Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Chapter 11: Heartbroken Darkness
A/N: Here it is. The chapter that everyone's been waiting for. Now you really get to see the fur fly as Yami finds out what happened to Yugi. I won't give too many details since it's better to read it for yourselves, but I don't think that anyone is going to be disappointed. There should be enough violence to go around. If not, then just wait till later in the story. I can promise that Yami will be positively berserk on more than one occasion.
There was only one way to describe Yami at present. He was a complete wreck. His mind was constantly abuzz with all that he had learned and what effects it might have in the long run. As a result, the journey home was short but it had not been an easy one for Yami. Over and over again he kept wanting to reach through the link and feel the mental touch of his hikari but knew that it wouldn't be there. Like it had been for the last few days, the link was still tightly closed and nothing was seeping through from either end. The best that he could feel was a blank void in the back of his mind that Yugi's presence normally occupied. It was an emptiness that he had grown used to over the last several days but not one that he found comforting.
The only real comfort that he would ever find again was when Yugi was back in his arms once more. Only then, when he had both his Yugi and the hikari's forgiveness, would he be able to relax. Then he would be able to focus more easily on the problem at hand. He would then be able to come up with a way that he could at least partially explain what was happening to Yugi. Not so much that it would irreparable harm was done to the hikari's psyche but enough so that he would understand why Yami had acted the way that he had. In that way, things would go more smoothly until the strangers were finally caught and interrogated.
When that came about, it was already unspoken that if the offenders were caught by either Yami or Marik then they were only allowed to keep them for a short time. Any real punishment that would be doled out to them would be given by Bakura alone. As it was his hikari that had been attacked, then he had first claim to exacting revenge. That was how it had always been among the dark spirits. It was one of the few things that they readily agreed on without having to make a discussion about it or without argument.
As he and the others were greeted by the guards who were stationed at the transportation platform, Yami's mind did not care about these things. He was becoming more and more focused towards getting back to Yugi now that he had returned home. It was a feeling that intensified at the thought of Yugi even being remotely close by. So he ignored what was said to him by the servants and quickly left the chamber to return to the ones that Yugi had chosen for himself.
Just as he had done with the servants in the transportation chamber, Yami paid no heed to the ones that he encountered as he made his way down the various corridors. Most watched him with surprised as they could easily sense the tension that was rising in their master. It was not something that they were used to seeing in him, even though he did not outwardly show it. The most of what the servants sensed was more on an empathic level that was more easily sensed than normal because of the intensity that Yami was pushing it out. Which was not normal, as Yami always kept his emotions in check under mental barriers that were only released around Yugi.
For any of them to be able to feel his distress told the servants and guards that something was wrong. And when something was wrong with their master, every Monster knew that there was only one way to deal with it. Unless Yami actually volunteered something or reacted in some way, he was best left alone. In that way, no one would draw any unnecessary attention to themselves and give Yami an excuse to lash out. It was a reaction that had kept many from coming to undue harm in the past and right now, that probably applied as well.
Yet without even asking, no one really needed to ask what was bothering Yami. They all knew that it was about Yugi. The two had not parted on the best of terms and that was bound to be something that would carry over with Yami's return. The only thing that anyone could hope for was that the dark spirit would be able to coax his lover into speaking with again. Then perhaps they might be able to work out either a compromise or just resolve the situation entirely. But that remained to be seen, as Yugi's recent behavior was not something that anyone had been prepared for.
For his part, Yami was already going over in his head what he would say to Yugi. It was a process that left him coming up with more prattle than anything that was actually useful. He couldn't help feeling that nothing he had to say would be good enough for Yugi. Given how much he had hurt the little one with his words, Yami knew that he was going to have to put every ounce of sincerity that he had into his words to be able to even get Yugi to listen. It was just finding the right words to go along with these feelings that kept getting him as well the reason why he had said those things in the first place.
He had known from the beginning that leaving Yugi safely at home was for the best, even if their parting had not been under the best of circumstances. The separation was beginning to wear on Yami emotionally though. It wasn't the first time that his hikari had blocked their link, but it was certainly the longest. Usually when Yugi was angry with Yami, he would only keep the mental barrier up until his forgiving nature would start to take over. Then the wall would drop and he would allow his yami back with open arms. That was when the real fun would begin.
