Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.
Ok, so here is the first official chapter! Let me know what you think, reviews are love. I'm not sure how long I will continue this for. It might be another Utopia or another Forgiveness. It all depends.
Atem lay on the velvet-draped chaise lounge his powers had created when he altered the room, Yugi resting against him. He casually stroked Yugi's hair, Yugi smiling. "So the Games are remembered in this card game?"
"Yes." Yugi nodded. "It's just like what I remember now. Well, almost. With cards instead of real spirits, but the heart is still there. I was good at it before. I would be unbeatable now." No false modesty in those soft eyes.
"Yes, you would be. Except by me." Yami nodded. "We were the strongest."
"And now we are together again." Yugi tilted his head to kiss him.
"Enough with the mushy stuff. I had Solomon's reincarnation show me the news." Bakura tossed a dagger. "Murder, thievery, senseless war. This world is everything we feared it would be without us. Genocide, whole peoples targeted for murder. We can't leave it like this."
Nods. Of course not. They were the world's guardians. They had been taken away from it before. Now they were back.
"We are not powerful enough to do it alone," Seth spoke up. "Us against over six billion? Even with our powers, we would have to make examples."
"No slaughtering, warlord," Bakura warned him. "Precision strikes. You've got me for those."
"Yes, you're the best infiltrator ever," Seth acknowledged. "We need an army, however."
Yami nodded. "The shadow magic should now be restoring itself to the world. That means wielders of shadow and light should be able to work magic soon. There is our army. They will be easy to gather."
"They will have been drawn to this card game? A wise thought." Isis nodded. "We shall seek out game masters, then. Our lights should hopefully be among them. We will not regain our full powers until we find them."
Dartz steepled his fingers. "Money is power in this new world. At least, it is visible power. We should get this Industrial Illusions under our control as a first step."
"That's your field." Dartz was in charge of the economy. "Atem, you should send him to find this 'Pegasus' and win him to our side. As the creator of the game, he should revere us." Kalim nodded, Isis standing next to him.
"He might even have a Millennium Item." Marik grinned. "Seth, I will go to those you set to guard the Items. They should hopefully be able to make themselves useful. If they still know the ancient ways, they can serve as tutors to the new mages."
"Marik." Yami's tone was warning. "Do not take out their ancestors' crimes on them."
"I want to Shadow Game somebody!" He growled.
"I hope finding your light makes you feel better. You were very different before." Yugi sighed, snuggling against Yami.
"I'll only Game them if they don't obey me as their ancestors sword," Marik promised. "They'd better know where to find our lights…"
"I think mine is somewhere nearby. Atem? I'd like to disappear for a few days. I think I can find my light in that time, and also tell you about some interesting secrets. There should be rampant crime here. And government corruption."
"You always did have the ability to find out when people were abusing their powers." Atem smiled.
"Well, the first time I ever Shadow Gamed anyone was as a child, when someone tried to extort taxes from our village by threatening to burn our homes and send us out into the desert. I hate that sort of thing. That was under your rule. What must it be like now, in this 'third world' I wonder? We may have revolutionaries that aren't magicians joining us if I can arrange it." Bakura grinned.
"I'll trust your judgment." Atem nodded.
Bakura got up off the throne he had been lounging on, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. "Speak to my soul if you need to reach me. I'll be trailing my light's whispers for a while." He walked out of the room through a wall, vanishing into the shadows.
"I hope you all find your lights soon. Not just for your sakes. It was horrible to be alone." Yugi sighed. "I'll help you. I'll win at the game, so that would make me famous." He smiled. "Me, famous when I've been a nobody all this time. So that would make gamers willing to listen to me. We could maybe do training clinics for duelists, and have the people who train them teach them magic, and then they could teach others. We could also have the trainers give them an oath to only use their powers in our service. That way, even if they decide not to join us they can't oppose us."
"Good thinking. You are Atem." Seth nodded. "I wish I knew more about this world. Well, when I find my light we should share memories." That was his power, as finding and hiding were Bakura's powers.
"It'll be wonderful." Yugi smiled and nuzzled Atem's neck. "He'll love you so much."
Atem's brow furrowed. "You are myself, and yet I love you. Is this narcissism, do you think Yugi?"
"I don't know. I just want to be really close to you. You're my other half." Yugi pushed himself on top of Atem. "Is this our soul wanting to be together?" He kissed Atem on the forehead. "I haven't been apart from you yet but I know I couldn't bear it after knowing what being her with you is like."
"There's nothing wrong with sex. No chance of pregnancy." Atem laughed. "Kalim and Isis should be having fun soon."
Yugi laughed like crazy. Kalim and Isis looked thoughtful.
"Stop groping each other. You're making me horny." Marik grinned evily. "I can't wait to find myself. Just let us go."
