The sound of moving currents deep on the ocean floor echoed in the abyss.

A feeling of suffocation, being held down by water, kept his limbs heavy. He was alone, pain pressing on his head that made him feel numb.

Then there was the demonic, humanoid-like creature, only it looked less like a demon this time. It seemed a bit more human. But it still gave an unearthly screech, and the word "Traitor" was still caught in the bellowing.

And then it sent the black lightning bolt, which nearly made direct contact as it surged through the silence.

Noah gave a terse yell as he sat up, panting heavily from the scare and adrenaline still shooting through his system.

He'd had the same nightmare the past three days, though the water had only become a part of it in this last occurrence. What's more, the demon that kept popping up was starting to look less and less like a demon and more like a person. It disturbed him quite a bit, if he thought about it too much (which he desperately tried not to).

After a few minutes, he sighed in relief as his heartbeat slowed back to regular pace, and wiped his forehead on his arm before checking his clock. He needed to get up for school anyway. But then, it was the one day out of the year he didn't have to be in-uniform, so at least he could be comfortable.

A knock came to his door after he got dressed, having just pulled his shirt over his head, "Yeah–?"

He looked over to see Yugi open the door; his father's health had bettered dramatically over the past few days. He'd been able to eat and sleep as usual, so he didn't look quite so thin and his face wasn't sunken in anymore; his eyes carried a kind of light that hadn't been present for nearly twelve years, a friendliness in them that made it hard not to smile.

Almost immediately upon facing him, Noah strode over to hug him; it was something of a reflex now, whenever Noah saw Yugi around the house, just to hug him in midst of whatever was going on. It was like an anchor. And Yugi never minded; it moved him, actually, since Téa told him Noah hadn't been so 'touchy' for years, except with her.

Upon drawing back, though, Yugi frowned just a little.

"Everything okay…?" He gently questioned, "I thought I heard you yell."

Noah shrugged as he went over to put the Puzzle around his neck, "Was just the nightmare again."

Yugi straightened, "The same one?"

"Nope."

"No?"

"This one was underwater."

Yugi sighed, shaking his head, before looking to him with knit brows, "Noah, usually when you have a reoccurring nightmare, it means there's something wrong. That, or something will be, soon enough. I wish you would take this a bit more seriously…"

Noah gave another shrug, moving across the bedroom to get his school bag, "I've checked in with Atem every time; he says there's nothing off-balance internally and I never feel any different after waking up. What's there to be so serious about?"

"How about during the nightmare?" Yugi questioned in a quiet tone as Noah passed him in the doorway.

This made Noah hesitate in his movements for a moment, before he looked back to Yugi, "Hot. Guilty. And angry."

His father's eyes narrowed, but Noah went into the bathroom across the way and closed the door down, so Yugi spoke through the wood.

"You don't have to worry about being late this time, by the way," He replied, deciding to change the subject for now.

"Yeah?" Noah questioned from inside.

Yugi looked down at his shirt as he straightened his collar, "Yep. I'm taking you today."

The sound of movement stopped, before the door opened abruptly and Noah looked to his father with an arched brow, "You're taking me?"

Yugi looked up at him, "Yes. Your mother had to leave early for work and I thought it'd be good for the two of us to have a bit more time together."

Noah smiled weakly, before his eyebrows rose, "What exactly will you tell people when the Great Yugi Mutou suddenly appears after having vanished into thin air…?"

Yugi shrugged, looking back down, "Went on a business trip, got stranded on the boat ride back and was the only survivor."

The simplicity and calmness of his tone made Noah look at him with knit brows, "Y-You…said that way too easily."

"Only because I've practiced saying it to Joey over the past few days," Yugi explained, looking back up, "He also helped to make it a bit more believable. And to anyone else, it would explain why you had the sudden change of demeanor and opinion on what happened compared to before I got back."

Noah gave a nod, but then went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready as Yugi headed downstairs. Upon coming downstairs himself, Noah finally noticed just what Yugi was wearing: high-collared, button-down white shirt; dark black slacks; navy blazer; and a deep purple tie.

"You look nice," Noah emphasized as he came over to the counter, a brow arching.

Yugi offered a shrug, "First time being out in public and back to work after ten years. Thought I may as well dress decently."

