Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh; that is the property of Konami and the creator Kazuki Takahashi. I do own a Bible and my idea for the story.

I dedicate this chapter to Ch4ngeOfH3art. Her review for the last chapter is one of the many things that I hope that people get out of reading this story.

A shout-out also, to ScreamGirl4998, .1 and wendygon95, I appreciate y'all making sure that I hadn't forgotten to write the story and I also appreciate your patience (and enthusiasm) on waiting for the next chapter

Chapter 23: The Broken Promise (Part 1)

"When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it"

– Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 NKJV

Yami looks at Peter (as if he were a deer caught in headlights) trying to comprehend what he just said "Y-You be-betrayed yo-your friend?" stutters out Yami in disbelief. "Yes, I did" replies the older man solemnly, "it was out of my false sense of pride and righteousness (and mainly fear) that I allow to influence me into making the decisions, that lead into, that betrayal".

The confession hangs in the air for a moment. Yami looks at Peter and sees the regret upon the older man's face "I know what it's like to betray a friend, too" mentions Yami. Peter turns to meet Yami's gaze and sees that he is looking at the fire with the same look of regret upon his face. A small smile appears on Peter's face as he places his hand upon Yami's shoulder. "It seems like we have something in common" says Peter. Yami's only response is a small smile of his own.

A moment goes by as the two men continue to look at the fire. "Do you want to sit down?" questions Peter. Yami nods absentminded as he takes up Peter's suggestion and sits down next to the fire. A few moments pass, as the men enjoy the silence between them. Yami doesn't know what to think, about what Peter just reveled to him. "It's just like Peter said, we have something in common". With this revelation, Yami feels a certain kinship with the older man; someone who could possibly understand him and not pass judgement on his actions.

With this thought, Yami feels like he can talk to Peter about what he did. He couldn't really do this with the gang. Yes, they forgave him; their actions afterwards are proof of that. But, Yami didn't want to reopen the still fresh wounds that his betrayal left on the group. With Peter, Yami could be more open with what happened and how he felt at the time without the fear of hidden judgement.

But also, the other reason why Yami didn't want to talk about this with the gang is because, he didn't (and hasn't) forgiven himself for what he did and wonder if he really deserved their forgiveness despite what he had done. "A penny for your thoughts?" hearing the modern idiom brings Yami out of his depressing thoughts. Yami shakes his head, and takes a deep breath. "Should I tell him everything or just a summary? What will he think if I tell him that I'm just a spirit of a Pharaoh inhabiting my abiou's body?" thinks Yami as the inward battle of his thoughts continue.

"Yami" hearing his name brings him out of his thoughts (once more) as he looks at the older man. "You don't have to feel rush or obligated to tell me everything. Just tell me what you are comfortable with and I promise to listen" finishes Peter. A sense of calm comes over Yami at Peter's words. The fear and doubt that clouded his mind are push back into the recesses as Yami takes in another deep breath and sighs. "Thank you" replies Yami.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

"First, I should tell you that I'm not who you think that I am" starts off Yami slowly. Out of the corner of his eye, Yami can see the look of confusion upon Peter's face. The older man looks like he wants to ask Yami a question, but restrains himself and encourages Yami (with his eyes) to continue. "I'm actually a spirit of long dead king of Egypt, whose soul was sealed away in the Millenium Puzzle". To emphasize his point, Yami lifts up the puzzle and has the eye staring back at him. "I was lock inside this puzzle for many years, so long in fact, that I don't remember much of my past or what kind of person I really was."

"I lay dormant within the Puzzle, waiting for something to happen; of what I didn't know. It wasn't until forty years ago (1) when a young Solomon Mutou found the Puzzle and took it out of my tomb; where he kept it in his game shop for several years.

Then a few years ago, I was release by Solomon's grandson, whose name is Yugi Mutou (a shy child-like teenage boy), after he put the puzzle back together. Yugi was (at first) unaware of my existence and I would basically take over his body, whenever someone did him injustice or someone close to him. He and his friends became aware of my existence after sometime; they ended up calling me a friend and wanted to help me reclaim my lost memories. Over time, we went through many trials and duels together and during that time, I was given a new name."

"Yugi and I developed a strong bond (one that is of brothers). I use to think that together we were an unstoppable team; that is until, Rafael show up. Rafael, a follower of Dartz, stole our Egyptian God Cards and we were force to duel another follower of Dartz, to get them back. We won the duel, but Rafael still ended up leaving with the god cards."

"Sometime later, we received one of the Dragons of Atlantis, The Eye of Timaeus, and we wanted to learn more about what was happening with Dartz and his followers. So after some time we winded up in America, chasing down leads; of which, lead us to meet up with Professor Hawkins (whom had recently discovered a connection between Duel Monsters and the possible ruins of the lost city of Atlantis)."

