Hello! I would like to thank and dedicate this chapter to Youngbountygirl! She gave me the idea for Atem and even went out of her way to go researching for me. X3 I never would have thought about the idea if it weren't for her, so yay!
So you know, when it comes in time for the changing POV, it will start out with before Yugi had called and left Atem a message. :P
Lisa: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of its characters! If we did, oh boy, there'd be a lot of different things happening.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Yugi's POV
The afternoon sunlight casted a shadow on the door as Yugi stood in front of it, trying to collect his thoughts before entering the house. He knew his father was home, by the car parked in the front and he had a feeling his mom was home also. He could hear voices being raised in the house and as much as he wanted to barge in through the door, he knew he needed to pause and think about what he was going to say.
The walk here from the park had given him a pretty good script on what he was going to say. He knew most of it was going to change when he encountered his father, but he had an idea of what to say and that was all that mattered.
"Deep breath…" He muttered to no one in particular. He did as he said and slowly exhaled and did it one more time. Nerves were starting to eat his insides up and he needed them to go away. If not, things might not go so well. He needed to look tough just as much as act it. He was standing up to his father, calling him out, and he needed to be calm, collected, and not a wimp.
Taking another minute, Yugi managed to half his nerves. Then, he turned the door knob and entered the house.
Awaiting him, in the middle of the room, was his parents. They were in the middle of an argument that had his mom in tears. Tears of anger or tears of fear, he couldn't tell. When he closed the door behind him and took a few steps into the house, they stopped their heated conversation and at the same time, both turned to him.
Much like the night Yugi had come home from his sightseeing in Austin, his mother gave off a sigh of relief while his father had a dangerous look to him. His eyes were cold and hard and he curled his lip in hatred.
"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded in a softer voice then he had used when he was yelling.
Yugi walked closer to him and said in a calm voice, "I needed some air." He said it like it was the simplest explanation in the world. He came to a stop a few feet from the man. He cast a look towards his mother, noticing that she wanted to stand by his side, but the man of the house would stop her before she could even move one foot. So, she stayed where she was and sent him a silent question.
Are you okay? The look asked.
He gave a small nod of the head before returning his eyes back to his father.
"Needed some air my ass," Chokichi growled. "I told you to stay here and you disobeyed me. Not only that, but you left food out, causing it to spoil." He took a step towards his son and a dangerous look passed through his eyes.
Yugi stood his ground, not allowing himself to take a step backwards, even though he was tempted too. His father was getting to close to him, invading his space but if he allowed himself to step back, he would be giving his father the honor of knowing he was scared.
Chokichi stopped when he was a foot and a half away. "I'm sick and tired of you rebelling." He said, his voice lowering a notch. "You've been slacking on your chores, going against the rules and lying. Tell me, what should I do for your punishment? I need something that will work this time because knocking you out isn't doing anything."
Yugi met his father in the eyes and used the same tone of voice as his father, "Let me and my mom go home."
A smile danced at the corners of the man's face as he was amused by the answer. "You are home."
"No. Home as in back in Japan. Home as where Jii-chan is. Home as in where my friends and school are waiting. Home as where my brother is!" His voice had risen with each sentence and he couldn't stop himself. "This is not my home!" He gestured around the room to indicate what he was talking about. "No matter what you say, this will never be my home. This is just a place to me where I just happen to be living for the time being."
Chokichi felt like slapping the child but for some reason, he resisted the urge to. For some reason, his son was changing and sticking up for himself and yelling back. In a way, he sort of felt proud. But, that didn't mean anything. He just stared at his son as he continued to talk.
"I know why you brought me and mom here," Yugi said, getting a raised eyebrow from his father and a curious look from his mom. "You're broke and in debt. You need to pay off bills but with no money, it's hard to do that. Yes, I went into your office because you left it opened." He said when he caught sight of his father narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"I thought I -," Chokichi started to say but Yugi ignored him and continued to talk over him.
"And do you want to know what's funny about this whole thing? You brought me here for no reason." He couldn't help but have a small smile on his face, even though on the inside, his mind was in chaos. "You knew I had a lot of money in my account so you thought you could just take the money away from me and pay your bills off, since you know, we're family. But, guess what? Mom's name isn't on my account."
