26-Power

Yugi needed to think to himself for a minute. He walked upstairs to the bedroom and sat down. Thank goodness Yami wasn't in here, he couldn't face him yet.

Maybe he said too much to Yami. He even brought up his past with Atem, and that was a little too much. He was sure he hurt him. Yugi kept avoiding the man on purpose, simply because he didn't feel comfortable talking with him after the argument. He decided that he'd talk to him later and make up. He didn't want to see Yami walk around so depressed like anymore. He felt really bad and he needed to apologize. Its just that, he never would have said all that stuff if Yami hadn't thrown him into the wall and practically called him a weak obedient servant boy. Or at least, that's how Yugi took it once Yami called him that. He didn't appreciate that, and that's why he snapped back at him.

A knock interrupted his train of thought.

"May I come in?" That deep voice, he knew it wasn't Yami's. Atem's and his were very similar, but there a was distinctive difference somewhere in their voice.

"Yeah, sure." Yugi responded. The door opened and quickly shut back as the former pharaoh made his way into the room. He gave a smile to Yugi and sat next to him on the bed. At first, Yugi wouldn't look at him. He kept staring at the sheets of the bed. The room was very quiet.

"I was going to ask if you could come outside with me."

Outside? Well, better than being cooped up in here, Yugi guessed. The boy stared a little at first, but complied nodding yes and looking back down. He felt himself being pulled into an embrace, and he found his face being nestled into Atem's chest with his strong arms wrapped around him. Funny...Yami used to do the same thing. The man buried his face into the boy's spiky head and whispered.

"It is alright to feel sad."

Yugi's mouth twitched, and his eyes started to water. He felt the other man pet his head slowly and gently. As if consoling a wounded puppy.

"I understand your pain and your anger. I felt the same way when my people were slaughtered by Akefia. I wanted nothing more than to kill him. Kill them all..." He laid his fingers against the boy's cheek, slowly gliding down his chin and lifting it up so they could see eye-to-eye. His wine red eyes were softened with sympathy. "Revenge sounds satisfying at first, but I swear to you, it is not worth it Yugi."

At the same time, Yugi knew what he was talking about, yet felt confused.

"Come now." Atem released his embrace and lifted himself from the bed. He walked over to the door and looked at Yugi who stared at Atem puzzled. "I need to talk you about a few things, and I need to show you other things about your magic. Please, come." He held out a hand.

Yugi slowly got up, and took a few steps towards Atem. He placed his hand in his and lightly grasped it.

"Okay."

Once outside, Atem talked to Yugi to death. Though, Yugi didn't mind at all because the information he was telling was very useful. He talked about controlling magic and shadow control. He told Yugi that once they walked to the backyard, that he would properly show him how to manipulate darkness and light. The only thing that confused him, light and darkness? Why darkness? He wasn't a shadow-walker.

Atem sat down on the green grass, and Yugi soon joined him close together.

"Yugi, there is something extremely important that is going on with you." He said. Yugi blinked.

"What do you mean?" He asked. The other man sighed. It sounded sad.

"Before I teach you how to manipulate your magic, I need to tell you something. And pay attention." Atem licked his lips and closed his eyes. It was now or never, Yugi needed to know. "Yami and I have noticed, that a little before you entered Limbo, something started to change about you. There is darkness inside of you, and it is growing nonstop. It is getting to the point where your entire personality is starting to change. It is affecting your magic, your persona, even your eyes."

"What," Yugi shook his head. "What are you talking about? Are you saying I'm becoming into you guys?" He was in disbelief. Atem nodded.

"Yes. We think that the darkness in your heart began to arise when your grandfather was murdered. Of course after the recent events that's happened, we have not made it better. Your rage, and your sorrow is what's feeding it. Your darkness and your light are becoming equal in your body, which may turn you into a twilight-user. That is not the real issue, however. We fear that your darkness may overcome your light, turning you into one of us. And do you know what happens to a creature who turns into their opposite alignment?"

"N-No." Yugi's eyes shook.

"Their body corrupts and deteriorates. They die and fade away into either ash, or into nothing. You could die." He explained. Yugi looked terrified, and Atem felt bad. He knew he would react this way. Probably blind-sided too. He didn't even realize what was becoming of him. "We wanted to try our best to make you happy, and give you more positive emotions. Alas, you have only kept getting worse. And it is both mostly our faults. You do not act like yourself anymore, and this is why. We want you to go back to being 'Yugi', but we fear its too late." He hated what was happening, and Yugi could tell by the way his voice held so much guilt and sadness. No one here wanted Yugi to lose himself like Yami did, just permanently. "I am sorry."