Noah's brows rose, and once both had eaten and were ready to go, they went out to the car and then headed over to Domino High.

The ride over was fairly quiet, however Noah directed Yugi's attention at one point, "W-Wait a sec, pull over–?"

Yugi did so, and Noah caught the attention of two girls walking by, "Hey Jessie!—Sarah–!"

The two paused and looked over at him. Sarah wore a long-sleeved pale pink blouse, along with a pair of dark blue overalls; Jessie wore a short green skirt with a long hot pink sweater over it.

Both smiled in greeting to him, though it was Jessie who came over to him first.

"Hi, Noah!" She greeted excitedly.

Sarah came up shortly after, leaning down to peek in and look at Yugi, "Morning, Mr. Mutou."

He waved off the address, "You can just call me Yugi, Sarah."

She smiled, and then Noah looked between them, "Want a ride the rest of the way? I wasn't expecting one myself this morning."

They smiled and nodded, giving thanks as they got in the back seat.

Once they were driving again, Sarah looked over the shoulder of the passenger seat to Noah, "So…any more weird nightmares?"

"The same one the past three nights," He answered with a shrug, and then his eyebrows rose, "Though, last night's had the spectacular underwater views…"

Sarah frowned, but Jessie replied with a knowing tone, "Pressure."

Noah jumped, but looked around to Jessie, who sat behind the driver's seat, "Beg pardon–?"

"It's symbolizing pressure; since it alludes to the pressure you feel when you go deeper into the sea, it's representing pressure present in your life. Whether by people or events or things in general is determined by the person dreaming," She explained, before giving a thoughtful nod, "I'm not surprised. You've had a lot happen in the past week."

"How do you even know that stuff, though?" Noah asked with an arched brow, a bit put-off by her interpretation (mainly from how accurate it sounded).

Jessie brightened and gave a shrug of her own, "I like 'reading' dreams. I do it for myself, too. Dreams are windows into the subconscious; it helps to know what your own dreams mean. I usually remember mine when I wake up, so I can determine what they mean. Lately mine have been boring, though."

"She's been doing this for years," Sarah replied in an flat tone, and her eyes expressed she was just as put-off as Noah about the whole thing.

Yugi glanced at Noah, "Why don't you go ahead and tell them what you've seen, then? And what you've felt?"

"Cuz I already feel like a nutcase?" Noah replied with high brows, "I'd rather not confirm it?"

"C'mon, Noah, we've seen enough over the past week," Sarah said with a roll of her eyes, "You really believe we'd think you're crazy after everything–?"

He hesitated, but sighed, and looked to Jessie while he relaxed in the seat, "Okay…It starts out the same, usually just black and empty and I can hear shouts, but I never remember what they say or what they're from."

She gave a nod, and then motioned for him to continue.

"Normally, it's just in some kind of black abyss, but last night I was under water. There was this…" He searched the car roof for a word before settling, "This thing a little ways away. Before it looked like some kind of demon animal, but last night it looked more human. And then it screams at me before it fires off this black lightning bolt that almost hits me, but I wake up before it does."

Jessie looked down in thought, humming to herself, "Well, I already said 'deep sea' can mean pressure. Though, if it's stemming off of a black abyss, it might more represent the unknown, and likely fear of the unknown. I know that lightning in a dream represents anger and pain, especially if its striking something. It usually means the anger is directed at that thing in particular, whatever it's hitting."

"But what about the demon?" Noah asked, a bit tense.

She frowned and shrugged, "Well…usually demons can represent a fear of some kind. But if yours has been changing, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly it's a fear of."

"A-Anything else?"

Jessie frowned, hesitating in answering, though Sarah also looked at her with concern. Eventually, Jessie sighed and gave a small nod, "Demons can represent death, too."

They pulled into the school parking lot, and Noah sighed as he faced forward.

Yugi gently pat his shoulder, offering a reassuring smile, "I think we've talked about it enough, for now…Besides, we're at school and you guys need to get into the mindset for it."

The girls nodded, and Noah offered a reluctant 'yeah, okay' before they got out. Before leaving, Noah leaned down to look at his father through the passenger window.

"Thanks for the ride, Dad," His eyebrows rose, "You said you were heading to work, right?"

"Yeah. I just have a few things to take care of first. Paperwork and all…"

Noah gave a nod, patting the car door, "Good luck, then. I-I'll see you later."

