A Yugi/Yami story
Through a Dragon's Eye
Chapter 11-The Truth
Yami stared at the man before them as though he never saw him before. He had changed since the last time he saw him and he didn't like it one bit. His hair was a dark, almost black color, his skin a pasty, sickly white, his eyes filled with a lust for power. But the most horrible was how ugly he looked, his hate and lust for power made him look twisted.
He smiled at his son with a horrible smile, showing yellow teeth.
"Now, now, young man. I bid you welcome to my fortress. I must apologize for my delay in welcoming you to my home. But aren't you even going to say hello to your father?" he asked in a cold and creepy voice.
The shock of seeing his father again had worn off and a deep burning hate began to consume him. Yami stood up, shaking with rage and yelled, "You're no father of mine! My father died years ago and he was replaced by a power-hungry psychopath! What do you want with us? If you want me fine, take me but let the boy go! He's not involved in this!"
He started to gasp for breath; he had been wanting to say all that stuff you years. He stared at his father just daring him to say something. After a minute his father gave him an even wider smile as he then walked over to Yami.
Yami took a few steps back and stood protectively over Yugi. He wasn't going to let his father hurt Yugi no matter what; he could take whatever his father wanted but if he hurt Yugi he didn't know what he'd do.
He stood there with his hands clenched, as if readying himself for a fight. His father slowly walked forward until he stood right in front of Yami… he then raised his hand… and slapped him so hard that Yami almost fell over.
Yami quickly regained his balance, ignoring the stinging pain on his left cheek, and stared with a deep anger at his father.
He smirked, "You haven't change a bit have you, Yami?" he asked in a know-it-all voice.
"Wrong," said Yami through clenched teeth. "I've change a lot. No thanks to you."
"Oh?" said his father in an unconcerned voice. "Who then? Little Yugi here?"
Yami froze. "How do you know Yugi's name?" he asked through numb lips.
His father gave him another terrible smile before answering, "Oh I know all about your little friend here. In fact, he's the key to the greatest power known to man."
Yami felt his jaw drop. The 'key'? he knew that Yugi was important but the key? The key to what?
"What are you talking about? Yugi's only a little kid. What do you want with him?"
His father shook his head as he very causally began to circle him. "I see that you haven't realized it yet. And you've been traveling around with him for quite some time. Yugi here is the key to the ultimate power."
If Yami was surprised before… it was nothing to what he felt now. The surprise must have been on his face for his father went on, "Judging by the look of amazement on your face I guess this must come as a surprise to you. But it's true. Yugi is the key to getting the ultimate power from Miasmador on the vanishing isle."
"Miasmador?" exclaimed Yami. "You mean the dragon Miasmador? He's real?"
His father let out a terrible, harsh, cold laugh (the kind of laugh that usually comes from a mad scientist). "Real? Of course he's real. He is the only reason why no one can find the vanishing isle. His magic is so powerful that only he will only allow Yugi to make it through to the island. All others will become lost to the mist that surrounds the isle." He stopped circling Yami and walked a few feet away to the long wooden table in on the opposite side of the wall.
He leaned down on it as he spoke again, "Because of that over-grown gecko, my men have all become lost in the tides of the circling mist. As it had happened to those who blew it centuries ago…" his father then seemed lost in thought as he recited a line from the story that Yugi had told him
"In vain glory they arose,
Shouting challenges at the magic.
But prevail they did not. Their doom it was
To guard the power until time's end."
His father then shook his head, "Fools! Allowing Merlin and Morgan le Fay, a couple of old, hags with pointed hats and magic wands to get the better of them, and sealing the ultimate power away on a isle in the mist. They had no right. The ultimate power is ours; it was a gift from the gods themselves. And yet they sealed away. From the reaches of mankind… well till now."
His father turned away to look at his son, and Yami actually took a step back. For a brief moment, he saw such a lust for power… that his father looked more demon than human.
Yami summoned up his courage and yelled at him, "That power is not yours! If it was then you should have be given it. And even if it was… why do you need Yugi?"
His father shook his head as though he was deeply disappointed in Yami for not thinking. "Don't you know the story of the vanishing isle?"
"Of course, I do!" yelled Yami. "Yugi told me all about it. A war was fought for a power, beyond anything they had ever imagined. This power was greater than any magician and according to the legend, whoever had the strength to posses it, would have their destiny changed forever."
"The power to turn the poor into kings, and making the weak strong, cowards can become heroes, and the weakest of magic will become the most powerful of magicians. So people began to fight over the power. Many kings and soldiers fought over it too claim it for themselves, but many innocent people lost their lives over the fighting. So it was decided that the power would be hidden away, in a tower in the middle of the ocean. It was the great wizards, Merlin and Morgan le Fay who decided the power's fate.
They created a vanishing isle in the middle of the ocean that disappeared and appeared only when someone came to claim it. They sealed the power away at the very, top of a tower on the vanishing isle and, as an extra protection; they put up a magical mist around the island so that only a chosen person can find it.
Countless kings and people that fought for control of it were angry at the two wizards for locking the ultimate power away, far beyond their reach. They demanded that Merlin and Morgan release its power and give it to them. The wizards refused many times, but they were finally resorted to placing a curse upon the greedy. They were sealed into the magical mist surrounding the island itself, so instead of gaining the ultimate power, they would be cursed to guard it until the time that a chosen one would come and rightfully claim it."
Yami stopped to catch his breath. "For a long time I didn't understand why they did it but now I think I do. And you know I'm glad they did it! They did it to keep power-hungry monsters like you from finding it and taking over the world!"
His father smacked him on the side of the face again, "Oh such high hopes I had for you son. But you had to run. Run and they ran away with you!"