Yami was never one to show a great deal of emotion to others, since it would just give away any weaknesses that might be there. The only one he ever made an exception for was Yugi himself. With his hikari, Yami knew that it didn't matter what weaknesses he might have since Yugi already knew everything about him. They were two halves of the whole and there was nothing that they needed to hide from one another when it came to either personality or fears.
Other things could be hidden when necessary. Such as private thoughts about things that neither lover wished to discuss with anyone, even each other. This normally occurred more often when it was something that Yami had discovered instead of the other way around. Yami was always the more protective of the pair and felt that there was just a great deal that Yugi was better off not knowing. For Yugi, he had always been one who felt that if someone learned of something unpleasant or disturbing, then it was better to comfort them and try to soothe the problem if possible.
Of course, it was within Yugi's nature to seek out a solution like that. Yami knew this and it was something that was valued in all hikaris. It was just something that didn't always work, as yamis knew all too well. More often then not, there were times when a more direct and violent tactic had to be taken when problems arose. And when that was the case, it was better to let someone who was used to dealing in such ways handle the situation rather than another who was not.
Yami was all too aware of this and it was that which had partially gotten him into trouble with Yugi to begin with. In his desire to protect Yugi and handle things his own way, he had acted too rashly in what he had said to the hikari. So as he finally came to stop in front of the chamber doors, Yami continued to rack his brain in an attempt to best put forth the problem without getting Yugi involved. He stood there for a moment, trying to steel himself against what he knew was about to come. Even now Yami had no idea of what he should say or do, but he also knew that it was wrong to put it off any longer.
A barrier stood between him and the hikari that he now sought. Not only the doors themselves, but also a magical one that Yugi had put up. It was made entirely of light magic and was invisible to the naked eye. Anyone who had an ounce of magical ability would have been able to sense it nonetheless. The barrier itself was not the strongest that the hikari was capable of producing, though it was strong enough to make its message clear. The barrier had been placed around the door in an effort to say that Yugi wished to be left alone. If anyone tried to interrupt that privacy, he would feel the disturbance in the barrier and know that there was an intruder.
It was enough to keep the servants out, who knew that when the barrier went up it was one of those times when Yugi was best left alone. He did not set them up often, so when he did then there was a good reason. So they respected it and left their little master be for as long as he wished. Despite how long a barrier might be present, no one was too concerned. It was common knowledge that as long as a barrier created by a hikari remained in place, then that hikari was safe and well. For as long as the magic of a hikari was there, then it was a signal that his powers were still strong and healthy.
Though it might have been a deterrent for the servants, it was not one for Yami. He would respect his hikari's privacy, but now was not the time for that. Right now, he needed to speak with Yugi and immediately. Despite the barrier, Yami entered the chamber without any trouble, which wasn't very surprising. What magic Yugi had in the way of defenses was enough for minor to moderate situations, but it could never keep Yami away from the little hikari. His magic had always been the stronger of the two when it came to brute strength and could overcome it at times, though never completely. To a degree, hikari magic had its own strength against shadow magic. On many occasions, it was able to neutralize shadow magic enough where its effects were entirely voided. Though in this case, it was shadow magic which had dispelled light magic when Yami had pressed a hand to it.
"Yugi? Hikari, I'm back," Yami announced as he entered.
He stood there in the doorway, waiting for an answer. At first, Yami wasn't really certain that he would get any. It was hard to tell how badly but he knew that he had hurt his lover with the words spoken before his departure. No matter how well he might hide it, Yugi never took very well to either insult or cruelty from anyone. When he experienced it, the hurt he always felt caused him to withdraw from everyone around him, sometimes even Yami. A withdrawal that could take him uncertain amounts of time to recover from, as he had shown recently.
After a few moments of silence though, Yami guessed that maybe he had had hurt Yugi more than he had thought. Even when he was mad, it wasn't like to act like this. If Yami came directly to him and said something, then he would offer some kind of response. It might either be silence with an angry glare, hurt words that could increase Yami's guilt tenfold, or just tears that sliced right through his heart. But never a dead silence where Yugi refused to even come out.
