Chapter Thirteen – Confronting Chaos
"Accept the Pain."
Yugi blinked his bleary eyes and wondered who said such a strange thing to him. He was alone in the darkened room in Yami's shadow-tent. None of the shadows were Shadows, so it wasn't even one of them.
"A dream," he realized. He punched his pillow in frustration. It made him feel helpless to be open to these odd dream attacks whenever he slept. His concern was that he figured out what each weird line given to him in a dream was only after whatever it meant happened.
Gather the Lords. That had been the first – he'd heard it in the royalberry glen outside Celedor and Vialla's town. It was pretty obvious in retrospect that meeting Yami, Seto, and Joey, and enlisting their aid, fulfilled that command.
Claim their Swords. Yeah, that one was obvious, too. Entering the core of power for each castle, and enduring an elemental attack from each lord somehow gave Yugi the ability to solidify that elemental energy into a sword. He was completely unaware of how it had happened the first time. Even though he was conscious to gain Seto's Frostblade and Joey's Flameblade, he still had no idea what he actually did to get the swords. The ordeal of Fire had been a bit harrowing, when he came to his senses and realized he was immobilized in gigantic metal armor in the midst of an inferno, but it had worked out okay in the end. It hadn't been easy to stand still as Joey aimed and fired his Flame Strike attack at him, but the strange magic around Yugi had worked. He'd not only been uninjured by the attack, but somehow managed to 'claim' the Flameblade, too. Thankfully, there were no other lords for him to 'gather' or swords for him to 'claim'. He wasn't sure his heart could take it.
Accept the Pain. This new one troubled him – deeply. In a way, it seemed as though he'd found nothing but pain since he left his homeland. Yami had terrified him – at first. Seto hadn't been that bad, but Yugi had dreaded the meeting because Yami had dreaded it so much. Joey had been okay – himself, but his land stunk. And, Yugi couldn't forget looking up to find the baleful Dragon of Blackness and Chaos staring down at him during that Chaos Storm. It was not a comforting feeling to know that the big bad in the land not only knew his name, but also knew he was the Hero destined to do something about stopping it. The Shade that had accosted him on the way to the Dragon Lands had been only a little less unsettling than the dragon.
Couple all that with the fact that Yugi still didn't feel like a hero. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. He was just following the glowing side of the Pendant of Pharaoh, which still seemed to have a strong hold over him. He wondered wearily if he would ever be free of it, or if he would wander around the lands chasing after the Chaos Dragon with the Three Kindly Lords until, until...
Yugi shook his head. Negative thoughts weren't going to help anything.
Accept the Pain.
Reasoning that he couldn't do anything about it until he figured out what it meant, Yugi turned over onto his stomach again, and tried to fall asleep.
– – – – –
The universe hated him. It was the only answer. Darn the stupid Pendant! It kept leading him into dangerous situations. Like this one.
The Pendant hadn't even given him a chance to rest after claiming Joey's sword. It started glowing and pulling at him to move on from the Stronghold once they exited the Crucible of Fire. Thankfully, the Three Kindly Lords were pretty good traveling companions. Sure, Joey teased Seto, and Yami would zing both of them with snarky comments, but for the most part, it was kind of comforting to travel with all of them, and their Guardian Knights. Far from being lonely as he'd feared when he first left home on this adventure, Yugi had almost more company than he knew what to do with.
And it was fun! Joey still managed to teach him battle skills, and every once in a while, whenever they weren't under trees, Seto would speed things along by giving everyone wings. Yami provided the accommodations when night fell. They found a suitable campsite just inside the forest they'd been skirting along all day. All three lords argued over whose forces would protect the camp. Yugi settled it by decreeing that all three had their part. Seto's Drakes and Dragons patrolled the air, Yami's Shadows melted into the pools of darkness around the woods, and Joey's Knights kept watch directly outside the tent. Nothing happened to disrupt them while they slept. All in all, things seemed to be going well, and they'd made good time toward whatever destination the Pendant had in mind for Yugi next.