Atem nodded, and pushed Yugi off him enough so he could sit up regally. Yugi kept his head in Yami's lap. "Bakura has left to find his light and contact those in the shadows. I will instruct him to report back in two weeks. Dartz, you will find this Pegasus and learn from him how wealth in this age works. See if you can get any related companies under your control, or others that would be useful to us. Seth, accompany him. Make decks for us all and learn about how duelists are organized. These tournaments would be a good time to have them gather and be taught.
"Kalim, Isis, Marik. Go to the Itemkeepers and see how they can be useful. Isis, give each of the others the Item that contains their powers. Kalim, it will be your task to learn how much magic there is left in this world and bring any magicians you find to our side. Marik, I give you command over the Itemkeepers. They are your responsibility, do not abuse them." Marik was the most shadowed of all of them, the most given to cruel justice.
They all bowed. "Atem and I," Yugi announced, "will start winning tournaments and gathering duelists ourselves. We will try out training them and see how fast new mages are gaining their powers and if there are any things to look out for when we train them."
Atem nodded. "Yugi and I, or rather," he disappeared.
"Just me." Yugi smiled, Atem watching through his eyes.
"Are the best choice to interact with people not under our control, since he can advise me on how to act normal." Atem had reappeared, Yugi lifting himself off the couch to make room for him.
"A wise decision." Isis nodded. "Shall we go, gentlemen?"
"Farewell, and may the shadows bless you." Dismissed, the others began to walk off into the shadows, seeking the collection of Items the Itemkeepers had or the island Yugi had known Pegasus lived on. The man was famous, after all.
When they were gone, Yugi smiled. "We're going to win." He yawned cutely. "I've been awake for over three days now, you know."
"I know. You have been so helpful, teaching us about this new world."
"Don't thank me for helping myself."
"I should. You are a very giving person."
"That's just because you are." Yugi smiled and kissed Yami's leg, as that was what was in reach as he lay with his head in Yami's lap. "I think Jounouchi."
"Jounouchi?"
"A guy at school. He's rough, but he has a good heart. I think he gave me back the last Puzzle piece. He's a light mage. There's another person in our class, Kaiba, who is a light mage too. He looks a lot like Seth… Oh, and my friend Anzu, but I told you about her already. But they've all, except Anzu, been hurt very badly. If I didn't know now what I was sensing, you would think they were shadow mages." He shivered. "I don't think I would have become tough like that. I was making myself small to protect myself. Hiding and not fulfilling my potential. Giving up on things without trying them. That's very not like who I remember being now."
"You must have faith in yourself, and others. We will gather these people, guide them. If this Kaiba is Seth's light we will tell Seth so he may guide him." Yami stroked Yugi's hair. "You should rest soon. Solomon's reincarnation can't keep claiming you're sick forever." A smile.
Yugi pouted. "You'll have to help me study. If I can pass the tests and score high, I don't actually have to attend class except when there are tests. That's what Kaiba does. So we could spend the rest of the time dueling and planning."
"A good plan. You remember memory spells now?"
Yugi grinned. "I remember a lot of things." He pointed, and the Dark Magician appeared.
"Hello, Mahado." Yugi smiled and waved.
"It is good to see you again." Mahado bowed.
"You must have suffered as well. You bound yourself to your spirit beast so you could continue to watch over humanity even after your death, but with the magic sealed you were unable to do anything. I am sorry. I was ruler when the disaster happened. It is all my fault, as Bakura says." Atem bowed, still sitting.
"My fault too." Yugi sighed.
"We all were caught unawares, God-king." Mahado shrugged. "Mana and Kisara both still exist. Others left this place to be reincarnated as humans in hope of doing some good. Shada was among them."
"Is he alive now?"
"Yes, and among the Itemkeepers."
"I hope he and Marik don't kill each other." Yugi sighed.
"Would you go and seek Malik out? Tell him Shadi is there. If Seth can restore his memories, we will have another powerful mage to aid us."
Mahado bowed again. "It will be done." He vanished in a swirl of purple-tinged shadows.
"We're alone now." Finally. Yugi sat up and leaned against Atem. "I want to experience some unity."
Atem laughed. "You look so young and soft."
"I was young and soft. I'm stronger now, I have you." Yugi reached out his hand and the lights floating in midair flew to it. "See?"
"You are as powerful as me." A kiss. Their shadow-spun royal robes vanished.
The lights went out.
At first there were soft moans and sliding sounds. They spoke into each others' souls, no need for Egyptian or Japanese. Yugi had only touched himself rarely, but Atem was very experienced. They both knew just what would make the other react, and Yugi only grew bolder until Atem was under him on the couch again. Regarding him, Yugi's skin started to glow softly, a light that was absorbed by a darkness that couldn't be attributed only to the dim light of the shadow realm or Atem's tan.
They smiled at this, the sign of their powers calling to each other. Once, shadow and light had been one. The Items had divided them, perhaps forever.
Their hearts still knew each other, still called, they still wanted to be happy and ensure the happiness of the other.
This was a harsh world, but their strength could make even the deepest darkness a paradise.
They were in love, and they wanted everyone to share that.
They were power, and they knew they would triumph.
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