Chapter 5: Recalling Dreams

In the den of the Muto home, Yami paced back and forth in a frantic, robotic routine. His heart and mind clustered with different emotions and contemplations pulsing in him: An attack had landed on the Muto household, and Yugi had been captured. His mind raged against his enemy, but his heart yearned for the safety of his dear friend.

Everyone carried a serious but somber expression on their face. Things seemed to be not in their favor since Joey declined to make any cracks about the possibility of Yami wearing a hole in the floor.

"Yugi," Yami whispered to himself as he glared out the window.

Outside the sun was setting. A few clouds floating by turned pink as the sky became orange with red mixings. The sight would have been a pretty to see if there wasn't a madman on the run with a best friend as his hostage.

"Hey, Tea," Joey started. "What exactly happened between the times me and the pharaoh left and now?"

"Well," Tea began as she recalled the horrific incident.

Flash back

CRASH!

Tea immediately stood up from her chair surprised. The noise sounded like glass shattering. She wondered if someone had dropped some plates or tripped and broke a vase. She left the room to investigate, hoping there were no injuries.

"Mr. Muto? Is everything ok?" she yelled as she ran downstairs. Not receiving any responses, she ventured into the den of the home. Coming into the room, she gasped.

Standing on all the shards of a glass from a window stood a man. He carried brown hair and tanned complexion. He also held a scar.

"Everything will be if you tell me where Yugi is." the man instructed coolly.

"Who are you!?" Tea demanded with anxiety building up in her.

"Always demanding for an introduction, don't you?" he responded in a sarcastic manner. "You modern day people are so impatient."

Tea scowled before she realized who the man might be. Her eyes widened and she tried to say, "You're—"

"I have some business to take care with the pharaoh." he quickly stated.

"Is he after Yugi to get to the pharaoh?" Tea asked herself. By instinct, she glanced away from the man towards Yugi's room.

"Ah, so that's where he is!" the man rejoiced. He quickly vanished.

Tea grew alert and kept her eyes and her ears opened. She did not know what she could do, but she knew she could not leave Yugi alone with that lunatic. Running back upstairs, she burst through Yugi's door.

She froze in the doorway seeing the man right next to Yugi's bed. The sleeping adolescent did not know what was occurring around him. He was completely defenseless.

"You better keep quiet," the man taunted. "You might wake him."

"You leave him alone!" Tea ordered sternly.

"Or what?" Akana asked, knowing the female student could not cause him harm. But he carried no intention causing her affliction either. He grabbed Yugi by his shirt and lifted him up high with one of his arms.

"Here, give the pharaoh this," he ordered as he flicked a piece of paper to Tea.

Once the girl received the note, the man conceived smoke by magic and, with Yugi, disappeared.

End flashback.

"Why didn't I figure this out sooner…" Yami mumbled to himself regretfully as he trudged upstairs.

Tea stood up from her chair and asked gently, "Where are you going?"

"I need to go prepare my deck," he answered, not looking back.

Feeling she could have done more from that hostile takeover, Tea was about to follow him when Joey gently grabbed her lower arm. She turned with an angry face, but the blonde carried a serious expression on his. She realized Yami needed some time alone.

Upstairs, Yami walked his way to the bedroom, deep in thought about how to rescue his lighter half.

"This man had plenty of time to plan out his revenge. No doubt he'll be tough. But I must win, for Yugi's sake."

Yami turned the door handle into Yugi's bedroom and entered. He looked through his partner's top drawer and found their deck. He was relieved nothing was removed, but he would trade anything for the safety of his friend. Picking up their stack, he knew why he was challenged to a duel; Akana could create any type of Shadow Game, and a greater satisfaction would be earned for defeating the pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and the game. He looked at them, the loyal monsters, as he felt a pulse. They really had been through so much together, and they had survived through all of it. And Yugi had been included in every step of the way.

"But, all of this was because of me." Yami mumbled as he tightened his grip on the deck.

He sat in the center of the room and flipped through every single card to ensure a perfect strategy and to comeback any traps Akana may counter with. Before when he and Yugi reviewed what they had, there were two voices forming opinions. Now Yami was on his own with his individual thoughts without any encouragement or advisement. No balance.