Chokichi frowned. He didn't see that one coming. He turned to look at his wife and asked in a tight voice, "Your name… isn't on his account?"
Miyuki shook her head, hiding a smile on her face. "No, it isn't. Since I was traveling a lot, I asked Solomon to have his name on Yugi's account in case something ever happened. It's a good thing I did that."
Chokichi paused, anger appearing on his face. He had thought Miyuki's name was on the account since she was the mother. He never took into account that his father's name would be on the account. But, he was going to have to work around that. He needed that money and he was going to get it one way or another.
He rubbed his chin in thought, wondering what he should do. But, as he was thinking, he noticed the look on his son's face, that look that said he won. That just angered the man more as to where he reached out and slapped the boy across the face with the back of his hand.
"Wipe that look off of your face." He growled and turned around. "If you need me, I'll be in my office."
Yugi regained his composer and watched his father leave the room. He smiled. Things were going to get better soon.
As soon as Chokichi left the room, Miyuki walked over to her son and hugged him tight, "Oh that was something."
Yugi nodded and hugged her back. "Yes, that was. I don't think I ever want to do something like that again." His knees started to shake and he buried his face in his mom's shoulder, wishing that he could just hide there forever.
"What're we going to do now?" Miyuki wondered out loud as she started to caress her son's hair. She laid her head on top of his and pondered on this thought.
"We're going to have to stay here for a while longer," Yugi said, glumly. He could feel his mom pulling back, knowing that she was going to ask 'what for' so he told her, "Dad can put claims on me since I'm still seventeen and he's my father. If I'm eighteen, then I'm free to do whatever I want. We're going to have to stay for at least a month more." The only question is, could they wait that long?
Atem's POV
Atem fell into bed that night, completely exhausted. He was shivering uncontrollably and reached for a blanket beside him. He had to lift himself up to drag the rest from underneath him. Even with the small movement, his arms started to shake from the strain and when the blanket came free, he fell back, resting against the pillow and mattress. Slowly, he wrapped his upper body in the softness of the blanket and felt a little warmer.
It was barely even seven o'clock and he was already in bed, though he wasn't dressed for it. He was still wearing his school's uniform with a jacket on top. He didn't even eat dinner yet and he was already in bed.
"What is wrong with me?" He moaned and turned his head until his face was in the pillow. He still felt cold and without warning, his teeth began to chatter the way Yugi's did when it was winter and he was walking to school. His shivering continued on and he blindly searched for his comforter with his hand before wrapping it around his body.
It was weird. This morning, he was fine. Besides him having a random headache that popped up when he woke up and stayed with him the entire day, nothing seemed to be wrong with him. Or, not that he had noticed. It wasn't until an hour before school let out he was starting to feel bad. His headache increased and he felt tired. Like all of a sudden he was about to collapse due to complete and total exhaustion. If it hadn't been for Tristan walking right next to him, he probably would have fallen and hurt himself. But, that wasn't the only thing. When he was talking, he started to mumble and then had problems with keeping the conversation going. He didn't know why. It was never in his character to mumble or have difficulty talking.
"Maybe you're coming down with something," Tea's voice echoed around his mind. She had told him that earlier today when he was caught laying his head down on the table.
"Must be that…" He mumbled and felt a shiver run down his spine. He tightened the covers around him, wishing that the cold would just go away.
When he had gotten home an hour ago, grandpa was still in the shop, dealing with customers, so he didn't notice his grandson looking bad. They exchanged hi's before Atem had disappeared into the shop and gone straight upstairs, but not before going to the kitchen and doing a few things. Now, he was here and feeling worse than ever.
Even from his room, he could finally hear grandpa saying goodbye to the last customer and then closing the shop up for the night. The locks were the first thing that the owner always did before cleaning up a little. So Atem knew it was going to be about ten minutes before grandpa came inside.
Closing his eyes, Atem started to let his mind roam. Immediately, his thoughts took him to his Light, wondering what he was doing and how he was. His eyes were closed for no more than a minute before he felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.
"Atem, are you alright?" A concerned voice said.
Blinking his eyes opened, Atem looked up and was staring into old violet colored eyes.
"Jii-chan?" He asked, feeling a little groggily. Huh, weird. He had only closed his eyes for maybe a minute, and he was feeling the effects he would feel if he had woken up from a nap. He struggled to sit up and used his arm to hold his weight upright. His blankets were still secure around his body and he was glad for them.