Yami sighed," Hikari mine, if you're still mad at me for what happened, I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean for it to sound like it did. It just came out the wrong way. So please, stop hiding from me and come out so that we can talk about this. Please?"
Yami waited expectedly, as he knew that an apology would at least get Yugi to acknowledge his presence. Yet as the moments dragged on and there was no response, he began to feel more than a little agitated. Since he knew that Yugi was probably still upset, he was willing to be a little indulgent but that only went so far. Now that Yugi continued to give him the silent treatment even after he had offered a sincere apology, well, that was just pushing the limit.
"This isn't funny anymore, aibou. It's time to stop playing and for you to come out. We need to talk about this now," Yami ordered.
Again, silence was the only answer that Yami received. His patience steadily growing thinner, decided that enough was enough. If Yugi was going to continue to ignore him, then he was just going to root the hikari out and make him listen. It might end up making things worse if Yugi was still upset with him, but at this point, Yami really didn't care. All he wanted right now was to be face to face with his hikari and set things straight between them.
So he started searching through every inch of the chambers that Yugi was supposed to be occupying in his absence. Yami looked under all the furniture and cushions just in case Yugi might have hidden under them. He looked in the bedchamber and then out on the balcony that was connected to the single window. There was no sign of Yugi even in the small garden that lay just beneath. It was almost as if he had never been there to begin with.
Panic started to set in as Yami fully realized this. He tried to deny it at first though, trying to tell himself that it was just his imagination. That somewhere in these rooms, his little lover was hiding somewhere and still sulking about their past argument. That was the only reason that Yugi hadn't answered him yet. It wasn't because the hikari was beyond the safety of these rooms. It just couldn't be that.
Another sharp pain suddenly stabbed at Yami's head, causing him to grab hold of a couch arm in order to keep from losing his balance as he continued to deny the inevitable. His vision blurred terribly as he tried to regain his sense of balance and for a moment, the entire world seemed to be in turmoil. It remained so for several moments before Yami finally managed to get back to his senses and momentarily throw off whatever was causing his disorientation.
When he finally regained his composure, the only thing that Yami saw was a thick haze of red. Something was wrong, he could feel that now. Something that he hadn't started to notice until now. That way why he had felt so compelled to return as quickly as he had. His waking mind had not been able to sense what was going on because it had been occupied with the recent problems in the Shadow Realm. For his subconscious however, for his deepest instincts, it was a different story. This part of him had started to sense that there was something going on and it had communicated such by making him feel the desperate need to be with Yugi again. Not to apologize, but because the hikari was no longer where he was supposed to be.
It was the only thing to explain why he was feeling this way and why he was suddenly so overcome with these almost primitive instincts. Instincts that he hadn't felt except for the time just after his and Yugi's creation millennia before. A time when it was necessary for him to rely upon his instincts in order to protect them both from those that would have destroyed them if given a chance. But those had long since faded once reason had set in and it was possible for him to show his dominance to others through strategy and battle prowess.
Now though, those instincts were coming back in full force. It was taking every ounce of will power that Yami had just to hold them back. He could feel as the instincts kept attempting to claw their way to the surface passed the barriers that he had erected in his mind. It brought a pressure to his mind that he had never felt before in his entire existence. A pressure that threatened to drive Yami mad if his instincts didn't first. It was an internal war that part of Yami was left wondering who would win, the instincts or his conscious mind.
As the pressure continued to build, Yami opened his end of the link as wide as he could in a desperate attempt to locate Yugi. Like it had been for the last several days, Yugi's end was still completely blocked off. The only thing that greeted him was a blank void that felt like he was hitting a wall every time he tried to get around it. And no matter how much mental pain that brought Yami, he continued to try and break around that wall. A tactic that he wouldn't do if he were of sound mind but that was really no longer an issue for him. Right now, as his mind warred within itself, all he could truly focus upon was keeping down the haze of rage that threatened to spread and finding Yugi.