"No its, its not your fault." Yugi quickly said. "Its no one's fault except mine for letting all this get to me so bad. Its my fault that I let myself turn into this..." He grabbed Atem's hands into his own and held tightly. "You guys shouldn't be burdened with guilt, and I'm sorry too, for that. So," He made a small smile. "I'll try to be more nice. Like how I used to be, right?"

Atem slowly smiled back. "Yes. Please. You would do all of us a favor. We just want you to be safe. You do not have the slightest idea how much we care for you." He put both his hands on his round cheeks and gently rubbed his thumbs against them. "We love you."

Yugi put his hand on top of Atem's and smiled more. He really did feel happy now. The other man pulled his face closer and closed his eyes. Yugi did the same, and let him press his lips on his. Yugi never kissed Atem before, but it felt different than Yami's. He wasn't cold, he was warm like the sun. Which was odd considering that he was a shadow-walker too. He thought all dark creatures felt cold. But no, he felt very very warm. His lips felt so good, and the taste of his beautiful tan skin reminded him of pomegranates.

He liked the fact that he wasn't as aggressive, more gentle. He didn't bite his lip and he didn't stick his tongue in, but he was still a very good kisser. It was so good, Yugi started to grip onto his shirt and the back of his hair. After so much that's been happening, this was exactly what he needed. Hearing that he was turning into a shadow-walker and having that argument with Yami, so much stress shrouded his mind. But this kiss practically took it all away. He loved it. Of course, he'll always love Yami's roughness, but this was just as amazing.

Atem broke the kiss, and lightly exhaled. Yugi assumed that he too, enjoyed himself in that heated kiss. Yugi wanted more. His cheeks grew a dark red and his eyes glazed with lust, a familiar face that Yami couldn't handle. Atem couldn't handle it either. He felt himself starting to blush as well from seeing such a 'pleading' face. "I-I," Yugi stuttered. "I love you too."

"Well, since we wasted a good ten minutes making out," Atem started. This made Yugi chuckle a bit. "Let us get back to what we were talking about. Since you have darkness inside of you, you could still use that to an advantage. So I will show you how to use your darkness properly, and I will show you how to manipulate your dark and light magic." Atem opened the palm of his hand, and a black orb surrounded with dark aura appeared. Odd, Yugi thought that Atem's magic looked like gold dust or sand. "Manipulating shadows is almost exactly like manipulating light. The darkness inside of you is all the shadows you need. And since you have light colliding with your dark, that would only make them stronger."

"Because when there's light, there's a shadow, right?"

"Exactly. Controlling large portions of light or shadows is quite difficult, but from what Yami told me, that is not a problem for you. For you made that huge blast back in the city when we fought Akefia, yes?" He asked. Yugi nodded.

"It took a lot out of me. It was the second time I did that. The first time was when we were in your temple, and all these monsters started to corner us."

"And the reason why your attacks were so devastatingly powerful, was because you put emotion into them. When you made that second blast, you were confronted by Venom. You were angry, and that set it off. The reason why your attack the first time was so powerful, was because you took head of the situation. You showed dominance and took control. You made it do what you wanted."

"May I ask a question, sensei?" Yugi playfully raised his hand as if he was in class again.

"Haha, sure."

"How do you make your magic look like golden sand?" Yugi asked. "Yami's magic, Marik's and even Bakura's were all just plain black. So how do you get yours like that?"

"Ah, excellent question. That was the next thing I was going to explain. Now watch and listen closely." The black orb that Yugi forgot about in Atem's hand began to fall apart and turn into gold dust. "I was able to make my magic look like this through manipulation. I like the sands of Egypt, and I do enjoy jewelry and gold. And that was how I manipulated them. My love for my favorite things turned it into what it looks like now. Yami is a special case. He chooses not to make his magic look different, but he can and I have seen it before. You have as well."

Yugi blinked. "I have?"

"Indeed. Do you remember when he turned into a shadow beast? His entire appearance completely changed. Meaning, because of his violent and angry emotions, he manipulated himself, the essence of his own shadows into something entirely different. Back in Egypt, Yami made his shadows look like lightning before."

