Chapter two! Please enjoy it and bear with me!

/ Blah / = hikari

// Blah // = yami

Disclaimer: Does it look like I own it? Darn, I didn't think so...

"It's done!" Yuugi proudly surveyed his work, holding it up to the light and watching the prism colors bounce off the puzzle and into the shadowy corners of his room. Suddenly, they all focused, directly onto his forehead in the shape of a brilliant eye. More inquisitive then frightened Yuugi let them stay there. As they say, curiosity killed the cat. A blinding pain ripped through his body, searing every nerve raw and ending as soon as it happened, leaving him gasping for breath with his body still tingling from the energy.

"Yuugi?" He hadn't been aware he had screamed. "Are you all right?" He swallowed shakily; summing up the power it took to answer.

"Uh, yeah, sorry!" He yelled back down, mumbling to himself, "that was weird." He touched his forehead, no pain. "Must've been..." he paused, unable to come up with a logical solution. "I still think this is the coolest thing ever!" He whispered happily, slipping the chain over his head just to see what it felt like.

It was heavy but it was a comfortable weight, warm and right, resting directly in the middle of his chest, near his heart. All at once he didn't want to take it off, feeling that it would be a crime to do so. But your mother, came the reasonable protest. He stroked it once, gently, and slipped it from its eased calm.

"I'll wear you tomorrow." He sighed, glancing at the glowing red numbers of his alarm clock: 10:37. "Wow," he yawned, "I didn't know how late it was." He slipped off his grey sweatshirt and pulled his nightshirt over his head, ruffling his tri-colored hair into his eyes. Reflexively he shoved it back behind his ear where it immediately fell out of place again. Crawling into bed he switched off his bedside lamp and quickly fell asleep, content at finally finishing his treasure. In the dark of his room the puzzle glowed softly, a golden light that almost lit up the room.

// Yuu...gi? //

The next morning was bright and sunny as the typical trio walked to school along the shaded street the game shop was on. Though the forecasts called for sever thunderstorms in late afternoon you couldn't tell it from the way the weather was now. As usual Yuugi sat at his upstairs desk and watched them walk by, longing for their companionship. The blonde one was shoving his brunette friend lightly in the shoulder, laughing after hearing an apparent joke. The brown-haired young lady was giggling too, holding a hand over her mouth as if she weren't supposed to be.

"I wish..." he murmured, holding the puzzle where it once again hung from around his neck, "I wish I could just say hello..." Yuugi stared with loathing at the nails that had held his window in place for as long as he could remember. "I wish I could just breath in the fresh air puzzle..." Yuugi looked up, he was taking to a puzzle of gold, and it felt okay. "I must be losing it." He muttered half of him not believing that and the other half telling him to shut up about it. He slipped the puzzle from his neck and said a fond farewell; it was time for breakfast. As a second thought he slipped it back on, concealing it mostly under a baggy sweatshirt, and walked down the steps.

"Did you sleep well Yuugi?"

"Yes mother, you?"

"Very well, thank you for asking." It went the same way every morning, same words, same feeling, same breakfast even. It bored Yuugi almost to death.

"Want me to get the dishes mother?"

"No thank you Yuugi, I wouldn't want you to accidentally cut yourself." He sighed, his mother treated him like fine china. "Now remember yesterday, no running." She warned sternly.

"Yes mother." Like he could, his knee was so wrapped up in gauze, like a mummy. "What?"

"I didn't say anything Yuugi, now go read for a little while. I need to call the school and order some more lessons for you."

"Okay." He limped back up the stairs and fell backwards onto the bed. Then, impulsively, he sat up and rolled his pant leg back exposing the gauze. Without a moments hesitation he began unwrapping it until a single layer remained, then that too was gone. He stopped. "What am I doing?" He asked out loud, "Getting rid of the extra wrapping." He told himself. The area around his knee was white, probably from the lack of blood flow, and he massaged it to get the circulation going again, wincing at the pins and needles. Reaching over he grabbed a band-aid from the ever-present box on his desk and peeled off the plastic covering. Duel Monsters. He smiled, his grandfather had gotten these and they came without the antiseptic. Mother must not have known. With his knee doctored as much as he wanted he sat back in his desk chair to look at the ever-darkening sky.

A loud clap of thunder woke Yuugi up and he jumped, smacking his head on his lamp. He hadn't been aware he fell asleep. He rubbed his chest where the puzzle had dug painfully into his skin and then stopped, hearing the voices coming from downstairs.