"While on our way there, the Professor had been kidnap and the conditions for his safe return were for me to go to Dead Valley and participate in an Orichalcos duel with Rafael. Upon learning these conditions, Yugi and I decided to not to inform the gang; believing that we didn't want to put our friends into further danger and believing that we could handle this alone. So when the opportunity presented itself, we left on our own and headed out to Dead Valley."

"Once there, we meet Rafael and talk. I accused him and Dartz as being evil, he turn it around and question my sense of what justice is and concluded that only history would be the judge of their actions. Rafael's words had more of an effect on me, than I would have like to admit. His words spur me and I was eager to prove him wrong, so we had our duel".

"I had greatly underestimated how powerful of an opponent, Rafael was. He played as a man who would protect those precious to him (more specifically his cards). He countered every move I made, so as to make sure that his monsters were not destroyed; all the while, he chipped away at my life points. I must admit that out of all the enemies that I've faced so far. Rafael has the most respect for his cards and a trust that I hadn't seen in others" adds in Yami with respect to the man.

"During our duel, we continued our discussion over the matters of justice and Rafael mentioned that their once was an evil king whose lust for power was so great that he sought to destroy the world to obtain it." Yami pauses as he can hear Rafael explain the story once more in his head. "And for what purpose did this Rafael tell you this?" questions Peter for the first time since Yami started talking. Taking a deep breath, Yami lets the question sit for a minute before answering.

"As I mention earlier, I don't recall much of my past. And when Rafael, finished telling me the story…." "He said it was you" finishes Peter. "I obviously denied it," continues Yami, "but a part of me believed that the possibility existed, since I truly didn't know how my reign as king was. And the visions that did have of my past could have hinted to that as a possibility too" adds in Yami.

Yami recalls the feelings of self-doubt swirling inside him during the duel and how he tried to bury them deep within him; so that Yugi wouldn't be able sense that what Rafael had said, surly had shaken him. "The duel continued and I was managing to starve off Rafael's offense, but his spell and trap cards where becoming a nuisance; chipping away at my life points while still protecting his monsters from my attacks."

"After a while, I managed to draw the two cards that I needed. I was so relieved to finally have drawn The Eye of Timaeus, to which, I believed that I was going to finally prove Rafael and his beliefs wrong. But after summoning Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knightto the field, Rafael did something unexpected. He played the spell card Exchange, which forces players to look at one another's hand and choose a card to take."

"Why was this unexpected" ask Peter. "It was because Rafael had in his hand The Seal of Orichalcos and hadn't played it yet" explain Yami, "When I saw that he had it. I decided to take advantage of the situation and took the card so that it couldn't be played and this is when I made a promise to Yugi that I wouldn't play the card. But, I was wrong. I played right into Rafael's hand. Right after this, Rafael continued to counter my monsters; to the point that I was tempted to play the card."

"But, Yugi reminded me that I didn't need it. So, I listen to him and resisted it for a while. The duel continued and I was continuing to get frustrated and all-the-while, all my fears and insecurities (that Rafael's words had spurred) were now at the forefront. Blinding me from thinking clearly and all I could think about was 'I need to play that card'. Yugi tried to reason with me and I continued to get frustrated with him."

"I eventually had enough. I could no longer listen to Yugi" says Yami with the look of shame upon his face for recalling how he treated his friend in that moment. "I disregarded Yugi's pleas and attempts to keep me from playing that card. I no longer cared about anything other than winning the duel at any cost. So, I broke my promise and played the card."

At this Yami looks at his trembling hands as the memory of what happened next comes to mind. Tears start to form in his eyes as he remembers hearing Yugi's screams as the Seal was activated and feeling nothing but overwhelming dark power coming from the card and the hot feel of the infamous Seal upon his forehead for the first time.

"Once, I played the card. I could no longer hear nor feel Yugi's presence next to me. All I could feel was the promise of power to win the duel and nothing else mattered."

And I will stop right there. Hi everyone, I'm so sorry for taking so long to get this next chapter out. I had taken a little mini-break from writing the story and had intended for this chapter to come out last week. But every time, I thought I was satisfied with the direction the chapter was going. I started it over. I really do believe that the devil was (and still is) trying to keep me from working more on this story. Despite, what y'all might believe (in accordance to faith or religion) this is what I have been going through the last two weeks.

Anyway, I hope that this chapter was well worth the wait and I hope y'all can take me teasing you with a Part 1 chapter.

See you next time,

LadyRaider92

Author's Note

I am taking a huge guess here. I don't know for sure how old Grandpa was when he found the Millenium Puzzle. So please humor me (thank you)