That is, until just a few minutes ago. Yugi had no idea where his Pendant was leading them, except it was away from the Firelands, and it didn't seem to be toward either Seto's or Yami's lands. If anything, it seemed to be toward the mountain range they could see in the distance. They'd just crested a rather low, craggy hill, when everything around them went mad.
Knaves in armor hideously adorned with leering demonic faces, skulls, and other not so easily identified but ugly motifs suddenly appeared behind them. Cackling Shades writhed in front of them. And overhead, flights of Drakors stooped toward them.
An instant later, summoned by the lords, Seto's Drakes filled the air, Joey's Knights formed a defensive line against the Knaves, and Yami's Shadows flowed forth in a dark wave to stop the Shades. Yugi was relieved that even though they teased each other mercilessly, when it came right down to it, the Three Kindly Lords functioned well together. Still, it was very unfriendly of the Pendant to lead them into a trap. Hence, his belief that the universe was out to get him.
He dodged a low-flying Drakor and wondered why the universe hated him so much. It's not like he did anything to it, he thought crossly, ducking under a clumsy grab from a Knave, and whacking the minion of Chaos in the backside with his staff. He had a moment to look up from the suddenly clear area around him to see how his companions were faring.
Not surprisingly, Seto was in the air, wreaking havoc on the flying forces with his Drakes and well-aimed ice bolts. Yugi couldn't take a moment to marvel at his marksmanship, though, as another Drakor dive-bombed him.
The White Knight chased the Drakor, chopping down at the evil flyer's wing with a short, powerful blow. The Drakor screamed as the White Knight's attack struck a weak point in the articulated armor and scored a solid hit on the sensitive wing. The stricken saurian flapped its wings wildly to stay airborne, and flew off as fast as it could from Seto's Guardian. The White Knight flashed Yugi his disconcertingly toothy grin, and winged back up to flank his lord in the air.
Meanwhile, Yami and Joey had teamed up to devastating effect on the enemy ground forces. Yami had gifted all of Yugi's traveling party with dark-sight, the ability to see clearly even in the midst of the deepest shadows. Knowing that the Lord of Fire could see perfectly, he'd buried Joey in a seething mass of shadows, some of which were actual Shadows, and therefore able to move with the Fire Lord to hide and protect him. Thus concealed, Joey was shooting Flame Strikes at the Knaves and Shades and making huge holes in their ranks.
The Purple and Red Knights were engaged in more normal combat directly with some of the opposing fighters who seemed to be commanders of Chaos' forces. Yami was nowhere in Yugi's direct sight, but Yugi was sure he was in the thick of the fighting – somewhere.
It seemed – it seemed as if they might actually... If the fighting continued like this, they might have a chance to...
Just as the thought that they might actually win crossed Yugi's mind, his gaze fell on the last of the Kindly Lords – and the one he'd been secretly wanting to confirm was all right the most. Yami was anything but 'all right'. His sightless eyes pointed up toward the dog-fight in the sky, but their red gleam was forever dimmed. The shock of it made Yugi's heart thud painfully. It took all his will to tear his eyes away from the pathetic sight, and when he did, he wished he hadn't.
Tearing his eyes away, he watched as Lord Seto shot an especially powerful ice bolt at one of the wing commanders for the Drakors. The humanoid dragon performed a hurried mystical gesture with his hands, and the ice bolt bounced off of him to encase the lord who'd shot it in the first place. Unprepared to have his attack reflected, Seto had no chance as the bolt hit him, froze him solid, and sent him plummeting to the ground – where he shattered into thousands of sparkling, diamond-white pieces.
A bolt of fire commanded Yugi's attention next – as it raked across the field indiscriminately, charring both the Red Knight and the Purple Knight.
Just when Yugi's heart despaired that things couldn't possible get any worse, a sudden, awful disturbance overhead heralded the approach of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos.
"So, Hero – is this the best you can do? Hide behind others and watch them die, one by one, instead of confronting me?"
– – – – –
For such undisciplined tactics, they were doing surprisingly well. Of course, that was because he was doing his part in keeping the air above them relatively free of threats. His White Knight covered his right flank, but dropped down to take care of any Drakors that made it past them to the land-bound below. Seto had no illusions about his skill – and that of his forces.