The rays of the passing sun reflected and shimmered on all cards placed on the floor. The room slowly grew darker and darker as the sun melted into the horizon.

"Yugi," Yami whispered to himself as he became aware the room appeared analogous to Yugi's conduct lately. Although his heart greatly ached from his loss, a greater pain had been in Yugi's all this time.

Flashback

Deep in thought, Yugi walked slowly towards his house like a zombie after school.

Lately Yami had notice his friend seemed low on energy. The young boy had stayed away from the Spider Arcade and the mall. He had also remained mute to his friends as well.

Wanting to see if there was anything he could do, Yami asked, "Yugi, is something the matter?"

There was a moment of silent as the teen rested his hand on the doorknob to his home.

"Yugi?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked if something was bothering you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Yami. N-no."

End flashback

As Yami continued to scrutinize all possibilities for a strategy, his nose picked up the sweet smell of something cooking downstairs.

"It's getting late, and people do have to eat." Yami whispered to himself.

Flashback

Yugi entered his home and placed his school bag on a chair in the kitchen.

"Yugi, are you hungry?" Solomon asked.

"No," Yugi replied quietly as he headed up towards his room. He neglected giving other greetings or exchanges between himself and his grandfather. He did not even bother giving any eye contact.

Yami felt an eerie silence between the relatives and himself.

"Yugi hasn't been talking or eating much lately."

He saw his partner sit down at his desk. He took off his Puzzle and placed it next to the gold box along with his deck.

Looking at the same box, Yami felt uneasy that Yugi had not even had the energy to play a simple game of Duel Monsters with his school buddies.

"Yugi, are you sure everything's all right?" Yami asked with deep concern for his small companion. "You don't seem to be eating much these days. Are you feeling ill?"

"I've just been feeling tired, that's all." Yugi replied as he changed from his uniform to his pajamas and immediately went to bed.

Yami stayed quiet so his partner could rest. He did feel how exhausted Yugi's soul was, but he overlooked the great pain locked away in Yugi's heart.

End flashback

Yami quickly gathered all his cards and shuffled them.

"Yugi, if I had noticed something else was wrong, maybe I could have helped you. Maybe all of this could have been avoided if we had talked things out. But now…"

Within his hindrance, Yami shambled the deck a little too hard, and the cards scattered. One card flew underneath Yugi's bed.

"Darn it," he grumbled. Kneeling, he instigated a search for that one card. He felt around for a small, cardboard-like piece, but instead he found something a little lighter and slightly bigger. He retreated his hand from underneath the bed to inspect what he had found.

It was an old picture with no frame that held quite a bit of dust on it. Yami was about to toss it aside when he noticed in the center of the picture was a little boy who looked similar to his other half. He immediately gazed at the image for further investigation and grew surprised it truly was Yugi. The photo was obviously taken in a shop since the background was just a simple red color, and the lighting came from all sides to highlight certain features. A woman with short, maroon hair and small, brown eyes sat on a wooden chair with green cushions. A man with spiky black and blonde hair and big, purple eyes stood behind her with one hand in his dark jean pocket. Yugi, in an orange shirt and overalls, sat in the center on the lady's lap.

"These two must be his parents." Yami concluded, feeling a small amount of sorrow grow inside of him. He did not truly know how his partner felt, but he understood the loss of loved ones was never easy. He closed his eyes and sighed; he had enough of his separation from his partner and needed to rescue him.

"Don't worry Yugi. Once we save you, we'll find a way to help you through your loss as well."

Underneath the bedding was another somewhat noticeable sheet of paper. Yami grabbed it to see what it was. The photo had Yugi, Tea, Tristan, and Joey in their school uniform. Yami remembered that day; the image was not taken too long ago in a photo booth at the mall. He studied both pictures.

"Even though Yugi bore through hard times, he smiled a genuine smile."

Yami sighed and said, "Yugi, I respect your privacy, but I…We all just wanted help our friend out."

He gently put the photos underneath Yugi's bed and finally found the missing card, Dark Magician. He placed the devoted monster back into the deck and shuffled carefully. He then walked over to Yugi's desk and picked up their Duel Disk system.