The elderly man nodded his head. He was seated on the edge of the bed and was watching his grandson. "What on earth are you doing asleep so early? You haven't even eaten dinner yet." The concern was evident in his voice as much as it was in his eyes.
"Asleep? I wasn't asleep," Atem said, disagreeing with the statement.
An eyebrow was raised, "Are you so sure about that?"
Atem stayed quiet. Maybe he did fall asleep without even noticing. "I guess I was." He said it like he was trying to convince himself.
Grandpa watched his grandson look down at the blankets, looking tired. Something didn't seem right with the boy. It looked like he was getting sick. Then he noticed all of the blankets on him. "Oh, I'm guessing you're cold?" He referred to the two blankets wrapped around him tightly.
Atem nodded and bit his bottom lip, "I don't know why, but I'm freezing." Apparently, when he had fallen asleep, though he swore he still just closed his eyes for a minute, the chattering had stopped. But, thinking about it again brought it back up. He tried to cover it by moving the blanket to cover his mouth.
"Hm… The thermostat is only set on seventy three. I haven't touched it for a while." Grandpa muttered to himself. "Maybe you're catching a cold or something." He raised his hand and touched the back of his hand to his grandson's forehead. His frowned and flipped his hand over so his palm was touching the skin.
Atem watched him with droopy eyes. His grandfather's hand was warm against his skin that he found himself leaning against it.
"This is strange." Grandpa muttered, causing Atem to force his eyes opened. He touched the boy's cheek and then the other one, biting his lip in wonder. "You're not burning up. Instead, you're freezing." Atem held back the duh look and watch the elderly man. "I've never seen this before."
"Maybeit'ssomenewsicknessorsomething," Atem slurred his words together, not realizing that he had done so.
Grandpa frowned, not understanding a single word that left the boy's mouth. "I'm sorry, but can you repeat that?" He asked. Then he added, "More slowly than before."
Atem nodded his head but wish he didn't. He got a little lightheaded from the movement. "Maybe it's some new sickness or something." He repeated.
"Oh, gotcha." He said, understanding now. Then he shook his head, "I don't know about that." He caught sight of Atem's eyes drooping some more and then smiled, "How 'bout you go to sleep. In the morning, if you're still the same, I'll call the doctor, alright?" He patted the boy's leg.
Atem nodded and fell against his pillow once more. He barely managed a good night before he was out like a light.
Grandpa watched his sleeping grandson for a minute longer before rising to his feet. He had a bad feeling about this. It reminded him of something similar that happened a while back, but he couldn't remember what that something was. And you would think if it was something important, he would remember.
XxxxX
"Atem? What're you doing here?" A familiar voice called out.
Said name didn't look up from the water he was looking in. He was back in his home land in the palace courtyard sitting by the fountain and watched the fishes swim around. He would sometimes poke his fingers into the cool, crisp water and watched with an amused expression as the fishes got curious and would come to investigate.
"Good to see you too, Mahad," Atem called out and finally looked up to see one of the six Egyptian priests come striding over. He looked a bit concerned but grinned upon seeing one of his closest friends. When he came close enough, Atem got up from his spot and greeted his old friend with a firm hand.
"I'm sorry, it was just startled me to see you here unannounced." He said and frowned to himself when he realized how wrong that sounded. But before he could correct himself, Atem waved it away.
"Don't worry about it, I understood the meaning." He said. The two sat down at the fountain as if they had just been walking for miles without any stops. Or, at least Atem felt that way. For some reason, it felt like that strange cold had followed him here. His head started to softly ache, though it didn't hurt as bad as it normally did. He rubbed his temple.
Mahad noticed the movement and looked towards him with a curious look, "Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, just this weird headache that seems to follow me everywhere I go now." He said and couldn't help but keep a frown out of his voice. He stopped rubbing his temple and looked away, out to the scenery of the one place he grew up in. "Mahad, have you ever heard of someone getting sick and instead of them having a hot fever, they have a cold one?"
The priest didn't say anything for a moment, considering the question. Indeed, he had never heard of a symptom like that. In Egypt, they only ever got fevers and he was no healer. But, after being in the Afterlife for as long as he has, he studied some modern sicknesses. But, still, he had never heard of someone being sick with a cold fever. Or whatever you would call it.