And that had to beyond the palace, for now Yami could tell that his lover was no longer in the palace. He hadn't done it at first since he thought that the little one was still safely within his rooms, but now he stretched out his mental senses. With these, he could get a general idea of where Yugi was when the mind link was closed or he was asleep. As he stretched out his sense to the fullest, he could feel no trace of the hikari anywhere. It was a realization that drove Yami out of the room as he ran off to blindly search for Yugi.
Even as he left the room, Yami had already stated to reach through the link again. This time it was not only in trying to find a trace of his hikari but to actually make contact with him. It was the first time that he had really tried to do so since that fateful encounter in the Meeting Hall. The reason that he didn't try to do so beforehand was that he was trying to respect Yugi's privacy and give him a chance to calm down. Now though, he was trying with all his might to break the barrier but was only met with a strong and silent resistance that he had never known in Yugi before.
The resulting search could be described as sporadic at best. It was made by both his distracted attention of attempting to contact Yugi while the instinctual haze was still trying to make its way into the rational portion of Yami's mind. The result was that he just started looking into rooms at random to find some recent trace of his hikari. So far, nothing could be found save for their own personal chambers and the ones that Yugi had recently occupied on his own. Yet neither of his gave any definite clue of where he could be.
It was a fact that was frustrating Yami to no end. An emotion that he eventually took out on the first unfortunate creature to cross his path. That was a Beaver Warrior that happened to be coming down the corridor during a change in shift. He had been warned by some of the others he passed to watch out for their master since he was not in the best of moods. So it was best to keep out of his way until he calmed down again. Beaver Warrior had taken the advice but had not really paid any attention to it. That was a mistake that would cost him dearly as things went downhill the moment he and Yami came face to face.
Grabbing Beaver Warrior by the neck when he was within reach, Yami snarled," What happened to my hikari! Where is he!"
At first, Beaver Warrior was unable to answer his Master. Instead, he was struggling against the hand that held him so that he could find the air that his lungs desperately needed. But the grip remained as hard as steel and tightened the more that Beaver Warrior struggled. Soon the poor creature was on the brink of losing consciousness before someone finally intervened.
"Yami-sama, please!" a voice rang out.
Purely on reaction to the sound, Yami swung his head from the struggling Beaver Warrior to the source. His eyes came to rest on Celtic Guardian. The Monster had been nearby when he was alerted to trouble by the strangled cries of his comrade. At first, the other had thought that the Beaver Warrior had picked fight with Gazelle again. It wouldn't have been the first time that someone had inadvertently angered the King of Mythical King of Beasts without meaning to. Nor would it have been the first time that someone had to come to the rescue of the poor unfortunate.
When he saw the look in Yami's eyes however, Celtic Guardian instantly knew that that wasn't the case. Something else had happened with his master and it was making him act unstable. That much was evident just by the way he had grabbed the unfortunate Monster and still held him by the throat. What had caused this reaction was unknown to Celtic Guardian at the moment. All that he did know was that he had to find some way to calm Yami down before he did something that he regretted later on. It was just finding a way to speak to his Master in a way that wouldn't agitate him into further violence.
"Yami-sama," he started as he slowly began to approach Yami and the struggling Beaver Warrior," Please Master, calm down."
Yami merely glared at Celtic Guardian, his eyes glowing a menacing red that could frighten even the strongest of souls. And Celtic Guardian did back away slightly at the sight of his Master's gaze. Never in all the centuries of service to the dark spirit had he ever seen a look like that. The only thing that had ever come close was on the battlefield when Yami was filled with battle lust and urging his troops into battle. Only then did he seem to be losing even a fraction of the strict control that he held over himself.
In Yami's grasp, Beaver Warrior continued to struggle for breath. The more he did however, the tighter Yami's grip became. Even the sudden appearance of Celtic Guardian did not dissuade this. All did was just draw the dark one's direct attention away from him for the moment. It did not take away Yami's attention entirely or he would have released his prisoner by now. So while the others spoke, Beaver Warrior slowly felt his air supply become less and less.
