him?"
Yami sliced Yugi's inquiring look with one of pure fright and horror.
"Why would you want to do that?! To do that, he'd have to be in control! He could hurt you! I could hurt you!"
Yugi nodded, understanding Yami's concern.
"Sorry Yami, it's just I want to make sure he's not hurting you or anything…"
Yami's crimson eyes doubled in size. Yugi was worried about him. A small smile tugged at his lips, and his heart bloomed.
/I would never hurt you. The little one should not worry./
Yami nodded, as if to reassure both himself and Atem.
/You know, he could just ask you questions and I relay my answers to you./
Yami bit his lip. As much as he wanted to complete turn down the idea, Yugi's concerned violet eyes erased any negative responses from his vocabulary.
"Yugi, you can ask your questions. I'll relay Atem's answer." Yami offered tentatively.
Yugi's face light up like a million suns peeking out from an overcast sky. Yami smiled at the sight.
Shifting slightly, Yugi repositioned himself so that he could stare straight into Yami's scarlet eyes. Lifting a finger, Yugi pinned Yami down with a trusting glare.
"Please repeat to me exactly what he says to you, okay? If you don't, I'll get the wrong idea about his character and all of this will be for nothing. Don't leave anything out, alright?"
Yami nodded.
/Don't say something obscene./
/Don't worry, I won't. /
Yugi stared into Yami's burgundy eyes, as if searching for something.
"What's your favorite color?"
Yami blinked.
/Red, of course./
Yami said just that, sticking to his promise. Throughout the entire interrogation, Yugi's facial expression didn't change. It remained hard and determined.
"What's your favorite animal?"
"Human. They're fun to play with."
"How old are you?"
"…I'm not sure. I suppose I am as old as Yami is, but the first time I fully became aware of my existence was when Yami got really mad with his parents when he was five. I came out, sort to speak, but I didn't hurt anyone."
"Do you hurt Yami when you take control?"
"No. I've never hurt Yami."
"Does that include mentally?"
Yami paused, staring at his aibou. Yugi stared at him, begging with his eyes to just simply answer the question.
"That I cannot vouch for, but I try to protect him."
"Protect him?"
"If he is extremely mad or sad, there must be a good reason why. I don't want Yami to be either of these things, so I try and get rid of whatever is bothering him."
Yami seemed extremely surprised at this, and he shivered underneath Yugi. Yugi, perceptive as always, hugged him close.
"I want to protect Yami too."
Yami's eyes widened, and he weakly returned the embrace.
"Yugi…" he whispered.
/You picked a good one./
/Yeah…yeah I did…I didn't know you were worried about me…/
/Well…sometimes I was not exactly sure what your mad or sad about, and I would simply attack the nearest thing. That's why I hurt Yugi the first time we met…I'm sorry. It must have been awful having to wake up and find people you care about hurt…I'm sorry./
Yami was so flabbergasted, he was speechless. He merely hugged Yugi tighter, finding comfort and reassurance in his warmth.
/Thank you./
/What for? What could I have possibly done that's worth thanking for?/
/You were sorry./
Silence.
Yugi suddenly sat up a little bit more and cupped Yami's face in his small hands.
"Well, this Atem can't be that bad if he wants to help you." He whispered as he leaned in and kissed Yami. They both moaned into the kiss.
Breaking apart, Yami was wearing a mischievous smirk.
"You know, I'm extremely close to making you mine completely."
/That would be nice. We can have a three way!/
/Shut up./
Yugi blushed adorably. Yami sighed in content, and then scooped his little one into his arms as he stood up from their special spot underneath the monumental tree.
"Let's get going, little one, before we waste away the morning."
"Put me down!"
"But I like holding you in my arms!" Yami whined. Yugi pouted, a small dusting of pink warming his cheeks, making Yami chuckle.
"I can walk!"
"You're injured."
"…I'm getting better!"
"You know, you're adorable when you argue."
Yugi blushed, before gasping.
"Yami, you aren't as cold as before."
Yami blinked surprised. He wasn't as cold as before?
"Actually, now that I think about it, you weren't cold when I was sleeping next to you this morning."
"You call that sleeping next to me?! You were on top of me?"
"What? You wish I hadn't been? You certainly act that way."
"Aibou, I would love to wake up with you on my chest every morning for the rest of my life."
Yugi smiled and rested his head against his shoulder.
"Still, it's weird that you aren't cold anymore. Maybe I've just gotten used to being so freezing all the time…do you think it has anything to do with Atem?"
/Damn it!/
/What? You did this?/
/The little one is almost too perceptive for his own good./
/So you do have something to do with it!/
/All I did was merely contain the coldness inside of myself. If I take control, our body will be cold once more./
/…thank you./
/I figured the little one would prefer the warmth./
/I appreciate it./
After explaining the situation to Yugi, Yugi nuzzled his neck as Yami continued to walk.
"Tell Atem thank you, but I would love you Yami whether you were freezing cold or burning hot."
"I'm not already hot?"
"Just tell him thank you already!"
/I heard him. Tell him you're welcome. The little one really is a keeper./
/I know./
"He says you're welcome."
Yugi hummed in content, and Yami sped up. They didn't exactly have a destination in mind.
They just wanted to be with each other.
...thank you! Alright, so how do you guys like Atem? Please review!