"I can't say I have." He responded after a moment. "Why do you ask?"
Atem shrugged, "It seems as though I have caught something that deals with that. My grandpa," it felt weird saying 'my' around Mahad but he ignored it and continued, "said he never heard of something like that either. So, I was just curious."
"Have you seen Mana since last time?" He asked.
He shook his head, "No. It's been quiet over here. I assume she has been watching that Light of yours. Yugi was it?" He still wasn't too familiar with his friend's new brother since they haven't actually met in person.
Atem nodded. He opened his mouth to say something when something just clicked in his mind. "My Light?" He said out loud, repeating what his friend had just said. Mahad looked over but stayed quiet. The look on the prince's face told him he was in deep thought and didn't need to be interrupted. "My Light…" he repeated much softer. He furrowed his brow. Then it clicked.
Startling Mahad, Atem jumped to his feet. "Oh, my Ra!" He exclaimed.
"What is wrong?" Mahad asked, alarmed.
Atem turned towards him, "I think I may know what's wrong with me! Earlier today, I was feeling normal and like myself, but as the day wore on, I started to feel sick." He started to pace without even realizing he was doing so. "Though, I don't understand why it just suddenly happened. Yugi said it took him several months…"
Mahad stayed calm but he was getting confused. "May I ask what you are talking about? I can't read your mind." He smiled at that, remembering when they were kids Atem used to do the same thing. He had thought the young price had grown out of that habit, but apparently not.
He stopped his pacing long enough to look at one of his oldest friends and explain, "Remember when Yugi's light was killing him?" There was a nod. "Well that's because he didn't have a Dark to tame his Light. He was getting sick and always having these headaches. He said this all happened for several months, each day it was getting worse.
"When I came back to live with him, my Dark healed him. That was just the way it always was. We couldn't live without each other." He paused, collecting his mind. But, as he was doing so, Mahad spoke, catching on.
"And now that Yugi is gone, there is no Light here to tame your Dark, correct?"
Atem nodded and plopped down next to the priest. He hunched over and propped his head up on his hands, his elbows on his knees.
There was a moment of silence between the two friends. Then Mahad said, "You know you don't need Yugi to support you; you have options."
The prince frowned and looked over to him. "Options? Like?"
Mahad sat a little straighter as he explained, "Well, in order for your Dark to not consume you, you can either one, have that friend of yours, the one that looks like the Thief Bakura,"
"His name is Ryou." Atem corrected him.
"Right, Ryou," He said, "You can have Ryou adopt you. The thief Bakura had adopted Yugi so he wouldn't burn up. They're sharing. Ryou can do the same for you. You would just have to make contact and let him know about it."
Atem nodded, wondering about that. He could just share Ryou's Light until his own came back. Then he remembered about the other option. "And the other?"
"There's only two," he warned. "The first one is about sharing and the second, which would seem a lot more helpful, would be recreating your own Light."
"Recreating?"
Mahad bit his lip and said, "Well, recreating or bringing it back, which ever you see it as." He stood up and said, "How 'bout we take a walk as we cover this; it may take a while."
Atem nodded and together, they started to walk around the castle.
XxxxX
Sunlight penetrated against the dark curtains of his room and spilled through a parted part, causing him to stir and roll over. It was about nine o'clock on Saturday morning, the usual time he would wake up. But, he wasn't ready too.
As the time ticked by, the sunlight shone brighter as its generator rose slowly into the sky. By this time, the light shone on the sleeping forms face.
"Mm," he mumbled but blinked his eyes opened. His sight was a little blurry, nothing blinking your eyes couldn't fix. He did just that and stayed lying down. He didn't move as he gave himself a mental body and head check up.
"Thank Ra," Atem whispered, satisfied when he completed the check up. He sat up and yawned. Slipping out of bed, the young teenager walked towards his door and opened it quietly. He walked out and went downstairs, in search for his grandfather.
And he found him where he always found him in the mornings, sipping at a cup of tea at the table in the kitchen. He had the morning newspaper in one hand and his cup in the other.
"Morning, Jii-chan." He greeted. He walked over to the fridge for something to drink.
Grandpa looked up from his reading and smiled, "I see someone is feeling better this morning. Should I still call the doctor to set up an appointment?" He asked.