As he walked away with Jessie and Sarah, Yugi ran a hand through his hair, speaking to the steering wheel while giving a small cringe, "Probably sooner than you think, actually."

By the time they got to the classroom, there was a message written on the chalkboard: "New Teacher Today, Be Respectful!"

"Wow, it's been ages since we've had a new teacher," Sarah mused aloud, glancing at the other two, "Think it'll be a girl this time?"

Noah shrugged, "I just hope they don't believe in the whole 'punishment as a warning' thing. I was always scared to death to do something wrong at schools like that…"

"You mean they had that at your old school?"

"No; they had that at my middle school. At the last high school I was at, the teachers hardly gave a care about you, whether you passed or failed or caused a problem. It wasn't exactly any easier."

The two girls frowned, however the bell then rang and they went to sit. Noah still sat in the centermost seat, Jessie behind him, and then Sarah sat over by the window.

Noah propped his chin up on his hand as the superintendent came into the classroom first.

"I hope you all saw the note I left," She replied, an excited smile on her face, "I, for one, am thrilled to have this new addition to the teaching staff. And I hope you all will greet the new teacher warmly."

She motioned to the door, "Please come in now?"

When they walked in, Noah's eyes widened sharply before his head briefly hit the desk from his hand slipping out from underneath his chin.

In walked Yugi, a warm smile on his face as he earned more than a few gasps from the entire class.

The superintendent grinned again, motioning to him, "As most of you have probably realized, this is Mr. Yugi Mutou, and he has come to the school to teach on a temporary position. I hope you will all treat him respectfully, despite having a celebrity among you."

She gave a nod to Yugi, shaking his hand vigorously (obviously still excited herself), before heading out of the classroom.

For a moment, everyone sat in silence as Yugi moved to lean back on his desk, first setting a few folders down before a light smirk sprouted on his face.

"All right," He said first, crossing his arms, "Bring it on—but one at a time, please, so that I can actually answer all of you."

The first to get a question out was a girl to Noah's right, and she bounced in her seat, "Are you really truly Yugi Mutou? Not just someone who looks like him?"

"The genuine article. Though probably a bit older than most of you will remember."

A boy behind Jessie stood to ask his question, "Mr. Mutou, sir, where have you been all these years, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I don't mind at all, but you can just call me Yugi. I went on a business trip and on the ride back home, we shipwrecked," His tone became a bit monotonous, adding on the right amount of grimness, "No one else got off that boat except me…and I was trapped on a nearby island ever since."

There was a small blanket of quiet, but then another girl at the front looked to him gently, "Are you still into dueling like before–?"

"Of course; it was too big a part of my life to just forget it in the time I was away."

Then, finally, Yugi straightened as the blond in the center of the room stood and looked to him, a forced smile recognized on his face although his blue eyes still were widened in shock.

"Wh-What exactly are you doing here, though–?" Noah questioned, trying to sound as respectful as possible for wanting to swear aloud in disbelief.

The smirk on Yugi's face grew, and he shrugged again, "Well, considering I've been away, I didn't see it fit to go back to the old desk job I had. Maybe at some point, but for now I felt I just needed to get used to being around people again. Since I'm a bit old to head back into school, and a bit too busy, I figured teaching at my old high school for a couple years or so would suffice."

This relaxed Noah just enough, and he slowly sat back down, but still stared at Yugi in shock the whole time.

More questions were asked afterwards, but by the time they all were answered, the class was about half over; Yugi let them all take a break, and Jessie started it by lightly smacking Noah on the arm.

"Why didn't you tell us?" She questioned with a pout.

He shrugged, "Oi, I didn't know either. I thought he was heading to his old job? Like at an office and everything—I didn't know he meant he had a new one."

Then he stood, heading up to the front desk and towards his father, who looked to be waiting for him.

"Surprise," Yugi replied while his brows rose.

Noah's brows knit into a small glare, "Surprise my—"

"At school, Noah. Watch your mouth."

"Surprise my behind, then. Why didn't you say anything in the car–?"

Yugi shrugged, offering a weak smile, "Frankly, I was worried about what you would think. I wasn't sure how embarrassed you would be to have your father teaching one of your subjects."