"Be strong, Yugi."

Yami left the room and walked down the steps. Coming to the den, he was welcomed with the group of teens and an old man. Everyone was waiting to help out and fight the evil man who harmed their best bud.

"I know what you all are about to say." Yami stated as he knew his friends well.

"Good," Joey replied with confidence. "Then you won't mind letting us get in on some of the fun."

"All right, but as soon as trouble begins to start, and I mean magic trouble, I need all of you to vacate the area as fast as you can." Yami ordered sternly. "We don't need to lose anyone else to that madman."

"Right!" everyone agreed.

Xxx

The group, even the elderly man, arrived in the park while the stars and moon shined. All waited quietly and intensely for the man to arrive, hopefully with their pal as well.

"Yugi, we will save you." Yami whispered to himself, his eyes burning with faith and grit. He did not know what tricks Akana had planned, but he knew the importance of bearing through any traps coming his way. He remembered Yugi had done the same; he had followed the brainwashed Bandit Keith, and he even remained in a burning warehouse in order to save the Puzzle, to save a friend.

A gust of wind molded with an evil laughter ensuing. At once a puff of smoke exploded. As it cleared, it reviled Akana holding Yugi with one hand by his shirt. A smug appearance was on the enemy, and the teen remained underneath the spell.

"Yugi!" the group yelled.

Yami became furious at Akana for kidnapping his partner, but he became relieved in seeing the teen unharmed.

"So, Pharaoh, I see you decided to show up." Akana welcomed in a mocking tone.

Yami felt anger erupt inside of him but decided not to permit his hatred harm his partner. He only eyed his enemy carefully, waiting to see what moves would be brought out.

"What? No greetings or exchanges?" Akana remarked unhappily but sprinkled his expression with sarcasm.

Yami placed his deck into the Duel Disk slot and stated with backbone, "Akana, I know you want your revenge on me, so leave Yugi out of this, and let us begin our duel!"

"Yes, I agree. Let's get this dual started." Akana nodded as he magically pulled a Duel Disk out of nowhere. The white operating device then immediately disappeared.

Yami growled as he spread out his legs, preparing to stay ahead of Akana's plan.

Akan held up Yugi closer to him and scorned, "Is this what you want?"

Yami's eye narrowed. He hated seeing his friend being treated like a rag doll. He despised his new enemy's arrogance, and he wanted to have Akana pay for causing his partner pain.

He warned sternly, "If you harm him any further, you'll regret it!"

"Being a bit harsh, are we now? Besides, I'm not the one who will truly harm him—You will!"

Akana immediately tossed Yugi onto the grass and leaped back.

"Yugi!" everyone yelled once more.

Yami started to sprint over towards his partner. He did not know the condition Akana had kept his buddy. And even though their souls were apart, he wanted to touch his lighter half once more.

"I wouldn't if I were you!" Akana advised in a mocking tone.

Yami was half way over when Yugi started to stand up.

Yami at once froze. He could not believe what was happening.

Bit by bit, Yugi started to rise to his knees. He lifted up his upper body. He then placed one knee up and positioned a hand there. He elevated himself up. All the way, he stood with the Duel Disk on his arm. He faced forward and slowly unlocked his eyes. They were opening!

"Yugi!" everyone yelled, relieved seeing their friend had broken the spell.

"Wait, why would Akana wake Yugi and duel me when Yugi can easily refuse?" Yami asked himself puzzled.

When the teen's eyes had fully unlocked, it answered Yami's question: The adolescent had his orbs open all the way, but his amethyst eyes were hollow. There were no signs of their small friend being truly awake or aware of where he was.

"He…. He can't mean…" Yami sputter and was interrupted by Akana, "Yes, Pharaoh, you'll have to duel your own precious treasure. But not here!"

He chanted some ancient Egyptian spell, and darkness immersed from everywhere, covering all three of them.

"No!" Yami shrieked. He knew what was coming.

"Yes!" Akana confirmed Yami's nightmare. "You two shall duel in the Shadow Realm!"

To be continued…