Atem shook his head and brought the orange juice container out from the fridge. He pulled a cup from the cabinet and poured him something to drink. As he was pouring, he shook his head and said, "I actually know what was wrong with me." He said and stopped pouring when the glass was full. He put the fruity drink back into the fridge and took a sip as he turned around to face the elderly man. He took another sip.
"Really? How?"
"I found out from Mahad, well, in a sense I did." He said and then explained after taking a gulp from his drink. His grandfather already knew about him being able to visit his old friends so it was nothing new to say. "I figured it out and then he helped me understand it."
Grandpa felt himself getting confused at the young man's talk. His face must have showed it and Atem sheepishly smiled.
"Sorry. But, remember a while back when Yugi's Light was taking over?" There was a nod. "Well, the same thing is happening to me, but instead of my Light, it's my Dark." A look of horror crossed the elderly man's face but Atem was quick to deliver the good news. "Don't worry though, like I said, Mahad helped me. I brought back my Light so I am whole again."
"Brought back? How did you bring it back?"
Atem took another sip and said, "Apparently, when I had left the Afterlife, I needed to have a Light so my Dark wouldn't take over. It was something everyone needed and you couldn't leave unless you had both. I never knew about it because I never thought about it before. And since I never knew about it, there was no way of me knowing I had it. So when I left, I had both my Dark and Light. Does that make sense?"
"Kind of, but continue." Grandpa said. He figured he'd piece it all together later.
"When I came back, my Light was stored up. I never accessed it because I had Yugi -,"
"And you didn't know about it."
Atem nodded. "Exactly. But, with Yugi gone, my Dark had started to take over. I had symptoms opposite of what Yugi had."
Grandpa thought about what his grandson had told him last night. He was shivering uncontrollable, his speech pattern was slurred, he had headaches and he was overcome with sleep. "In a way, you had hypothermia." He commented, pretty sure the description matched the sickness.
The teen nodded, not familiar with the word but agreed to it anyways. "Yes."
"So, what now? How are you going to gain Light if Yugi isn't here?"
Atem smiled and said, "Well, when I was with Mahad, he helped me call upon it. So as of now, I have both Dark and Light."
XxxxX
Later that day, Atem had gotten ready for the day; taking a shower and putting something nice on. He figured he'd go see how Lyla was doing. As he was putting his wallet into his back pocket, he reached out for his phone. He flipped it open and frowned. He had one miss call. He couldn't tell who the caller was but they left a message. (A/n So you know, Atem does not have Bakura's number. I mean, why would he? They're sworn enemies!)
Curious, he dialed his Voice Mail and followed the instructions it gave him. Before long, he heard a familiar voice on the other end.
"Hey, Atem! This is Yugi! Sorry I called at such an early hour but I didn't really get any other chance at calling. I just wanted to let you that I miss you and everyone else like crazy and hope you're doing well. I wanted to say that I'm doing fine and so is mom. Nothing has really been happening and I still don't know the reason on why I'm here. Kind of weird, huh? But, I'm getting closer to the truth, or well, kind of. Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it. Tell Jii-chan that I love him and I'll hopefully be able to talk to everyone soon. I love you!"
When the call ended, Atem let out a sigh. At least his Light was okay. From the way he talked, you could tell he had a lot on his mind, and his faking being happy just added on. But, at least he didn't sound like he was in pain.
"Just come home in one piece, Yugi. And make it soon."
XxxxX Until next time!
I really think I should have redone this chapter. I don't know why, but it didn't seem all that well. (I had imagined that when Yugi confronted his father, it would be longer. But, I didn't know how to make it longer. I didn't know what I could add.)
Lisa: You'll just have to make it up to them. Make the next chapter even better.
Ooh, speaking of the next chapter, I can't wait to start writing it! Something big is going to happen!
Lisa: And now for the reviewers
For my anonymous readers:
Flutiepatootie: Aww, thank you! And I'm trying! It's hard trying to keep what I want straight. And by the way, when I saw your name, it brought a smile to my face.
Dragon: Really? Texan's rule! :D And dude, (or dudette) you have a lot of family in Texas. I don't think I even have that many in this amazing state! And I have a loooot of family. (Toooo many. Lol) Thanks for reading!