"Not embarrassed, actually, I was seriously just surprised," Noah replied, before his shoulders fell and he frowned, "But—c-could you do me a solid and not call me by last name at all?"

Yugi straightened, his brows knitting, "Why?"

"I-It's really nothing against you anymore, I swear, b-but…" A small blush came into Noah's cheeks, "I hate that much attention; you know everyone would bombard me with questions, too, and I-I'm just so not comfortable with that kind of thing."

Yugi's expression softened a bit, and he gave a small nod, "Yeah, all right. I can understand not being used to the attention. I'm not one to bask in it, I just know I can't avoid it."

Then he shrugged, "I'll avoid a last name if I can, however I may need to address you by it at some point for public courtesy."

"But you'll just call me Noah if you can?"

"Yes, I'll just call you Noah if I can."

Noah let his head drop for a moment, clasping his hands together, "Thank you…"

Yugi smirked, but then motioned to the desks, "C'mon, head back to your seat; I do need to actually teach something today."

Surprisingly enough, Noah quite enjoyed having Yugi teach his class; history had never been his strong point, but the way his father recounted events and dates somehow made it easier for him to understand. He still wasn't fond of it, however at least he could recall things back a lot easier.

Yugi never had to address Noah by his last name, so he had yet to reveal to anyone that the two of them were related. [Though Noah knew it was only a matter of time.]

In the late afternoon, Jessie ended up coming over to Noah rather excitedly, dragging him along down the hallway to only-God-knew-where [not only did this attract many stares from other students, but somehow Noah was getting used to her pulling on his arm].

When they finally stopped, she directed his attention to a poster on the wall; specifically, it was a poster for a school Dueling competition, a small one, going on after classes that very day.

Noah straightened, looking to her, "Jessie, I-I don't think I can do it…"

"Aw, why not?" She replied, frowning before smiling again, "This would be a good chance to get into it again, and it won't be a life-or-death situation."

Noah's brows arched, "Death-free would be nice…"

"So, then, you'll try it?" She asked him hopefully.

He looked to her, and then looked back to the poster; if he was honest with himself, he did feel something stir in his heart, some kind of excitement at the idea of a competition. A part of him felt nervous, though, and it kept nagging at him.

Then he felt a small bit of vibration from the Puzzle over his chest; Atem silently encouraged him to enter.

He ended up sighing, shoulders slouching, "Okay, okay—I'll do it…"

She gave a small squeal of delight, and then dragged him along once again to get him registered. The registry table sat in the library, and another senior along with one of the older teachers headed the table.

The teacher gave the two a smile, though kept his voice low since they were in the library, "Oh, hello—would you two like to enter the contest?"

Jessie smiled and nudged Noah forward, "Not me—just him."

Noah sighed, and the student slid a clipboard forward with a paper on it, about fifteen names on it, "Perfect; we needed one more duelist, anyway. If you could just sign with your name and room number, we'll be all set."

Noah went ahead and signed his name at the bottom, labeling the room, and then slid it back over.

The professor frowned gently, "Son, we need your full name."

Noah's eyes widened, and he parroted, "F-Full name?"

"Well, yes. Your full name must be announced for the leaderboard—and it's school rules."

Noah pressed his lips into a frown, however Jessie gently elbowed him, whispering back "Go on, it'll be okay."

He sighed again, leaning down and whispering, almost at an inaudible level, his full name.

The professor's eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that, please?"

"Noah Mutou," Noah replied quickly and just a little louder.

A stone dropped into his stomach when both the student and the professor jumped and looked at Noah with wide eyes.

The teacher then removed his glasses, a small smile sprouting on his face, "Good Lord, are you really?"

Noah shuffled his feet in discomfort, flushing, "Y-Yessir…"

The student gave a quiet laugh of excitement, and the teacher wrote the full name down while his eyebrows rose, "Well, this will be an exciting competition, then."

"Your father is really Yugi Mutou, then–?" The student questioned, "You're not pulling our legs?"

Noah gave another nod, "Yes, he-uh…just came home, about a week ago. H-He was…in an accident, that my mom and I thought he hadn't made it out. But it's true."

Another chuckle escaped the student, but then he cleared his throat and looked back to Noah, "Oh-uh—what kind of deck will you be using?"

This part did peak Noah's interest, and his brows knit together in intrigue, "Can we use homemade decks?"

