Chapter 2

Must Learn to Control

the Fire

Mounted on their horses, Valon with Yami riding with him, Mai riding beside him, James with Yugi in his arms, and his wife and queen Emily riding beside him, the royal families leave the castle and town for the forest in the far east. As they rode on, Yami's fire magic made a trail.

In the woods as they make their way back home, Seto and Joey stop when the two royal families rode by them with the fire trail catching their attention. "Is that real fire?" Joey asked as Seto examined the flames to see that somehow they're not burning the earth like normal fire, just flickering about like tall grass bending to the gentle breeze.

"It's hot but somehow not burning a single blade of grass." Now both very curious, the two follow the trail to see what's going on. Coming to the edge of a glade, Seto and Joey remain hidden to see what will happen as the two royal families stand in the center of the glade.

"Please, we need help! It's our son's friend." Valon calls out as Yami stays beside him and his mother while James holds Yugi close with Emily appearing to be holding back the worried tears.

Then slowly, a few elves appear either from the trees or out of thin air, some albinos and others sandy-blonds. A couple of the parent elves had their own young ones stand beside them as they discover who has come, seeking their help. "It's the king." one elf says, causing a few others to murmur amongst each other, wondering what is wrong.

"Elves?" both Seto and Joey whisper before one mysteriously appeared right in front of them.

"Shush!" the elf demanded. "I'm trying to listen." But after she had taken one more look at the two, she could sense that they are orphans. "You two need a home, and I can fix that!" As she held them right against her sides, Seto just blushed as Joey hugs the elf, knowing that she will take them in as her own sons.

Appearing before them, an elf with long silver hair that covered half of his face, ember eyes and a face full of wisdom, bows to Valon and his family. "Your majesty. Was he born with the powers or cursed?" the leading elf says as he takes Yami's hand into his.

"He was born with them, Pegasus. And they are growing stronger." Valon answers as Mai places a comforting hand on Yami's shoulders, knowing that what Pegasus needs to tell her son won't be good.

Gesturing James and Emily to allow him to examine Yugi, the two show their son to him so he could scan his head where Yami shot his magic at him with his magic. "You're lucky it wasn't his heart. The heart is not so easily changed. But the head can be persuaded."

"Do what you must to heal him." James said gently with a sense of urgency. Watching Pegasus use his magic, Yami keeps a close eye on Yugi, feeling completely guilty that he has hurt his closest friend.

"I recommend we remove his knowledge of the magic." Using his magic to show the memories that the two young boys share, Pegasus changed how the memories are so it showed that they are playing outside instead of in the ballroom. "This way things are safer for their sakes. But don't worry. I'll leave the fun." With the last memory being of them playing with Axel, Pegasus's magic made it so they are just playing with a normal lizard.

With the memories back in his head, Pegasus says softly, "He'll be okay."

"But he won't remember I have powers?" Yami asks as he gently lays one hand on the side of Yugi's face. James and Emily knew that Yami feels terrible of what he's done to Yugi so they allowed the prince to still have the right to even touch their son.

"Trust me, Yami. It's for the best." Valon said.

"But listen to me, Yami-boy." Pegasus added as he became more serious about this problem. "Your power will only grow."

Casting a spell, Pegasus showed them a vision of Yami's future. "There is beauty and power in it. But also great danger." Watching the vision in fear, Yami could only dread what Pegasus could tell him next. "You must learn to control the fire. Otherwise, fear will be your enemy." The vision ended when mobs of people cornered the adult form of Yami and as that man screams, the young prince glances away to bury his face in his father's chest, terrified of that kind of future.

Understanding his son's fear, Valon holds him and Mai close. "No! We will protect him. I'm certain he can learn to control it."

"Alright. Until he does learn to control the fire, you must limit his contact with people and keep his powers hidden from everyone. Including Yugi." Pegasus says with a tone full of wise advice of what they must do to help Yami with his power.

"We understand."

To know that he has to separate himself from everyone around him except his parents, Yami felt more torn at the fact he has to shut even Yugi out, which he knew would be very hard for him since Yugi meant everything to him.


The next morning, Valon had the guards shut the palace gates tight, Mai had the staff reduced, and they had Yami's things moved to a separate room from the one the two boys shared. Running out of the room to the hallway, Yugi watches with sadness in his eyes as Yami slowly enters his room only to glance back at Yugi briefly before shutting the door.

Walking over to the door, Yugi just stands there with one hand on the wood. However on the other side, Yami still remains in front of the door, one hand also on the wood, almost exactly where Yugi's hand is on the other side.