He'd noticed that Joey and Yami combined their abilities to come up with what he had to admit was a particularly effective strategy. Their Guardians were targeting the field commanders for the land forces. As long as nothing happened to change the tenor of this battle, they would be victorious and send a clear message to the Chaos Dragon that they meant business. Deadly business.
That was Seto's last thought before everything fell apart. His ice bolt went wide, somehow eluding his rigid control of it, to stab into the shadow-cloud that hid his two fellow lords. A loud cry and the rapid dissipating of the shadows showed him that his errant shot had hit a very unfortunate target. Yami was frozen solid from the hit, which explained why his shadows disappeared. As they cleared even more, Seto was horrified to see that his bolt had also taken out Joey.
That was when the sky above him suddenly clouded with blackness, confusion, and magic.
– – – – –
Magic raked across his soul like fingernails down a blackboard. The sheer force of it staggered him. Yami watched as Yugi slumped to his knees even though no enemy attacked him, while Seto's flight faltered and the Lord of Dragons began to fall from the air. Joey, likewise, still within the concealing shadows, stumbled and halted his attack.
A dark and twisted version of his power plucked at his soul. Yami shook his head, denying the illusion admittance to his mind, and steeled his magic shields. At the relief he gained once he did so, he realized the nature of the attack that was taking down his comrades one by one. Acting quickly, he sent a tendril of his power forth to summon Shelleene from within Yugi's shadow to protect the Hero. However, the others had no such protection waiting within their shadows. Even though he'd used his power to give all of them dark-sight, Yami hadn't thought to evoke the Shadows he sensed within each of his fellow lord's blood.
"Without a touch of their blood this will be hard – and the distance is a problem, too. Still, I am the Lord of Blood and Shadows, and I refuse to let the Chaos Dragon beat us with a simple psychic ploy like this!" Yami growled. He knew that the Lord of Chaos attacked them with specially-formed Shades, designed to take the form of the viewer's worst nightmares. He closed his eyes, and concentrated. He reached deep into – not his soul where his Shadow-power dwelt – but within his heart for the other half of his power – his mystical power over Blood. The shadows around Lord Joey dissipated. Yami had to reach so deeply into his lesser-used power that he couldn't even maintain the shadows, and Shadows, that were already battling. He couldn't even shadow-walk closer to his friends to help. Ironically, he had to leave himself fully open to attack in order to protect the others. A nightmare battered at his mind – and he couldn't afford re-establish his magical wards to protect himself from it. If he did so, he wouldn't be able to reach out and help the others. He used sheer force of will to deny the nightmare, catching only a glimpse of Yugi down – if not worse – before the nightmare faded from his sight – for now. Shaking his head, he forced his attention and power to the plight of the others, instead of himself.
Seto first. Normally, he needed a sample of a person's blood to discern and draw forth the blood-guardian dwelling within. Seto's power was strong enough that Yami already knew the shape of the shadow in the Lord of Dragon's blood. He hoped his desperate determination would make this work.
Though formed with the power of of Blood and Shadow, the blood-guardian solidifying behind Seto was white. Similar to the White Knight in that she was a humanoid draconian, Seto's blood-guardian lacked wings. Instead, she bore two wickedly curved blades, one in each hand. She struck at what appeared to be empty air, forcing the Nightmare Shade that the Chaos Lord sent to torment Seto with incarnate. The black silhouette shape of a draconian screeched, and turned its baleful attention from the Lord of Dragons to deal with this new threat.
Satisfied that Kisara had Seto's nightmare well under control, he turned his attention to Joey. Unfortunately, his own nightmare sprang up to ambush him.
Yugi's face bore a cold and disdainful expression as he turned from him. "Why would I care about you on any level aside from the power you hold? You're cruel, and dark, and only half a man!"
A shadow-sword sliced through Yugi's sneering expression, breaking the nightmare's hold on Yami's mind. Thankfully, once disrupted, the Shade dropped its act pretending to be Yugi and assumed its natural appearance. Yami was disgusted with himself that he fell prey to the Nightmare Shade's effect, as he, more than anyone, knew how they worked. He was surprised that anyone had the power to disrupt the nightmare specifically sent to torment him – as only one's own blood-guardian had that power.