"Yes, but they have to be tournament legal."

A small smile came onto Noah's face, and he gave a small nod, "I'll be using a homemade deck, then."

The teacher wrote this down as well, and then the two looked up at Noah with small smiles, "The competition starts right after the last class of the day—just come by here to check in, and then the entire group of competitors will head out to the gym."

Noah nodded, and then the two of them headed out.

"Homemade deck?" Jessie questioned Noah once they were walking.

"Well, most people will start out with a structure deck that are pre-arranged," Noah replied, a small smile still on his face, "But I've arranged my own deck, recently, mixing different structure decks."

When he looked forward again, Jessie took closer inspection of his face; the small smile steadily grew, and there was a kind of fiery passion in his eyes that the girl only ever saw in her father's before he was to head out to the dueling platform.

"Are you excited…?" She questioned with a small smile of her own.

Noah gave a nod, not bothering to argue, "Yeah. I really am."

They had to head back to their classroom, but for the rest of the day, Noah was mentally running through his deck and trying to piece together strategies with his old cards. It had still been quite some time since he actually dueled, at least in front of so many people, but at the same time, he felt much more confident about it since he'd be using his own deck (and his life wouldn't be at risk).

"I'm a bit amused that you're thinking about it this much," Noah heard at the back of his mind during the last class, while they were reading to themselves.

Noah was relieved Atem's sudden comments no longer surprised him, and he kept looking to the page so that no one would get suspicious, 'Are you really all that surprised…?'

"Somewhat, yes, considering past events. But I'm glad you're excited for it."

'Well…More than just 'excited', honestly…'

Then a small frown, albeit subtle, formed over Noah's forehead; to onlookers, it simply looked like he was having difficulty understanding a part of the chapter.

'Atem…what if something happens again? Dueling against Olivia was one thing, but the last I really dueled in front of people, nothing was at stake then, either.'

"Noah, you don't have to worry about that. I don't know what caused you to pass out before, but lightning never strikes the same place twice."

Noah still frowned, though, looking down at the desk instead of the book.

"If you're really that worried, though, I can take over if anything happens."

This time, Noah jumped a little, though tried to keep it as less-noticeable as possible.

'You're serious–? This is just kid stuff, not a world championship.'

"The difficulty of the duel does not matter to me, Noah. If you somehow end up endangered during one of the duels, I can step in while keeping your appearance to prevent anything from happening."

This did give Noah a bit of relief, shoulders relaxing, and a weak smile came onto his face while he went back to reading.

'Thanks, Atem…'

It was quiet for the rest of the time, until the final bell rang. Another surge of excitement ran through Noah, and he immediately booked it after his last class over to the library.

He ended up bumping into Yugi on the way there, and his father looked after him when Noah only got out a quick apology and hurried on, "Hey!—Noah, where are you going–?"

Noah turned back, still walking backwards down the hall, "I'm late! I've gotta get to the library, or I'll be disqualified!"

Yugi's eyes widened, "Disqualified from what?"

A smirk came onto his son's face, "A Dueling competition!"

Then he turned around and continued on, Yugi's jaw having dropped ever so slightly; he parroted the words to himself, but then blinked a couple of times and straightened his jacket.

"This I have to see…" He mumbled to himself, heading in the same direction as Noah.

Noah had been fully expecting a lot of people in the gym for the small competition; what he had not been expecting was the stands to be completely packed, plus some crowded around the actual dueling platforms.

"Why are there so many…!?" He said to himself in a small panic, peeking between the crack in the ajar double doors.

He felt Atem's presence nearby, and he offered a small shrug, "They all wish to see your debut."

"What 'debut'? This is just a school gig–!"

"Noah, by this point, everyone will have known Yugi was back, and thanks to the leaderboard, they know you're his son. Seeing the son of a Dueling Legend getting into the family game is a big deal."

Noah gave a small huff, leaning back against the wall and looking to Atem, glad they were alone in the hallway, "Great. That's gonna make it even better if I pass out again."

"You won't pass out again, remember?" Atem replied with a frown, "If anything happens, I'll take over to make sure no one knows anything. Besides, I doubt anyone expects you to be perfect right off the bat."

Noah gave him a light glare, "Bullshit. You know everyone is expecting exactly that. They don't know what I've been through."

