Chapter 3:

When morning came Atem woke in a cold sweat. The rays of the sun shone through the large arched windows, whose curtains had been pulled back to give a clear view across the island. In all honesty it was a beautiful day outside, but in here Atem was haunted by his trip in the Millennium Puzzle. He lay back on his pillow, draping his forearm across his forehead. Though the weather was good and the sun sparkled like a diamond in the blue ocean that was the sky, it seemed like the area of Atem's room was covered by dark clouds. The mind space was falling apart, Yugi was nowhere to be found, and he had no idea what to do about it. There was a soft knock at the door, which took his attention from his problems long enough for him to say, "Come in."

Bakura poked his head through the doorway, giving Atem a weak, but sincere, smile.

"How are you, Yugi?"

Atem tried to fake a smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace. Bakura stepped in to the room, taking note of Atem's expression, "That bad?"

"Alot on my mind." Literally, He thought.

"Maybe you could think of something else? Do something to take your mind off things? You've been through quite a bit. "

"That may help, but there are so many things I must figure out. It is gravely important."

Bakura paused a moment, thinking, then said, "You can't let these matters consume you, then you'll never find the answers. Especially in your current condition."

"You're probably right. If I could go anywhere I'd take you up on your offer, but seeing that I'm unable to walk that could prove rather difficult."

"Kara's run on an errand, so maybe I could be of assistance?"

Atem nodded and sat up on the edge of the bed. In the mind space he was able to walk, but here in reality his body was too weak for such a task. Bakura helped him to stand and half walked half carried him the three feet to the wheelchair Kara had originally brought the day before. Even in that short walk his muscles had nearly collapsed. It seemed that, as the mind space deteriorated, so did he. If it were completely destroyed then what did that leave of him? Most likely he'd die with it. This was not a pleasant thought. Bakura took him to the dining hall, where everybody was filtering in, with many already at the table. He looked at Yugi's friends seated around the table They smiled at him and waved, completely unaware of the turmoil he was going through, and oblivious to the fact that he wasn't Yugi or that Yugi may not even exist anymore. Glancing around the room he saw that Pegasus, this castle's former owner was not in the room, and was curious as the where he'd gone. Being that Atem had no memories of the end of the duel or anything from the day and a half after it he didn't even know if Pegasus was still alive or on the island. Bakura wheeled him to the empty space at the head of the table and took a seat of his own as the clock in the room struck noon and the waiters brought out lunch to the table. Joey and Tristan both took heaping plates of food and begun scarfing them down. Atem barely ate anything though, as his thoughts had followed him and refused him a moment's peace.

After lunch his friends gather around, making suggestions to try to cheer him up. Nothing worked. Joey put on a big grin then and exclaimed, "Why not have a duel?"

Atem shook his head, "I don't know about this..."

But Joey cut him off and said, "Come on, You love dueling. And besides, it'll be fun."

Atem sighed. There was no fighting Joey when he's made up his mind, "Fine. One duel."

At the dueling arena in the castle Joey took his place and Atem took his. Being that he couldn't stand a chair was placed for him to sit on while he was there. They each drew their cards and the holographic generators were activated. Joey had the first move, "Ok. I draw one card then play Alligator Sword in attack mode! And I'll place a face down card to end my turn."

"My move." Atem drew a card and announced his move, "I play Celtic Guardian in attack mode! Then I'll use this spell card to make his attacks stronger. I place two face down cards as well. That will end my turn."

Atem knew he was playing it safe by not attacking. Something lurked inside of him, something deep and dark: fear. He was scared since his duel with Pegasus, terrified of what had happened to him. He didn't want it to happen again, so he took more caution now. Joey seemed to notice this as well, but didn't say anything. He just drew his card and made his move, sending Alligator Sword to attack Celtic Guardian. Atem sprung one of his trap cards in response, destroying Alligator Sword. Now Joey's turn ended and Atem drew a card. Looking at it, he saw it was The Dark Magician. Suddenly a flash of memory passed threw his mind, too quick to really see. Flashes kept coming, and in between them he saw the field blur and spin. He dropped his cards on the floor as he fainted. The last thing he saw was Joey's worried face staring at him from across the virtual field. He barely heard him shout his name before he hit the hard metal ground.

Atem woke up with his friends looking down at him, all worried.

Tea asked him shakily, "Yugi..? Are you... Are you ok?"

Atem tried to sit up, but fell back to the floor. The only words he could manage to choke out were, "My... Head..." as he put his hand on his forehead.

Joey cursed himself then said, "I'm sorry... I should have made you duel... You're body's still too weak to stand up to it..."

The friends helped him back to his room. All the while he thought about what Joey had said. It wasn't his body that could handle it; It was his mind. The memories had come in a blur, and left when he passed out. He had been afraid to be dueling, and it showed. Yugi was lost. His mind was unraveling. And a new realization dawned on him. I can't duel anymore...