Yami was so angry that he barely even thought about the pain on his face. "You may have given me life… but you're no father of mine."
"The same words I heard over a year ago," said his father. "You really haven't changed. And you still don't get it do you? Why I had you brought here with your little friend."
Yami looked down at Yugi, still lying out cold on the floor, "Why do you need him?" he asked, fearing the answer.
His father gave him another ugly smile before answering him, "Don't you remember the rest of the story?"
Yami thought about it for a while before reciting the rest of the story, more to himself than to his father, "Well, Merlin, himself, said that only a child who is completely pure of heart… will be able to see through the cursed mist. When that child see's through the mist then all the kings and soldiers that were sealed inside it would allow them to sail through. "
"The only way that those cursed in that mist can become free is for a child to go to the vanishing isle and claim the power. And to this day, the power still waits on top of the tower, unable to give its gift to anyone."
"… a chosen one…" he whispered through numb lips.
"Ah, finally figured it out have you, son?" said his father in triumph. "Your friend Yugi is the chosen one. the only one who will be able to see into the mist and lead the way to the vanishing isle."
Yami was completely stunned. Yugi… his friend… he brother is the one meant to have the ultimate power. "WHY?!" he yelled. "He's just a kid, what did he do to deserve being used by a madman like you?"
"Why a child was chosen I don't know," said his father. "To tell you the truth, Yami, for a while I thought that you were the chosen one but I see now that it's your friend here. And now that we have him, we'll make for the vanishing isle as soon as he wakes up."
Yami was shaking his head. "No," he said. "I won't let you use him for your sick plans. He's my friend and I made a promise to protect him. Stay away from him; he hasn't done anything to deserve this. And besides, you can't get to the vanishing isle unless you have the flying ship."
"Oh," said his father in mock surprise. "You know of the flying ship."
"Yeah, Merlin and Morgan le Fay prepared everything for the chosen one. They made it so that there is only one way for the right child to get to the isle. They used their powerful magic to create a flying ship. And without the ship you can't find the isle," said Yami in triumph.
"True, true," his father. "The hull of the ship was assembled a compact special construction of enchanted wood, so it would never rot. The masts carried square sails consisting of panels of magical linen, which will never tear, and each sail can be spread or closed at a pull, like a blind. The ship was made for speed, not battle, so it's incredibly fast, great for negotiating shallow waterways, essential when running from pursuit.
But the most distinguishing feature of a sky ship is its bow. It was in the shape of a dragon, which was said to protect the ship in any kinds of weather, and it was also what gave the ship the power to fly.
The two wizards built this magic ship for children, and when that child finds it, all they have to do is tell the ship where they want to go… and it will take them there. However, to prevent just anyone from just taking the ship, the two wizards hid it far away."
"On the farthest shores,
Beyond the dagger rocks
And past the river of time...
Shrouded deep in a roiling mist...
The sacred ship sleeps: its name… Swiftflight
Who knows the Paths?
Children, alone, know the way."
"Yes, Yami," said his father. "I already know about Swiftflight. And I already know where it is. If fact, I've found it."
Shock, after shock came over Yami tonight. "No," he said. "You didn't… you couldn't have found it… me and Yugi have… "
"Been looking for it." finished his father. "I know that you and your friend have been searching for the ship. But unfortunately for you, I've found it first. How… I think that you're better off not knowing. Unless of course you would like nightmares."
Yami's father turned and walked a ways away and began to recite…
"Lo, Child, born from days unfold,
Oh, young, pure heart, free of any evil.
Know this: This tower
Challenges the sky,
Where the watcher; the true guardian,
He waits, for one with a pure heart.
Those without power,
Want it not.
Those with power,
Trust it not.
Those with sight,
Heed it not.
Destroy the illusion,
Cut through to the true path.
You must choose the right way, but not just for yourself,
Decide what is most important in the end."
He stopped walking and turned to look at his son again. "The watcher… the true guardian… that bloody dragon.
"But…" said Yami trying to figure out a way to convince his father that Yugi wasn't the one that he was looking for; trying to figure out a way to protect Yugi. "The story says that only the right child will know what it means… and even then…"
"…and even then," cut across his father, "… only at the right time… will they know. The prophecy that Merlin and Morgan le Fay made many years ago, they made it so that only the right child will be able to fulfill it. The dragon Miasmador's soul duty is to protect the ultimate power until the time came when someone with a pure, untainted heart will make a choice."
"The child will be forced to make a decision… one that will decide their own fate… and the fate of someone close to them. They will make a decision; on top of that tower… they will decide what is most important to them."
"So you see my son, Yugi is the one that the prophecy speaks of. We need him to find the isle. And you will be the son of the ruler of the world. Doesn't that sound nice?"
"Yeah," said Yami sarcastically. "But I'll have to change my name, dye my hair, and move to some quiet part of the world to be saved the embarrassment of having a power-hungry, lunatic, psychopath for a father."
His father opened his mouth to say something but Yami had had enough.
"I've had it with you… you've punished me, and hurt me. You've even snooped around inside my head and messed with my memories. Losing the man that I was once proud to call my father broke my heart but I never should have let you take the beautiful memories I had and turn them into something ugly. It was wrong of me to think that feeling nothing was better than feeling sad. The sadness was real. It was human. I misunderstood what Ishizu said before I ran off. She never meant for me to think that my life had no meaning. She said that we each have our own destiny and that's not the same thing. Each one of us has a destiny that's different and that's special. If there is such a thing as destiny then it's your destiny to lose… father."
His father gave him yet another ugly smile before he raised his hand and… Yami fell into the darkness… of his dreams.