"Grandpa?" He wondered, hoping it was the old man so that they could duel. He leaped up and ran, carefully, down the stairs. He crept around the corner, wanting to surprise him but stopped when he didn't recognize the voices.

"Thank you for letting us stay here until the storm passes." The voice of a young girl resounded in his ears and he peered around the corner and saw the trio that usually walked by the game shop standing in the foyer, bowing while dripping water all over the floor.

"Its no trouble really, can't have you catching your death out in the cold." Yuugi's mother laughed softly, inviting them to sit in the kitchen and then spied Yuugi standing in the doorway. "Go back upstairs Yuugi." She said tersely, causing the other three occupants of the room to turn around quickly, splattering more water.

"Hey," the blonde one said, waving, but was quickly shoved into the kitchen by the girl. Yuugi smiled sadly and then walked slowly back up the stairs.

He watched sadly, holding the puzzle, as the clouds parted, letting the sunlight through to dry the sidewalks. He watched sadly as the trio moved away from the door of the game shop, waving their thanks again. He watched sadly as they continued on home, not even giving a second glance back.

"Yuugi?" His mother knocked softly on his heavy oak door and he quickly shoved the puzzle in his secret drawer.

"Come in." Yuugi said mournfully.

"Yuugi," his mother said as she entered. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to risk you getting sick. God only knows what kind of diseases those children were carrying." Encircling him in her arms she held him tight, she reeked of disinfectant.

"But mother! I want to make some friends, I want to go outside!" He cried shrugging out of her seemingly cold embrace. "I don't want to stay up here all the time!" He clamped a hand over his mouth, this was the first time he had ever yelled in front of his mother.

"Well, I'm sorry! I try to protect you and this is how you repay me? How ungrateful!" She stomped out of the room and Yuugi could hear the click of a key in the lock. "You can stay in here until you learn to be respectful!" Tears welled up in Yuugi's eyes and he sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I just want to be normal." He hiccupped, reaching over and taking out his puzzle and slipping it over his hair. He curled up around it and eventually cried himself to sleep.

// Is this...me...? // The disembodied voice sifted brokenly over the ruins of Yuugi's mentality. // Am I...alive...? // it wondered, looking around, it didn't seen like the shadow realm, but it didn't look like a very good place to be either. All around him muddy browns and blacks swirled together, tinted with swirls of light blue, Yuugi's fond memories. The dark far outnumbered the light. It opened it's, Yuugi's eyes, allowing the younger boy to rest in his dark soul room, the place the soul went to in sleep.

"Where am I?" It asked with Yuugi's mouth, only sounding deeper then his counterpart. "Is this...Egypt...?" He peered around the small room and looked at his body in the mirror across from the bed. "I still look the same..." he murmured, bringing a hand up to touch the puzzle. Memories flooded back, but only a few, the ones close to when he had been sealed away. "What has happened...?" he stood and moved to the window, staring out at the lights that covered the city. "So many..." he touched his lips, he wasn't speaking what he was supposed to be, it was a different, foreign tongue yet familiar all the same. Suddenly he was frightened, he wasn't supposed to be here at all, even the darkness of the shadow realm seemed better to him then this place, at least that was ever constant. But he couldn't figure out how to get back safely. "The puzzle?" He wondered aloud pulling at one piece slightly. Just as it was about to come loose a mind numbing pain ravaged his body making him gasp and fall back onto the bed. "No..." he looked up calmly, searching for a way out and his crimson eyes rested on the window. He stood and tugged at the wood but it wouldn't give way. "I will get through." He said, gritting his teeth and shoving with all his might. Finally the nails gave way, ripped from their snug resting-place and clattered to the floor. The window slid open easily and the fresh night air blew in, ruffling his hair and shoving it into his eyes. Reflexively he pushed it back behind one ear, ignoring it as it swung back into his field of view. Breathing deeply he knew immediately that he wasn't even near Egypt, the air was much too cool and contained almost no humidity, he was cold, a new sensation to him. Carefully he climbed out of the window, looking warily at the ground below as if it might try to come up and attack him. He sighed deeply and jumped.

Hope you still like it, it will get more exciting, I promise! Ja!

"It's done!" Yuugi proudly surveyed his work, holding it up to the light and watching the prism colors...Suddenly they focused...on his forehead...curious...Yuugi let them stay there. As they say, curiosity killed the cat...