A/N: Nordic Twin brings you: the official chapter 9 of Long Lost Love. Cherish this chapter, 'cause we got a small heatwave where I am, and Nordic Twin has planned to enjoy every moment in the sun!
Well, apart from that little happy rant, I had trouble naming this chapter. The original name was: "A change of dreams", but it didn't fit what I wanted to write. The current title is what I thought fitted the best, but I'm not quite happy about it. Grrr!
Also, as some of you might have noticed, I've edited chapter one a little bit. I haven't changed anything in the chapter itself, but I made the layout look at bit more like chapter two and up. This is something I've wanted to do since chapter two was beta'd, but I somehow never did.
Plus, when I uploaded the edited version, I realized this story has been on FF for about two months. And though it may seem out of place and early, I would just like to thank all of you so far. Thank you for for sticking with me until now. It means so much to me, and I appreciate all of you. This story is nothing without it's readers. So THANK YOU :D I love you all!
Enjoy the chapter.
Of darkness and dreams.
?:
He was floating in midair. Well, that's what it felt like. Actually, he wasn't quite sure what was up and what was down anymore. The same counted on how he'd gotten there in the first place, and how long he'd been there. The only way he could measure time was when the space around him turned from black to a light grey, but he had stopped noticing the shift long ago.
There were only the dull colors, the cold, and the never ending feeling of numbness inside of him.
How had he ended up like that? He'd thought everything would be good if he came to the place, but it wasn't. Well, it was at first. He could finally relax and see his old friends and such, until he had realized it was all an illusion, nothing but a mere dream. He'd found himself with two solutions when he realized it.
He could stay where he was: in the pleasant dream, where all was good.
Or he could open his eyes, and face whatever was behind the dream. All he had to do was open his eyes.
He'd chosen the latter, but perhaps it hadn't been the best idea.
He had woken up to a void of dull, dark colors. Nothing like where he came from, where he felt warmth and love. Where he'd found his heart again, his long lost love, and seen her as beautiful as the day she was brutally taken from him.
Perhaps it was the reason he'd chosen to let go of the dream. Because she really wasn't there to love him back. Because he'd realized he would never hold her in his arms any more. Because it probably wasn't even her face and voice he remembered. It could easily have been mixed with some other girl he'd met afterwards.
The realher was gone, probably lost in her own bubble of dreams, far from his grasp. He shed a single tear.
"As long as she is happy wherever she is, then it's fine with me. As long as she will never feel pain, I will suffer through this endless darkness. I owe her that, because I wouldn't listen back then," he thought, determination filling his entire self.
He looked around. It was dark around him once more. The last time he'd bothered noticing, it had been grey. "So I guess it's nighttime?"he thought. He'd never really gotten what was night and day in that place, but he thought that the dark was night, and the grey was day.
He stared into the darkness, bored, and didn't expect to see anything but the usual: nothing. But this time, he saw something, which shocked him.
In the distance, so far away it was only a little dot; he could see a tiny speck of light. Not the usual grey light, but a clear, shining, white dot. And even though it was very far away, it somehow warmed him to the bone. He sighed happily. It felt so good, well-known somehow. He reached out his hands towards the light, wanting to embrace it and keep it close to him for all eternity. And to his great pleasure, it was as if the light came towards him. In any other way, it grew.
"Closer. Come closer, please! It's so warm, don't go away! If I could only touch it for a second, then I'd stay here happily,"he thought, desperately trying to get closer to the light.
In response, the light shone even brighter and grew a bit more. He smiled for the first time in very long. He couldn't remember when he'd smiled last.
But suddenly the darkness shifted to grey again, and the light disappeared. He felt a bit of anger towards the grey. Why had it decided to shift, now of all times? He had felt so close to the little light, and now it was gone. Again, there was nothing but the dullness and him. Was it this strange place that was messing with him, or was he finally going insane? He didn't know, and he didn't care. All he wanted was to see the little light again.
It was selfish of him, he knew that. He should be grateful to even see something different in that place, let alone a little light, but he couldn't help it. It had been like that before too; maybe he was simply so filled up with darkness that he needed all the light he could get. Craved it, like humans craved food and sleep. Light had become essential for him to live.
Without him wanting to, tears flowed down his cheeks once more. "If only,"he thought again and again.
If only he could go back to the dream, which he instinctively knew he couldn't, would it then ease some of the numbness? If only he could see her again, would he then feel warm again? If only he could see the little light again, then he could bear to live, or whatever it was he did, in this empty void.
He just stared into the grayness, tears streaming down his cheeks, and wished for the light to come back, while he hated himself for the selfish thoughts.