"I am of the shadows now, my lord. I know that the presumed existence of your own blood-guardian is problematic, and that in order to help the others, you must leave yourself unprotected. I thought I might be able to protect you – even if only partially." Yami looked up into the glowing purple eyes of his Guardian Knight.
"Thank you."
Seto's Kisara had the Lord of Dragon's nightmare-inducing Shade on the run, and Seto had returned to battling the air-borne physical foes facing them. Trying to find Joey, Yami's gaze fell upon Yugi instead.
The Hero's shadow-guardian, the Kuriboh Shelleene, was fluttering around him, cooing, clicking, and all but barking to try to get Yugi's attention. Yugi didn't appear to see her at all, his eyes fixed on a vision no one else could see, a horrified and despairing look upon his face. Try as he might, Yami, even though he was the Lord of Shadows and had at least a partial understanding of these fearsome Shades, could not catch even a glimpse of what hell the Chaos Lord's minion was subjecting Yugi to.
"Yugi! I've got to..." Yami turned as if to go to Yugi's side.
"No! My lord, you must protect the Lord of Fire from his nightmare Shade first. If he should lash out with his power trying to fight his nightmare, the damage he could unwittingly do to our forces would be immense."
"But...!"
"Yami! Listen to me. Help Joey first," the Purple Knight insisted.
Growling in frustration, but conceding to the logic of it, Yami closed his eyes and reached with his power toward the guardian he sensed lurking in Joey's blood.
Just as Seto's blood-guardian reflected her lord's area of power, so did Joey's. Garbed in armor of orange and blue, and wielding a massive broad-bladed sword, the warrior incarnated under Yami's magic easily enough, almost as if eager to manifest and do battle against the nightmare Shade targeting his lord. The very presence of this new ally broke through Joey's nightmare. He nodded once, grinned, and without words naturally assumed a protective back-to-back defensive stance with his blood-guardian mirroring him.
Reassured that Joey's blood-guardian, the Flame Swordsman Bryce, was more than capable of protecting the Fire Lord from his Nightmare Shade enemy, Yami turned. Gifting his Guardian Knight with half a glare, Yami turned his attention toward Yugi, reached into his power over Shadows, and shadow-walked to the besieged Hero's side.
Yugi didn't seem to notice him. Yami's heart spasmed at the lost, despairing, and tragic expression on Yugi's face, and the utter hopelessness dimming the normal brightness of his eyes.
"Courage," he murmured, before dropping his hand to Yugi's shoulder, and funneling as much of the power of Shadows he dared through Yugi's shadow to strengthen Yugi's Kuriboh.
She squealed as the energy touched her, fuming and pawing at the air as if catching her balance with this new mightiness. She charged, forcing one of the nightmare-bringing Shades to stop troubling Yugi and deal with her. In the reality Yugi was trapped in, the icy shards of the dead and broken Dragon Lord disappeared and he one more became aware of Seto's air defense protecting them from the air.
Now that Yami could bring his full power over the Shadows to bear on the problem of helping Yugi, he could perceive the false reality the nightmares gave him. One by one Shelleene turned and handled them all, destroying each nightmare as she defeated each Shade who cause it. Each time Yugi relaxed just a tiny bit under Yami's hand. Yami found himself stroking Yugi's shoulder soothingly, seeking to comfort him now that he understood the scope and shape of the nightmares sent to torment Yugi.
"Yugi?"
"Yes, Yami?"
"The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos really doesn't like you."
Yugi puzzled over that for a moment. What the heck was Yami talking about? Of course the Chaos Lord didn't like him, he was the Hero! "Why do you say that?"
For an answer, Yami nodded toward where Kuriboh had started to glow with the power he was sending to her using his light touch on Yugi's shoulder. "That's the twelfth Nightmare Shade she's defeated."
Yugi shrugged, not understanding what Yami was getting at.
"The Chaos Lord sent only one nightmare monster to bother each of us." Yugi's shoulder slumped a bit under his hand. "What?"