Atem caught his breath, but then sighed, and looked to Noah with a light glare of his own, "Do you want to do this…?"

Hesitantly, Noah shrugged, "Well…yeah."

"Do you think your name has any effect on your talent?"

"No…"

"And do you think Yugi would expect you to be absolutely perfect at this after having not played for years?" Atem finally asked him in a knowing tone.

Noah sighed, standing up from leaning against the wall, "No, he wouldn't…He'd tell me to do my best and not to be nervous because I wouldn't be up there to impress anyone, I'd be up there because I love dueling."

Atem smiled and gave a nod, "Exactly."

Noah managed a small smile, and then took a deep breath before slowly exhaling it.

A buzzing sound was made outside in the gym, and Noah gave a firm nod, "All right…Here we go."

He felt Atem's presence fade, and he stood strong before the doors, waiting for his name to be announced.

The tournament moved along swiftly and with adrenaline filling the air; once all the duelists had been matched up for the first round, Yugi tried to get near enough to the stage, waiting for Noah to come up.

On the first match, Noah went up against a freshman girl who was using a Light-type Structure deck. Before starting the match, though, Noah caught his father's eye; Yugi smiled and gave a firm nod, and that was all Noah needed for any last bits of anxiety to drain away.

As the duels went on, Atem made sure to keep back so Noah could concentrate, but paid close attention to Noah's strategy as well, in case he really did need to step in. However, he was a bit surprised when he finally recognized the style Noah used.

Chain reaction. And the technique in which it was carried out with was devastating.

Noah left absolutely no outs for the opponent; once they had activated a trap or monster effect, the rest of the combo would play out with no negation or break in flow until the duel was done. It shouldn't have been surprising that Noah was able to pull off such a strategy, but Atem was more shocked that Noah had been so nervous. He was a natural, just like his father, and just as Atem had expected.

It wasn't until the final matchup that the problem arose.

Noah had made it all the way to the finals, completely relaxed at this point. His final opponent was another senior male, Kenji, who was very competitive, but also fairly nice. He sat at the front in Noah's classes; he even joked before their match that he should've recognized Noah from his spiky hair.

The two wished each other luck, and they headed up to their spots on the dueling platforms. Their disks were charged, the holographic projectors were activated, and the duel began.

It went through smoothly through the first half, the crowd elated and both males were entirely focused.

Near the end, after Kenji had finally triggered the chain reaction, Noah was feeling the small chill in his shoulder again. His hands shook a bit as he summoned out his monster, and it suddenly felt hard to breathe.

'No…! Not again, please…!' He momentarily panicked, a hand pressing over his heart. The crowd began murmuring when he abruptly stopped in the midst of his move.

Kenji tried to call to the duel referee across the way when he saw the same, "Hey!—We need to stop the Duel, something's wrong!"

"No!"

He looked across the way again after Noah gave a small shout back; he panted lightly, and he looked to be in pain, but he kept a determined gaze on his face.

"I-I'll be fine!" He tried to reassure across the way, "Let's finish the duel!"

Kenji didn't look keen on the idea, but he kept from objecting again; he would rather have finished the duel as well.

So, Noah went on with his move, activating a spell card after having summoned his monster, which ended up strengthening his monster's attack and defense. At the same time, it sent another chill through him from his shoulder; he started to feel very hot afterwards, growing more uncomfortable as it went on. It almost felt like he was having a heat stroke.

"Noah, stop!" Atem finally made himself known, sensing the internal imbalance, "There's something wrong, you need to stop the duel!"

'No!' Came a sharp reply, and Noah clenched his jaw as his hands shook, 'I'm not quitting this duel! I'm fine!'

From the crowd, nearby Noah's platform, Yugi also saw he was in pain; his brows knit.

Noah negated one of Kenji's trap cards with one of his own, and then went forward with his final attack; just as the attack went through, and Kenji's life points fell to zero, Noah's knees gave out beneath him. Heat surged through him instead of the chill from earlier, and his head swam as he collapsed limply to the ground.

The next he saw was black, and for quite some time, he remained unconscious, a loud ringing in his ears. He didn't hear Atem, and he didn't feel anything physically either, like his nerves had been severed.

It was a strange dream, very realistic, but not the same abyss like it had been every other time he'd been unconscious.