Ooh. That's cool, Yugi thought. "Wow. I guess that kinda fits his personality."

"Yes, it does. He made his magic look that way because of his fascination of rain. We never got in Egypt. But one day, there was a terrible storm. Everyone stayed indoors, Yami however stayed outside. He loved it, and he loved the lightning and the beautiful sunset that came when the storm was over. Why he stopped making his shadows look that way, I will never know."

Yugi knew that Atem was holding out on him. The true reason why his magic looked like that, was because he had a lot of pride and he was royalty. Perhaps he didn't say that because he didn't want to seem arrogant. He already had a heart of gold, and that's what his magic represented.

"It's like..." Yugi began. "Your entire concept seems like a lie." Atem frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"L-Let me rephrase that." Yugi quickly noticed Atem's dangerously narrowed eyes. "I mean, like when we first met and I went to your world, everything was gorgeous and beautiful. It was like a heaven no one ever knew about. And your magic looks pretty too. Its like you show something that's beautiful, but its actually dark and dangerous inside. I thought you were a good guy at first, but here I find Yami telling me that your were actually the original shadow-walker all along and that you were evil. N-Not saying that you're not a good guy or anything-"

The man laughed. "No I understand what you mean. And you are right, it is a recurring theme I have going on. My magic is a representation of what I think of myself, an illusion that something is pure good when it is actually pure evil. The reason why I am warm and not cold, gentle and not rough, good-hearted and not cruel...I make it seem like I am a good person, when I am the complete opposite." He chuckled. "I supposed it is rather warped when you think of it that way.

"That's another thing, how are you warm and not cold like everyone else is?" Yugi asked. That actually bothered him for quite a while now.

"Well, remember, my magic is an illusion to make it appear innocent when it really is not. Since it flows in my veins, it makes me seem like I am warm on the outside. When in reality, my heart is just as cold as Yami's."

"I see...So whatever how I feel will make my magic look different?"

"Yes. But its not as easy as you think. You must focus first and change your aura."

"Right." Yugi scratched his head. "Wow, this is a lot of stuff. Ha, I guess I have a lot of studying to do. What's next?" The boy watched as the elder got up and dusted himself off from any grass that might have gotten on him.

"Try to hit me with a blast. I want to see how intense your magic can get on its own." Atem moved more away from the hose towards the trees so that their home wouldn't take any damage from anything that was going to happen. Yugi nodded, taking a deep breath. This would be good practice for a real life battle.

He thought of Marik, Sugoroku and the way he died, Yami turning into a monster, being told that he himself was becoming a monster, everything that had upset him during this whole journey. Then, he thought of all the good things that happened. Rescuing Atem, getting a deep relationship with both him and Yami, all the kisses and laughs they shared. All good things and bad things. Dark and light mixed into one...

He felt the magic run through his veins, it was like fire through his skin. He felt power brimming through his fingers. He opened the palm of his hand, taking a glance at it, then at Atem. At first, a white orb formed in his hand, but it then faded to a gray color, with black and white swirls of magic surrounding it. It started to grow bigger, and he began to feel more powerful. Atem narrowed his eyes and took one step back. Yugi slowly pulled back his arm with one leg in front of the other, and closed his eyes. The orb began to get even bigger, the size of a large bowling ball. Energy surged around it like thunder and lightning. He opened his eyes and stared at his target, one eye was glowing a brilliant white while the other was grey instead of purple.

Atem realized, that was a perfect form of twilight magic.

Yugi grunted from the energy of his power, for some reason it started to hurt. But regardless, threw it as hard as he could towards his target. Atem panicked, if he didn't defend himself, he might die from this attack! He raised one arm up, and almost instantly, a wall of gold shielded himself from the attack. Once it hit the wall, a devastating loud rumble resinated throughout the area and a bright light flashed. Atem put one arm over his eyes to block out the brightness. Once the noise died down, he uncovered his face and saw that the orb was gone. Atem sighed in relief, that could have been bad-

Where was Yugi? And why did he still feel the glare of a bright light?

The wine red eyed male blinked in confusion. He looked left and right, but he wasn't here. Until he looked upwards and immediately felt regret. Yugi had the orb in his hand, that was five times bigger mind you, and was floating. He waited for Atem to notice, and once the man realized what the boy was about to do, he was too late. Yugi flashed stepped right in front of him, and gave one look to Atem.