"It–it's nothing," Yugi replied.
Yami squeezed his shoulder. "It's not 'nothing'. Tell me!"
"Of all of us, I'm the weakest – I haven't got any mystical powers as the rest of you do." He waved a hand toward Shelleene. "I can't even fight my own Shades." Yami opened his mouth to tell Yugi that none of them had been able to – that was one of the special, and most inimical powers of Nightmare Shades – but Yugi interrupted him. "If – if you hadn't been here..." Yugi looked up into Yami's face. At the bleak expression on his face, Yami couldn't help but pull Yugi into his arms.
"But, I was here. I'll always be here. You don't need to worry – we Three Kindly Lords know our duty is to protect and help the Hero."
"B-but..."
"Still, you do make it a challenge for us," the tone in Yami's voice changed, modulating to one of teasing. Yugi's eyebrows knitted into a puzzled expression. The last, and most impressive Nightmare Shade had not yet been taken care of. Shelleene turned from defeating his twelfth nightmare to deal with the thirteenth, the scariest one of them all. The Chaos Dragon himself had landed, seated himself on his haunches, and stared hungrily at Yugi the entire time he'd been in the throes of the nightmares. "The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos? Really, Yugi, this Nightmare Shade might be even a bit too much for Shelleene to deal with, even with my power helping her!"
Shelleene heard Yami's comment, and stopped her advance toward the last nightmare to float up in Yami's face and verbally express her displeasure at his lack of faith in her ability. Yugi smiled at the terribly cute, yet undeniably irritated noises his blood-guardian was making. "Shelleene?" She stopped her tirade at the Lord of Shadows long enough to look at him. "Uhm, would you please do something about the last nightmare? It's really creeping me out to be stared at so intently!" Shelleene made a sound of agreement, and floated over toward the last Nightmare Shade again.
Yami cocked his head at Yugi. The half-grin, half-smirk on his face, and teasing light in his lightly glowing red eyes instantly put Yugi on his guard. "Really, Hero! Your last nightmare is just so, so – predictable! And big. So very, very big. I have to wonder if by chance you might be – compensating?"
Yugi's eyes narrowed at the direction of Yami's teasing. He opened his mouth to retort, but closed it and turned when Shelleene let out a piteous shriek, crashed into the ground, and lost her cohesive form. The shadows she dissolved into fled and merged into the shadow Yugi cast upon the ground.
"Such arrogant children," the Chaos Dragon noted softly. "So easy to deceive. I am no mere nightmare brought on by a Shade!" The Chaos Dragon's coiled tail lashed out, batting Yami away from Yugi with a single, contemptuous flick. "Why should I waste my efforts trying to defeat you little lordlings when all I must worry about is this unassuming Hero? If I simply defeat him, no one can stand in my way!"
That was why Yugi had felt so uncomfortable under the gaze of the last 'nightmare'. It had not been a nightmare at all! Rather, Yugi had a chance to amend his thought, it had been a nightmare, just not one brought to him by a Shade. And this last nightmare had become a horrifying and very harsh reality.
"Let's you and I have a little talk," the Chaos Dragon's head slung around, and Yugi found himself all by pierced by the intentness of the dragon's stare. There was no way he could sidle either left or right to get away from the Chaos Lord. "Away from prying ears."
With that pronouncement, the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, pounced on Yugi, grasped him firmly between his sharply-taloned claws, gathered his strength under his haunches, and sprang into the air. So powerful and swift was the ascent that neither Seto nor any of his forces could do anything to help Yugi as the Dragon sped past them. The Chaos Dragon began to lazily circle above the field where the Three Kindly Lords and their forces scurried below.
"Relax, little one. You've still not advanced quite enough in this 'Hero' business to be ready to face me, yet. Just a conversation, like last time." Yugi did relax, just a bit, in the dragon's talons. "Of course, as I am the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos, I could be lying to lull you into a false sense of security before trying to destroy you," the dragon noted, as if to himself. Yugi instantly tensed again. The dragon threw back his head and laughed. "Such fun! Ah, but you aren't quite as terrified of me as you were before. Also, you have your lords now. Alas, we won't be able to converse long before they interfere." The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos affected a mock-sorrowful air.