Noah saw himself, huddled in a fetal position on the ground in some kind of white room, though it looked an awful lot like vines were beginning to grow over him and cover him. But then, rather abruptly, the vines split apart like a cocoon, and blue-tinged wings sprouted behind him. They looked dragon-like, but were translucent and almost shimmering like the surface of clear water.

Too quickly, shadows then engulfed the room and circled him, seeming to swallow him, and the faint, glowing wings were suddenly ripped away.

Black vines struck his body and took root under his skin, his body contorting painfully as the dark energy and shadows poisoned his being once more. His blue eyes gradually changed to red, like blood was staining the fibers of his irises.

Light blinded Noah as his eyes snapped open; for a moment, he felt disoriented, and he couldn't see properly. Things almost moved in slow-motion.

Then a hand came over his forehead, and moved over his eyes, and he just barely heard someone tell him not to open them yet. He went ahead and closed them, though the resulting pain that came from doing so almost made him want to open them again.

But the pain died off eventually, and the tremble he realized he had also stopped soon after. The hand moved away from his eyes, and he tried to open them again.

His vision was clear this time, or at least not quite so bright, and he found it easier to breathe; whatever had happened earlier, it seemed like it had stopped just as abruptly as it had happened.

"Noah…?"

A gentle call caught his attention, and he felt a hand over his forehead again. He groaned lightly, trying to turn his head to look over. Movement felt like a foreign concept at the moment.

Yugi looked to Noah with narrowed eyes, a small frown over his forehead. It looked like they were back home, in the living room. Noah lay on the couch, and Yugi sat on the coffee table next to him. Téa didn't seem to be there, but Yugi had the phone near him.

Noah tried to say something, but the words got caught in his throat; air passing through his throat made it feel raw and scratchy and he coughed in response [though this only made the feeling worse].

His father gently shushed him in response, speaking quietly afterwards, "You passed out at the end of the match. You wouldn't wake up, but I managed to convince the nurse I could just take you home. I brought you to the house with Jessie and Sarah's help, and once they left and we were away from people, you started screaming."

Noah's eyes widened a little. So far, he'd only ever twitched, mumbled, and spoke a little in his sleep. But scream?

"It was…pretty bad…" Yugi replied in response to his shock, voice quieting even more, "You were thrashing so much that I had to hold onto you to make sure you didn't hurt yourself…"

He sighed, before he ran a hand through Noah's hair, "When you opened your eyes the first time, th-they were black and red…"

Noah was startled, remembering that was what he saw in his dream.

"Noah, what happened…?" Yugi then asked with a small glare, though his voice remained soft, "Why didn't you stop the duel? You had to have felt something was wrong."

Noah frowned lightly, though his eyes grew confused, and he looked off before finally trying to speak again.

"I-I don't know…" His voice was quiet, and a bit squeak-like from nearly being lost, "I-I just…I-I felt…like I c-couldn't stop…I had to go on…"

Then Noah jumped, looking to his father in a panic, "I-I can't hear Atem—I-I didn't hear him at all before, wh-why can't I hear him now–!?"

"Ssh…" Yugi hushed him first, making sure Noah was relaxed against the cushions again before responding, "He took over shortly after you passed out, as I was getting you to the car, but he only could for a moment. He was only able to say something about a power being over-exerted, and that he was trying to fend off something as best he could. I'm not entirely sure what he meant, but he must've used a lot of his own energy to help you. You probably can't hear him cuz he might still be asleep himself."

This relaxed Noah a little, and his neck finally relaxed as well, and then Yugi looked to him intently, "I think you need more rest…"

Noah looked up at him fearfully, conveying that the idea of sleeping did not sound well-advised at the moment.

"I'll be right here by you," Yugi reassured, hand still running through Noah's hair, "I've called your mom already to let her know what happened, and she'll be home soon, too."

Noah still didn't look all that reassured; Yugi frowned a bit more, and then moved down to be able to embrace him properly. Noah melted into it, returning it (although moving still felt strange), and broke down again, silently crying. He shook all over, and his father gently tried to coax him to sleep again.

After quite some time, Yugi didn't feel Noah shaking anymore, and he gently laid him back down to find him asleep again. He sighed in relief, and then put a blanket over Noah so that he was a bit more comfortable.

He sat by him again, watching him to make sure he stayed all right.