Soon, his struggles almost ceased completely. Beaver Warrior's eyesight began to grow dim as the air ran out to almost nothing. His situation did not go unnoticed though. Even while he was trying to calm down their Master, Celtic Warrior saw how dire his companion's situation was becoming. He decided to step up his efforts a bit in order to help the other before it became too late. If he didn't, they could very well be short one Beaver Warrior if Yami continued the way he did. That was something, even with all the warriors enlisted in Yami's service, that they could not afford.
"Please Yami-sama. Calm down and tell me what is wrong," Celtic Guardian pleaded.
"I want to know where my hikari is. He was not in those rooms like he should have been. Where is he!" Yami demanded, dropping the now unconscious Beaver Warrior as he put his full attention on Celtic Warrior.
Celtic Warrior met the news with shock. Of all things he might have expected to hear, that was not one of them. Like the others, he had thought that the hikari was still tucked away in his new chambers. After all, neither he nor Solitaire had set foot outside the rooms since Yami and the others had left. With Solitaire's habit of hoarding food at times, there was no chance of them running out for awhile. So they didn't have to worry about the pair starving.
Though if Yugi really wasn't in his chambers, then it would explain Yami's sudden violent behavior. The only times when he acted even remotely like this was when some large threat was nearby. But there had not been anything close to that since the last major war between himself and Bakura several eons before. Since then, most of the threats that had presented themselves could be considered inconvenient to moderately dangerous to the residents of the palace.
"Well! Where is my hikari!" Yami demanded, jarring Celtic Guardian out of his shock.
"No one has seen him since you left, Yami-sama," Celtic Guardian answered.
He tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, but with the rage that Yami was showing, that was difficult. Even for a seasoned veteran like Celtic Warrior, it was hard to stare the gaze of a creature that could easily destroy him with a single flick of the wrist. Still, he would try doing it if it meant that it would keep Yami from going on a rampage. With the way he was acting, that was the last thing anyone would want to happen. Yami could very well level the entire palace in his search for Yugi with how reckless he was being.
"What do you mean you haven't seen him?" Yami bellowed," How could you possibly not see me hikari? He never leaves the palace unless I am with him."
"But we were only following his orders, Yami-sama," Celtic Guardian protested.
"What orders?" Yami growled.
"The orders that everyone but Solitaire was to leave him alone until he deemed otherwise. We assumed it was because he was feeling indisposed again and didn't want the distraction until he was feeling better," Celtic Guardian explained.
Outwardly, Yami met this news with stoic silence. Within however, it was an entirely different story. Inwardly, Yami was screaming in disbelief at what he was hearing. How could it be that his hikari had managed to slip through the fingers and claws of such powerful and diligent creatures like his? It was impossible. There was no way such a thing could happen in his palace. Not when he was always so careful to make certain that everything that was organized and set to perfection in order to make sure that nothing ever happened to his lover. Which, as he now saw, was obviously not enough if he managed to disappear from right under everyone's noses. Though the circumstances leading to this event were not totally uncalled for if one were to look at the situation from a distance.
It was not wrong for the servants to assume that Yugi was feeling indisposed. It wouldn't have been the first time that the hikari had been that way since he had voluntarily withdrawn from Yami's company. When he had not been in the library, he had stayed secluded within the new rooms that he had chosen for himself and Solitaire. No one would be allowed in except for said servant, who only even left when she was at her master's side or when the stock of food that they had ran low. Otherwise, no one ever saw either of them. So with those being the most recent standard for behavior, it was the norm that everyone had come to expect.
Even so, the less logical part of Yami did accept this entirely. With or without anything strange going on, someone should have checked on the hikari enough to be sure that he was fine. It could have been just to knock and see if there was anything he needed that Solitaire hadn't already gotten for him. Or just to clean the room since that was what was supposed to be done anyhow. Yet none of that had been done and now Yugi was gone as a result.
"You should have checked on him anyway since I was not here to monitor what was happening," Yami growled out.
"I'm sorry, Yami-sama. We just had no reason to doubt his orders. There have been neither unusual energy traces nor any sightings of intruders. Except for the servants that were cleaning or on guard duty, no one has been this way, Yami-sama. We had no reason to assume that there was anything wrong," Celtic Guardian explained.
