I remember being with my father and brother, Yugi, in the courtyard. We had been having an abnormal amount of rain lately. The flowers were beautiful because of all the moisture in the soil. We were picking flowers for my mother. Her birthday was tomorrow, exactly one month before that of mine and my brother's. We were twins, but not identical. He was shorter, weaker, and more easily tanned. His black and gold hair stood in points like my father's. I however, was paler, taller, and looked a lot like my mother. At first I did not welcome the concept. I did not want to look like a girl. Then I realized my mother's radiant beauty, inside and out. Though it was an abnormality, she was proud of her snow-white hair, which flowed gracefully past her shoulders. Stunning. Flawless. Like a goddess She also had pale skin, like mine, but our personalities were very different. We were both very quiet, but many people had said they sensed a rising darkness within me. I had occasionally sensed this before, but had thought of it as rage. Maybe that was all it was. Rage I had bottled up inside me. I had no intention of releasing that hate. My thoughts were interrupted when I spotted my best friend, Seto. I called out to him. Too bad we wouldn't be able to play with Yugi. Seto did not get along with the rest of my family. Neither did his father, but instead of shunning me because of my "inner darkness", they had said I had inner strength. Seto was nice, but stubborn, and he had a closed mind with people he didn't like. He had pale skin like mine, which was odd for an Egyptian, and short brown hair. He also had a cut-through-stones stare that would remain famous for thousands of years. We played until dark, then agreed to meet in the same place tomorrow. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. The next day, Seto's father, the high priest of the pharaoh, announced that on our birthday, one of us would have to be declared future pharaoh, and the other would be abandoned in the desert. Seto continued to assure me that I would be pharaoh, after all, I was stronger and older by seven minutes. But when the time came, my father refused to give either of us up. At that very moment, my mother fell from her throne and was pronounced dead. When my father again refused either of us, a plague of locusts swarmed the palace and food became scarce. A simple game was set up to decide our fate. This was a game of intelligence, and I lost quickly. I was carted of to the desert by one of the palace guards. He left me with just the clothes on my back and a small knife. I was forced to eat snakes, scorpions, and eventually, my own blood. When I was within an inch of my life, a group of bandits found me and brought me back to their camp. I ate, drank, and washed. I went to sit with my new family by the campfire, and they bandaged the wound I had cut into my leg with the knife. I fell asleep for a few hours, comforted by the warmth of the fire. In my sleep I had a horrible dream that woke me. I found myself sitting up and sweating. My father had tried to kill me. He had said "The light only masks the darkness. The darkness was always present inside me. It was always watching waiting, planning. Always eager to smother the light which locked away. It became wiser with each time it was banished." He then pulled out a knife like the one I had cut myself with. Yugi, only an older version, stepped out from behind my father, who vanished. " That is why when it returns, the chances of sending it back are slim. And that is also why, if you are allowed to return, there will be hell to pay, because YOU ARE THE DARKNESS. You must die." With that, he raised the knife and stabbed my heart. Then I was burning. Laughing and burning, holding a glowing metal ring in one hand and the knife in the other. "I AM THE DARKNESS. I can never die." That was when I had woken up. The bandits noticed I was awake, and they began to ask me questions. I was glad for a distraction from the dream. "What's your name kid?" "Ryou." This caused them to glance at each other. " The pharaoh's son?" "Y-yes." So there I was. The rightful pharaoh, adopted by bandits. Little did I know I would one day live that dream out.