A Yugi/Yami story
Through a Dragon's Eye
Chapter 24- Eighth Floor – Fade Away
Yugi and Yami were both sent flying in an updraft towards the single ray of light and out of the deep pit filled with darkness.
Yami let out a scream of terror as he and Yugi were engulfed in light… and ended up back on a hard stone floor in the tower. Yami sat bolt-upright and stared around him in panic, trying to figure out what was going on. His thoughts were on nothing but fire, flying knives, floods, and the earth shaking… but no nothing like that was here, he was lying on the floor, and was safe for the moment.
Relief filled his body as he let out a sigh, glad to be out of that pit. At least until he heard a sniffle and a muffled cry from next to him. As Yami looked he saw a figure that was pale as a ghost, and looked as thin and weak as a skeleton… Yugi…
Yami felt his heart snap right in two as he took his friend into his arms once again… if he could trade places with Yugi right now… to save Yugi and have himself be the one that was on the verge of death… he would gladly trade his life.
"Yugi?" Yami whispered in a quiet and broken voice. "Yugi? Can you hear me?"
"You are wasting your breath," said his father's voice from in front of him. Yami looked up to see his father leaning up against the wall with a cool and casual expression on his face… like he didn't care just how many people were now gone thanks to him.
"Shut up," Yami said bitterly yet in a voice that was almost as calm as his father's had been as he pulled Yugi's head up a little bit and laid him on his lap. Yami's eyes were shadowed by his blond bangs, hiding them from his father's gaze, knowing that shouting wasn't going to get him anywhere. He then gently placed a hand on Yugi's cheek, trying to wake him up, only to frown when Yugi flinched and cowered back, whimpering pathetically.
"Shh..." Yami murmured, gently stroking his face, trying to give his partner whatever comfort he could.
"You moving or not?" dad said as he strutted over to where they were. "Come on. We only have one more level to go before we reach the top. And as soon as I get what I want, then I'll be sure to put an end to your suffering."
If Yami could… he would have strangled his father right then and there. "Can't you see Yugi's dying?" Yami croaked out as tears fell down from behind his bangs and onto Yugi's face. "What about all those people who are now gone from this world? Why did this have to happen? How do you know you can control that power? What do you intend to do even if you COULD control that power? What happened to you father? You used to be someone who believed in helping others not just yourself."
Yami glared up at him. "I know that deep down, you're still a good person… so please… prove me right."
His father looked down at him with a strange look in his eyes. Yami was just wondering what was going through his mind when his father said darkly, "If you won't carry your friend, then I'll put him out of his misery. Now move it or else."
Yami let out a breaking sob as he picked up Yugi and began to follow him. He didn't care if he lived or died, as long as Yugi survived. If he could get Yugi out of this mess alive, then he would handle any form of pain in the future.
As he climbed the stairs, in no time at all, the next riddle began to form in midair.
"Ah," his dad said. "The tower's not wasting any time with next floor."
Echoes from a shadow realm,
Whispers of things past and yet to come,
Thought's strange sister
dwells in night, is swept away in dawning light.
What is it?
"You tell me," whispered Yami. 'And get me and Yugi a ride out of here while you're at it,' he thought.
The light became so bright that it blinded them… and then it all faded away.
*Yugi*
He was watching his mother tending to their little vegetable garden in the back; she was showing him how to tell when the vegetables were ripe enough to be picked.
(Cough, cough)
"Mommy," said Yugi worriedly. "Are you ok?" his mother started to cough very violently.
His mother nodded. "I'm fine Yugi," she said. "I just need to rest now. Why don't you go and find your father?"
Yugi nodded as he stood up and went off into the village to see where hi s father had gone. He wandered around the village for a few hours and couldn't find him; in fact he couldn't find anyone. Everyone was locked inside their houses, and from what Yugi knew, they were all sick.
When he knew that his father wasn't in the village he decided to head home, the thought that his father had returned home while he was gone. As he made his way home… he could feel a kind of chill in the air. Yugi couldn't understand why… it was a very warm night… and yet he could feel shivers going down his spine. He had an uneasy feeling that he couldn't shake off.
He didn't know why… but he knew that he had to get home. He then took off running towards the running towards the house. He was afraid… for what? He didn't know. He just knew without the shadow of a doubt that he had to get home to find his mother and father.
When he finally got home he looked around. His mother wasn't kneeling at the garden where he last saw her and still no sign of his father.
He walked slowly up to the front door… "Mommy?" he said quietly. "Daddy? Are you there?"
No answer. Nobody answered him… he felt hot… and then cold. And a terrible ache in his heart… as though something was squeezing it very tightly. "Mommy? Daddy?" he called out a little louder.
Still he got no answer. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and very slowly walked into his house. And what he saw would haunt him until his own dying day. Both his mother and father were lying on the floor… eyes opened… mouths agape. A disgusting, rotting smell was starting to emanate from their bodies… the plague had taken away his family.
Yugi stood there completely frozen in horror… and he then let out a terrible scream. A scream that echoed with his fear … his sorrow… his pain, a scream that not even he could imagine how horrible it could be.
NO NO! NOT AGAIN! THIS CAN'T BE REAL!
The image faded and Yugi was left alone in the darkness. Yugi stared around him, trying to find something that he could recognize… but he could see nothing but dark… that is until he looked down at his feet.