Yugi:
He was dreaming again, that he knew. He stood in a big hall made of polished stones and gold. In the walls were big open holes as windows. The temperature was very high, but it didn't bother him. In the shade of the stones, he felt neither too warm nor too cold. Somehow, he knew he was used to the blazing heat outside. In front of him kneeled the golden haired girl before a big altar. He sucked in a breath. She looked so beautiful in the light of the moon. He had wished to know what she was doing that late at night, and had followed her to the temple. He could hear her whisper something.
"Oh great Gods of life and death. Please have mercy with me, as I am soon to be banned to the world of death. Spare those I love, and those who seek to harm me. If I am to die, then let nobody else suffer. I accept my curse, and I accept my fate. That is my prayer; this is my sacrifice," she whispered.
And with those words, she sang the most beautiful song he had ever heard, but, at the same time, the saddest. Though it was without words, he could feel so much pain from it. Suddenly a bright light flashed, and what looked like a grey teardrop hovered above her.
She panted hard, holding her thin hands above her head. Gently the teardrop floated down to them. As it landed safely in her hands, she placed it on the altar.
"With this crystal, I offer to you my only soul. It is tainted by my former deeds, but it is all I have of worth to give you. Please accept this," she said. The tear drop shone again, slowly disappearing.
He felt tears coming to his eyes. No, she wasn't doing it. She couldn't! He wouldn't allow her to.
"My Love, please don't do it! There must be another way!" He yelled, as he rushed to her side. Gently he touched her arms, but flinched as she looked at him sharply.
Where her eyes should have been, he saw two bright golden orbs, but with a hint of dark purple and black. Slowly, she stood.
"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away from me!" She sneered. He stood, too, and took a step back.
"I thought you understood all I have told you. I am not who you think I am. Me, a weak, little, innocent girl, who's the victim of false charges? Please! I could wipe out this entire temple, had I wanted to, and many people have fallen before my feet!" She whispered, as she looked at her hands with disgust.
He took another step back, as she took a step towards him. "My love, what is happening to you? This isn't the real you. Snap out of it!" He said, but she smiled sadly.
"I thought I told you: the Lord doesn't know all the dangers about me," she said, before her eyes turned hard and she screamed: "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME AT ALL!"
The wind suddenly howled, and a sudden wave of power pulsed out from her and pushed him against the wall farthest from her. "My love! Come to your senses, this isn't you!" He yelled, trying to break through the barrier around her.
She looked at him, her eyes empty, and just as cold as the grip of death. She walked over to him, the power still pinning him to the now icy surface.
"How do you know that this isn't me? How do you know that all I've told you about myself wasn't just lies and acting?" she whispered.
He looked into the dead orbs that resembled her eyes. "I know it because I could sense the pure love in your voice and gaze. I know it because I've held you through your moments of despair. I know it because I know you could've just changed my mind room at several moments, but didn't. And I know it because I love you. It's as simple as that," he said, holding his ground.
Then everything disappeared, and he was in complete darkness. The only thing he could see was the golden haired girl in front of him. Suddenly she turned blurry, and divided into two. He looked at both of the girls confusedly.
They both looked like each other, but some things were different. The girl on the left wore modern day clothes, and had loose hair to her back. She was pale. He couldn't see her eyes, but he could feel the deep sadness they held.
The girl on the right was a bit taller than the other and had lighter hair, tanned skin and wore traditional ancient Egyptian clothes. Her hair was in some kind of ponytail held in place by golden objects. She held a crystal in her right hand. Like the other, he couldn't see her eyes, but he could sense anger from them.
Both girls wore the same pendant around their necks. But the girl on the left's shone silvery, and the other girl's shone golden.
"I knew it! He knows too much already!" The right girl said angrily, her hands clenched.
"But he doesn't mean any harm and doesn't understand anything!" The left girl objected pleadingly.
"Not yet! Do you really want to risk it?" She right girl said, her voice hard. The left girl nodded.
"Please, don't do this! I beg you!" She folded her hands and looked at the other.
"What are they talking about?" He thought, not understanding. What did he know, but not understand?
"No, it's too much of a risk! We have to be careful, did you forget that?" the right one sneered. The left one shook her head.
"But as long as he doesn't understand, there's no need for you to do anything," the left girl whispered. "Please. I don't want to harm him. He has a pure soul. Don't ruin it." Her plea cut deep into his heart, as did her words.
"My soul? What are they talking about?" He thought, before he spoke. "Excuse me!" He said. The girls looked towards him. "What is going on? What are you talking about? Since I'm pretty sure this concerns me, I demand to get an explanation!" He said, before he realized what he'd said.
Since when had he begun to demand anything? It wasn't like him. He was about to apologize, when the girl on the right yelled: "He can see us! He is aware of this! No, I can't let it continue like this, and you know it! I won't let you stop me!"