His explanation had some merit. Though there were constant patrols and checks to be sure that no one had invaded the palace, if there was nothing amiss then no one would attempt to investigate. They would continue with security measures as they always had, still on the lookout for trouble but still getting on with life. That was something, even in his present mood, that Yami could not find fault with. His servants had only done as they had been ordered and trained to do. That was what he expected of them at all times.
Still, for the less logical part of his mind that steadily took more ground as the seconds went by, none of that mattered in the least. All that mattered was that his hikari was gone and no one had ever known that it had happened. More should have been done to prevent anything from happening to Yugi, even in the short amount of time that Yami had been gone. And each moment that passed without knowing where Yugi was led to the possibility that something had happened to his little one. Something that Yami would do everything within his power to remedy, no matter what it cost him.
It was only now that he noticed the other Monsters that had been gathering the last few moments. Like Celtic Guardian, they had heard the commotion going on and had come to investigate. Upon seeing the state of things, the majority had hung back to avoid catching their master's attention. A few however, such as Dark Magician, did not fall into this behavior and came forward regardless of the risk that they were taking.
"We are at your command, Yami-sama. What are your orders?" Dark Magician asked, already sensing what his master had in mind for them all.
"Every Monster that can be spared is to search until my hikari is found and brought safely back to this palace," Yami snarled," I will personally destroy those that disobey this command. Now, all of you, go. We're wasting time standing here."
Most of the Monsters that had arrived scattered at once. One led Beaver Warrior away to the infirmary to be examined for possible injury while others went to spread Yami's order around the palace. Only two remained. This was Dark Magician and Celtic Guardian. The two Monsters remained with their Master as he stood there, eyes glowing and still seething with an unprovoked rage that continued to grow by the moment. He continued to stand there for a moment longer before turning and stalking off to start a search for himself. His two servants remained behind for a moment longer, one looking as if he were torn between following their Master and going to search while the other seemed to know exactly what he needed to do.
"You go ahead and search with the others, Celtic Guardian. I will remain here with our Master in case he needs to send out more orders," Dark Magician said.
"All right but be careful, my friend. Our Master is not himself," Celtic Guardian warned.
Dark Magician nodded but said nothing further. He knew as well as his friend how unstable their Master was steadily becoming. It was something that neither had ever seen before but knew of nonetheless. Like many things that were based in the Shadow Realm, their knowledge was based on instincts that were deeply placed into their minds and beings. Instincts that the fates had placed into them so that if the need ever arose, then they would know how to handle the situation. For unlike many things in the realms, there were just some things that the fates didn't leave up to chance. When it came to light and darkness, there always had to be a backup plan just in case something happened.
Personally, Dark Magician hoped that if something did happen soon, that it would be in their favor. He had no idea what had caused Yugi to disappear as he had, but he was praying that it didn't lead him into danger. Though he spent more time around Yami and was closest to him out of all the servants, he also had a place in his heart for Yugi. And not simply because he was a hikari, as was often the case with those that swore loyalty to another in the Shadow Realm. No, now it was because he had a genuine interest in what happened to those around him and with the recent attempt on Ryou, that heightened those feelings even more.
So as he hurried after his Master, Dark Magician sent out a silent prayer. One was to the fates, a desperate hope that they would decide to show mercy in this instance. Enough so that Yugi was found before anything happened to him. Another was sent to Yugi himself, for both his sake and Yami's. One that sent out the hope that the hikari would send word to Yami on his own.
Please Yugi-sama, Dark Magician pleaded silently, Please, hear Yami-sama's call for you and answer. It might be the only thing that can stop him from doing something that we will all regret.
A/N: With this chapter done, I am going to make a few things clear for Hikari Paladin. I have read your review and I can understand your confusion as well as appreciate your comment. There are two reasons why the monsters haven't noticed that Yugi is gone yet. The first and main part is that while Earth we have a concept of time, in this version of the Shadow Realm, they do not. They just eat when they're hungry and sleep when they're tired. Simple as that. Another thing is that with as much detail as I try to put into this story and with as little time as I have, sometimes I don't always think of every possibility. I just try to write in a way that at least makes some sense without getting rotten fruit thrown at me for stupidity. But thanks for the comment though, it did help shape parts of this chapter during the final editing.