Yugi let out a scream as he was staring down at the earth… he was in the night sky?
Stars began to shine, confirming that he was no longer on the ground…
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" he screamed his voice full of terror and trauma. He shut his eyes, wishing that it would all just go away. Suddenly he felt the wind picking up… wait… why was the wind flying up?
Oh no…
The wind wasn't flying up… he was falling down.
He began to scream as he plummeted towards the earth, flapping his arms, as if that would keep him airborne. But it was no use. He was going to die and there wasn't anything he could do. He shut his eyes again, and waited for the impact…
But as he fell, the rushing sound of the wind faded into music… or maybe he was just going crazy. Who was that singing?
A twinkle in the night sky
Far, far away
A golden star I gazed upon
In my dreams
On a sleepless evening
I sing alone
Tomorrow I'll sing with you
On the wings of a dream
On a sleepless evening
I sing alone
Tomorrow I'll sing with you
On the wings of a dream
On a sleepless evening
I sing alone
Tomorrow I'll sing with you
On the wings of a dream
'What's going on?' thought Yugi as the singing continued. 'This isn't possible. It must mean that this is all just a…'
*Yami*
5 year old Yami was running in a large open field with a man running after him. The man tackled him and brought him down in a tickle fight in front of a large, wooden house. From the window a woman's figure could be seen, laughing at the sight of Yami and the man playing. Her eyes following every move that they made; the little boy waving at the woman to join them; she grinned as she came out the door.
The man who was tickling him stood up and spoke to the woman, "My dearest, you shouldn't be up. You still need to rest."
The woman merely waved her hand and said, "It's alright, I'm feel well today."
She then joined the man as they began to play and chase around the field with Yami. Yami laughed and jumped as the woman danced around them with a small ball and throwing it at them… they played for a long time… until the woman began to cough and didn't stop.
His father went over to her side immediately and asked, "Dearest… I told you not to come out!"
The woman just continued to cough as she leaned up against the man. "I-I'm find," she stuttered as she put her hand over her heart.
"Mamma?" asked Yami sadly coming over to them. "Are you still sick?"
The man frowned but didn't say anything. He then looked down at Yami, and said, "Yami? Why don't you go and play with your friends in the village for a little while? I'll take care of your mother."
Yami nodded his head and went running off in the direction of the village.
Upon his return, Yami wasn't greeted with smiles from his parents… instead he was greeted by tragedy. Yami walked through the fields and into the house to see his mother on the floor… her once beautiful tan skin was now covered with a crimson red liquid from her mouth. His little body shook with terror as he walked slowly walked into the room… his father was leaning over her.
"I told you…" hissed his father. "You were sick… you shouldn't have come out…"
Yami ran to his parents with tears running down his face. "Dad? Did mama's cough get worse? What's wrong with her? Dad?" When he reached out a small hand to him his father stood up and let out a scream of grief and pain.
"DAD?" Yami yelled as he fell backwards on the stone floor, terrified of his father now. "Dad, what's wrong?"
"SHUT UP!" his father yelled as he spun around and slapped him so hard that he could taste blood. Yami put his hand to his face and stared up at the man that he admired and loved… he had never hit him before.
His father's eyes no longer had any of the warmth that Yami knew so well… they were wide and looked like they belonged to a mad dog that he had seen in the village once… before the village then decided to kill it.
His dad turned and ran from the house… leaving his sobbing son behind. Yami sniffled as he turned towards his mother. She wasn't breathing and the blood from her mouth trickled down onto the floor… he crawled over to her and hugged her cold body close to him. "Mama," he cried, "Please wake up. Something's wrong with dad… please wake up and make everything better…"
Tears began to fall, the body he was holding was cold but the red fluid around him was still warm. He shut his eyes, wishing everything would go away.
Suddenly heard a voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere, it was a voice that sounded so familiar but he couldn't remember where he heard it before.
"This must mean that this is a DREAM!"
Yami's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice… and the next thing he knew was that he was standing on a stone floor in a dark room with a faint light shining from underneath a door right above them.
Yami blinked several times, trying to make sense on where he was and what was happening…
"Y-Y-Ya-Yam-Yami?" stuttered a weak voice that he didn't recognize. Yami turned at his feet and looked to see a small boy leaning up against the wall… he looked so weak and tired that for a moment he thought that the boy was dead.
Then he saw that he was breathing… but just barely.
For a brief moment, Yami wondered who the boy was… and then everything came flooding back to him. "Yugi!" Yami cried as he ran to him and wrapped his arms around Yugi's tiny frame. "Yugi! Can you hear me? Please, stay with me! Don't die on me please! I'm going to save you! Just hang on until I do!"
"Oh don't bother," said his father's voice. "The boy is nearly dead. I'd leave him here if I were you."
Yami raised his head to see his dad standing in the shadows by the door with the light shining through the cracks. "We've done it!" his dad said with the air of a child about to receive a big treat.
Yami shook his head… how can this be the same man who once played with him and his mother just a few years ago? How could this have happened?
But then he realized the answer from his dream: His mother had gotten sick… and she died… that was when all this happened. If she had lived he knew that none of this would've happened.
"We have arrived," his father said gleefully rubbing his hands together. "The final floor… the prize is just beyond this door!"
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