This time, the left girl only nodded, and lifted her hand towards him. "Then do as you bloody wish. Just don't hurt his soul," she whispered.
He tried to step back, but couldn't move in the darkness. He had to flee; he knew it, but he was captured in midair. What was this place? In front of him, the right girl smirked.
"Just leave it all to me," she said, and held up the crystal. He noticed it was in the shape of a pendulum.
"By the powers of the Crystal Pendulum, I demand the powers of the Twilight realm to follow my orders!" She yelled, and white and black strings suddenly surrounded him.
"Help!" He yelled, but realized no one except the girls could hear him. The girl with the pendulum laughed.
"Foolish human, there's nobody here to help you," she said, and held the pendulum over him: "Holy strings of fortune: I demand you to change this boy's mind. With the Dust of Dreams: eternal slumber!" She yelled, and the pendulum shone. White dust appeared and would slowly fall onto him.
He closed his eyes and was about to scream, when suddenly he felt something embrace him. Strong arms wrapped themselves around his body, tore away the strings and shielded him from the dust. The girl with the pendulum paled. "No, it can't be!" She yelled.
He looked at her. She was staring at something behind him, looking like she'd seen a ghost. Then she looked at him and turned even paler, before she turned around, grabbed the other girl's wrist and disappeared into the darkness.
He breathed, feeling relieved. While he probably should be scared, he felt very safe. The feeling of the arms was somehow well-known to him, and he welcomed the warmth from them. Deep in his heart, something woke up.
Then Yugi woke up and looked at the dim morning light seeping through his curtains. He sat up in his bed and looked around while he let the dream flow out of him. He took a few deep breaths before he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got ready to meet the new day, though the dream was still burned into his mind.
?:
He had seen the light many times now, and it was no longer a little dot in the horizon. Each time with darkness it had appeared and grown, as it slowly moved towards him. He smiled; soon he was able to touch it. That warm, little clear light, which gave him such great happiness in the despair. He had been ready to scream with joy when it had reappeared in the following time with darkness, but that he had been lucky enough to see it for so long, and it came closer, was almost too much for his heart to bear.
Over time it had turned into the shape of a human. A human he knew he knew very well. And this "night", or whatever he should call it, the human was close enough for him to see the contour of it clearly. He felt the well-known warmth emit from it, and he sighed. It felt so good, not quite as good as her, but he wasn't complaining. Next to his beloved girl, this human was one of the ones he cared for the most.
The human looked like it was safe. This pleased him. He had hoped for it with all his heart, and it pleased him to see it was reality. Also, it looked like it had grown. At that he smiled. He knew the human had complained a bit about its height before, so he was happy to see it had grown a lot.
He reached out for the light as he did every time it appeared, silently telling it to come closer, when suddenly it stopped, and two grey figures appeared before it.
"What is happening?" he thought as he observed the two figures. Funnily enough, they, too, felt familiar, but he didn't know why. He could suddenly feel the anger and sadness emitting from the two figures, and something penetrated his heart. Furthermore, he could feel the fear from the light. And when the angry grey figure suddenly attacked the light, he knew he had to do something.
He leapt forward, and for the first time in a very long time, he moved his arms and legs. He moved as quickly as he could through the darkness, but not quickly enough. A blast of energy surged through the darkness, and something wrapped around the light.
He became angry. A forgotten urge to protect the light overwhelmed him, and he ran, or floated, even faster towards the captured light. His light. He finally came close enough to touch the light, something he'd imagined over and over again, and wrapped his arms around it. He tore away what had captured it, and shielded it from the unwelcome power. Suddenly it was as if all anger disappeared from the attacking power, fear replacing it. Then it disappeared as quickly as it came.
He sighed with relief before he realized he was holding the warm light. It was blazing hot, but it didn't bother him. It was as if all coldness and darkness was gone, and there was only the light.
Then it suddenly disappeared from his arms, and he looked around confused, trying to find it, but all he saw was grey.
He felt anger pulse through him, furious that the light had been taken from him, even though he'd held it tightly in his arms.
He roared into the grey light, cursing it with all of his heart.
A/N:I think most of my readers know what's to come pretty soon. I hope you'll like it :)
Poll time! I want YOUR opinion! I've been thinking about changing the name of the story. Honestly I've never thought it fits what I want to do with this, but do you guys/girls like the title? I want your opinions. Should I keep the title or change it? It's up to you, so please vote!
Special thanks:Scaevola2, xxxPureRosexxx.You're awesome and you know it! ;D
Extra special thanks:Once more, a huge THANK YOU to all of my readers! Cookies the size of dinner plates for everyone!
See you all next time!
-Nordic Twin