"Wh-What do you want?" Yugi stammered.
The Chaos Dragon ignored his question, and stared into the distance. "'Gather the Lords. Claim their Swords. Accept the Pain'..." The great triangular head dropped suddenly, and again Yugi found himself speared by the intent gaze. "The dragons Gain."
"Wait a minute! That's got to be the next line! How did you...?"
"It's no fun beating you unless you are ready. Even the legends have forgotten the prophecy. My victory would be futile and empty if the prophecy isn't completed. It's in my best interest if you fulfill it properly – and then I defeat you." The Chaos Lord lowered his gaze to see Seto, followed closely by Yami and Joey, flying up to their position. The Dragon Lord had given everyone wings. The lords' Guardian Knights, each also bearing wings, fought to keep the Chaos Dragon's aerial forces away, so that their lords could rescue Yugi.
"Ah, our time together is so short, my nearly-Hero, but I won't give you to them so tamely! If they'd only asked politely, however things might have been different..." The Chaos Dragon winked at him. "Well, perhaps not." He inhaled deeply. Yugi cringed, whether for himself or for the lords flying up to rescue him, he wasn't sure, as the Chaos Lord breathed out some sort of gaseous attack.
Seto, Joey, and Yami faltered when the dragon's breath enveloped them.
"What did you do to them?" Yugi whispered, horrified as he watched them struggle to continue flying.
"Merely a temporary blindness. Nothing that should really bother them." The Chaos Dragon's reply was merry.
Perhaps a temporary blindness would not trouble them if they were on the ground and not flying high in the air, and if they weren't being attacked by the Chaos Dragon's forces that were still doing their best to kill them, and, and...
Suddenly, the three blinded lords blinked out. Yugi was watching them, and that was the only way to describe it. It took a moment for it to occur to him that being blind would be like plunging Yami entirely into shadows. He'd used his power to shadow-walk all three of them even though no shadow was actually around. Yugi spied their magical arrival on the ground when shadows, and he suspected Shadows, seethed together abruptly to conceal them from sight.
"Aww, they got away. Without injury, from the looks of it." The Lord of Chaos filled this pronouncement with regret. "Still, they haven't... What?!"
The Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos back winged abruptly, as the Purple Knight and the Red Knight seemed to magically appear in his face. They'd flown up directly under the Chaos Dragon to remain in the only blind spot there was to approach. The White Knight used the Chaos Dragon's distraction and slightly loosened grip, to try wrest Yugi from the dragon's talons. Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Yugi struggled to free himself, finally pulling free and clinging for dear life around the White Knight's neck.
"Don't worry," the White Knight whispered. "I've got you. My brother knightsss will provide dissstraction until we get away."
They did, harrying at the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos until in disgust, he summoned a Chaos Storm. Before retreating into the weirdly-faced, gibbering, seething clouds, he stared at Yugi for a long moment. The Chaos Dragon's head nodded once, either a reluctant gesture of respect, or a promise to meet again. Yugi thought it was probably a bit of both.
Once the Lord Dragon had flown through the clear eye of his Chaos Storm, and the storm cleared taking not only him, but also his Drakors, Shades, and Knaves with him, Yugi turned his attention to his comrades to make certain they were all right.
Yami, Seto, and Joey had immediately recovered from their mystical blindness with the Chaos Dragon's retreat. They were now tending to their forces, healing those who'd been hurt. Remarkably, there had been only minor injuries that were easily tended to. Joey, Seto, and Yami saw to setting up their camp for the night, not permitting Yugi to lift a finger to help. Left with his own company, Yugi wondered about the curious lack of serious injuries, as the fighting had been fierce. Even though it worried him, he was so exhausted he fell asleep quickly.
He fell into dreams. Three swords – one of Shadows, one of Ice, and one of Fire floated eerily before him. A dragon of bone and shadows; a white dragon with icy blue eyes; and a black dragon with fire for a soul appeared before his sleeping gaze next. He watched as each dragon in turn was overtaken by some invisible force that turned each into stone.
The dragons Gain.