The feeling of grass brushing against his cheek was what first woke Noah; he was a bit confused by the sudden texture when he had just been lying on the couch in the living room. He opened his eyes, finding a blue sky and green grass and peonies and gladiolus all around him; his Soul Room.

Noah tried to get himself up; he knew he wouldn't have been brought there without a reason, at least as far as he knew. He was able to get himself into a sitting position, but he still felt rather disoriented and exhausted.

Just a few feet away, though, he saw Atem, comfortably asleep on his side in the grass; he didn't look to be in pain, and he didn't look injured otherwise. Noah sighed with relief, going over [having to crawl to move since he still felt numb] and sat by Atem.

His voice still felt quiet, but at least his throat didn't hurt, "Atem…?"

He put a hand gently to Atem's shoulder. Atem's eyes split open, fluttering open wider, before turning to look at him. A weak smile came onto his face; he looked fairly exhausted himself.

"I'm glad you're all right…" He mumbled, moving to lie on his back, passing a hand over his face.

Noah sighed and laid next to him, glad to be lying down again; he felt a bit sick still, and Atem sounded just as tired as he felt.

"What the hell happened…?" Noah got out in more of a grumble than he had intended.

Atem sighed himself, looking up at the empty sky, "An onslaught, frankly…Zorc tried to attack you again. That and there was something from the duel that was causing a power to be exerted."

His eyes narrowed and he looked to Noah, "And the power wasn't mine, Noah. Somehow, it was coming from you, and it was triggered by your dueling."

Noah's brows knit, "No offense, but I've never had or tried using any of that freaky Egyptian magic."

"Noah, this isn't a guess—I know it came from you. It provided a bit of protection from Zorc's attack, but it attracted it as well. It's very strange magic."

"B-But it just couldn't have come from me—I-I mean, I-I'm not a pharaoh like you are, I wasn't raised to know what magic was—"

"You don't have to be raised knowing what it is, Noah. It seems like you were born with it. After all, you first summoned back my spirit at a very young age; it only makes sense that you would still retain some bit of that power now, maybe something even stronger from being older. I told you—some kind of power was awakened in you. We have no idea what form it'll take."

Noah sighed, looking up at the sky with worry, "You said it was strange magic, though. What kind of 'strange' are we talkin' about?"

"Just as I said; it protected you from Zorc's attack after I couldn't any more, but it was a kind of homing beacon for him as well. He knew exactly where to attack you, he just couldn't touch it. It's strange because this magic protected you, yet caused the attack in the first place."

"And it was triggered through my dueling…?"

Atem nearly answered him, but stopped when he recognized the tone of defeat. Noah looked off with saddened eyes.

Atem frowned gently, "Yes…It was."

He looked off before sighing again, "I'm sorry, Noah…I know how you were just growing to enjoy it again…"

For a moment afterwards, it was quiet between them, until Noah took in a deep breath.

"You know…I think I still do."

Atem jumped and looked back to Noah in surprise, and Noah hesitated before his eyebrows rose, "I-I could feel something was off in that duel, but…it almost felt like something was preventing me from stopping the duel. Something in me refused to just give up the match to what was happening, even if I didn't feel right."

A weak smirk grew on his face, "I think…I was almost competitive about it. The idea of losing just made my insides twist. I just…got really angry about it, I guess."

Then he sighed and looked to Atem, "So I fell again," He shrugged, "I can get over it now, and stand back up. I couldn't before, but now I can. I have you to thank for that."

Atem arched a brow, "Me?"

"Yeah. I mean, you were the one who was saying I just had to duel again to get over my fear. Turns out you were right," He looked up at the sky, "You taught me not to give up or give in."

Atem smiled weakly again, positioning his head upright again and gently closing his eyes.

Noah's brows knit as he thought, "Y-You know…I-I had…another weird dream before I woke up this time…I-It was almost like I was encased in ice, but then it shattered and I had these wings…they looked really pretty…but then…dark energy started to take me and they were torn away…and Dad said my eyes were black and red when I opened them…D-Do you think that—"

He stopped in the midst of the question, having looked back over to Atem, to see was unconscious again, peacefully asleep.

Noah frowned gently, but then looked away and closed his eyes himself, a soft exhale escaping him through the nose.

To be honest, he didn't really want to know what that nightmare meant, anyway.