You're screwed.

A loud but short explosion erupted, then a loud thump and a thud. Once Atem was hit with the orb, he was knocked back so far, he knocked into several trees and even destroyed them on impact. Once he finally stopped, he fell so hard to the ground, a small crack developed from where he landed. Yugi rushed over to his body, completely shocked and almost horrified at what he did. This was almost like the first time they sparred, only it wasn't this violent! Atem wouldn't move, and Yugi saw black blood pour from under his head and underneath his chest. He was frightened, did he kill him!?

"A-Atem!? Atem wake up!" Why wasn't he opening his eyes? Dear God no..."Wake up please! I didn't mean to-"

Coughing...He was coughing up blood. Yugi gently pushed his body over so that he was lying on his back. Blood was dripping from his mouth, chest and his forehead. Yugi gasped at the damage he did, he went way too far this time. He sat Atem up and propped him back to lay up against his chest. He was barely breathing and his skin felt extremely hot. Yugi had to cover his mouth with one hand from weeping out loud.

"Don't..."

He could still speak. Yugi flinched.

"Do not cry. I am fine." He tried to calm Yugi down, but that was a terrible lie. Sure, he was starting to regenerate and heal on his own, but he looked like he was about to die.

"I-I'm so sorry." The boy placed a hand on his chest and started to work his magic into his body so he could heal.

"Do not be sorry. You are so very powerful Yugi, its just unbelievably amazing. You are amazing."

"W-Well I'm flattered but...Oh my God." Yugi lifted his hand off of his chest, blood dripped off of his fingers. There was a huge gash in his chest. And never before had he noticed the other one. It was faint, but he could still see it. This must have been the wound Akefia made so long ago. But he's seen Atem practically naked before, so why did he never see this one? Was it because that in Atem's world, he held a different form without it? Whatever the case was, Yugi gave this man a new scar. "Holy crap-I am so sorry, it was never my intention to hurt you this bad!"

"Relax, Yugi." He commanded. His voice was stern, meaning he meant it. He winced as he sat up and sighed, putting a hand to his chest where his new wound began to heal. "I know very well you did not mean to do this much damage. But I am still proud. You are so very powerful and that is just...So beautiful." Atem made a smile that seemed loving, yet kinda warped in a weird way. Did Atem like power to that degree? Yugi felt himself mentally shiver. "This will indeed heal into a faint scar, but I'd rather my lover give me one than my worse enemy." He planted a kiss on his cheek and stood up on his own. The boy of course made sure he was able to walk back to the house, holding his arm.

"Yugi..." Atem said. The other looked up with a worried expression. "Relax little one, I am not angry. I wanted to ask you something."

"O-Okay."

"If I learn how to use those accursed 'appliances' you humans use, will you start eating again?"

That caught the boy off guard. "W-What?"

"You have not been eating, you have not been sleeping either." Atem stopped limping and looked at Yugu straight in the eyes. "Yami and I want to take care of you the best we can. We cannot do that if you do not let yourself be happy. The greatest gift you could give us, is putting a big smile on that adorable face of yours and being carefree and joyful." Atem saw that Yugi started to blush. "So if I cook for you and Yami, and learn how to work those other weird objects like that TV, will you start to act like you again?"

As cheesy and even humorous as this sounded, it was the sweetest thing he ever heard Atem say to him. He couldn't help but start to smile at him. All he and Yami wanted for him to be happy, and he felt special. "Yes. Its a deal." He let Atem lean against him once more and they began to make their way back to the house again. "Just, one thing."

"Yes?"

"I thought that royalty didn't need to cook for themselves. So no offense, but how do you know how to cook?"

"Well," Atem felt a little nostalgia. "Back when I was a little boy and my mother was still alive, I watched her cook for my father. She was royalty, so she did not need to, but she made the servants allow her in the kitchen. I was very young so frankly, I do not think I understood what in the world I was paying attention to. But, after she died, I asked servants to teach me how she used to make meals. Plus, it is not hard to read and accomplish a recipe."

"I swear you and your stories are so unique." The younger smile. Atem chuckled, wincing a bit from his wounds that haven't healed quite yet. It kinda hurt to laugh.

"Yami and I have many more."

END 27