The words whispered through his mind, in a voice that was a disturbing blend of his own mental tone, and the voice of the Lord Dragon of Blackness and Chaos.
His dreaming self shook his head. That was only half of the puzzle. "Accept the Pain.... The dragons Gain." He shivered. More of the dream pushed at his mind, but he set his will against it. He didn't want to find out more. It had been so hard to watch Yami, Seto, and Joey struggle to remain in the air once they'd been struck blind. He had worried about both the Red Knight and the Purple Knight facing off against the Chaos Dragon while the White Knight helped him escape. These were people he'd met on this adventure, who believed in him as the Hero, who he didn't want to see get hurt – or worse.
Accept the Pain.
He didn't want to. Perhaps, if he refused to dream, whatever was supposed to happen next wouldn't – couldn't happen – and those he'd come to care about wouldn't get hurt. Maybe he'd learned enough that he could throw the Pendant away, and not put his friends in danger. Foreboding was what he sensed. Danger looming in the future – not for him – rather, there was danger for him, but he'd accept that no problem – it was the danger to his friends that he feared.
The sense of a great mountain pressed at his mind, seeking to force him to acknowledge it. Yugi was certain if he did, he'd open a floodgate of images containing information he didn't want to have. He strengthened his efforts to deny the dream, trying in the frantic and frustrated way of any dreamer caught in a nightmare to move, or cry out, or scream, or otherwise break the hold of the dream on his mind. It might be a magically-induced nightmare, but perhaps it was vulnerable to the same things normal nightmares were. He really hoped so.
– – – – –
Yami watched Yugi toss in his sleep through a mystic shadow-portal displayed on the wall of his chamber in the massive shadow-tent he'd conjured for all of them. Today had been a hard battle, on all of them, but he worried about Yugi. Yugi was a reluctant Hero if ever there was one, but he'd been gradually accepting the reality and responsibility of that role. Something about today's events seemed to have dealt some sort of blow to Yugi's comfort and beginning confidence in himself as the Hero.
Yeah, being scooped up in the front claws of a giant-ass dragon tends to deflate anyone's confidence in anything, you fool! Yami berated himself mentally. He watched Yugi turn fretfully again and wrestled with his emotions. He wanted to go to Yugi's side and comfort him out of the nightmare. But, that might freak Yugi out. Yami didn't think Yugi would be happy to realize that Yami watched him sometimes. But, he worried. He stared at the image, resolving to just keep an eye on the Hero until Yugi fought out of his nightmare and subsided into a calmer sleep. Yeah, that's all he was doing – just making sure Yugi was okay. But, Yugi didn't fight his way through. He didn't calm down.
Unable to take watching Yugi's torment any longer, Yami shadow-walked to Yugi's side. As when he'd been helping Shelleene fight off the nightmare Shades, he placed his hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Aibou." His eyebrows lifted. Partner? Where had that word come from? And why did it feel so very natural to apply it to Yugi? And what was this rush of emotions surging through him?
Perhaps it was his light touch upon Yugi's shoulder. Maybe it was the tone in his voice when he said that word aloud – with all the gentleness of an endearment. Endearment? His own thoughts confused him even as Yugi finally fought his way free of his nightmare. Even though the strange thoughts confused him, his impulsive action had comforted Yugi, and that's what Yami wanted. Yes, to comfort the Hero.
No, dammit, not the "Hero" – he wanted to comfort Yugi – and he had – without waking him. As one part of his mind toyed with the concept that he was behaving like a helpful ghost, helping Yugi sight unseen, another part worried at the odd familiarity of it all. Wrestling with his own thoughts and the half-familiar swirl of emotions, he shadow-walked back to his room.
"You are restless, my lord." Yami whirled. While he'd been away, the Purple Knight had entered his room.
"It-it's nothing," Yami stammered. He wondered why the eerily glowing gaze of his Guardian Knight was suddenly so hard to meet.
– – – – –
Author's notes –
This will most likely be the last update before NaNoWriMo, but never fear, come December the updates will return.
Next chapter teaser – Chapter Fourteen – For an Honor Greater than Ourselves
Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome. Please feel free to PM if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed.