This is the first real dose of magic to be found in this project. Those of you who have read "Blue Eyes, Violet Eyes" may recall a chapter that I put out a while ago, called "Be My Glory Ever." I mentioned that that chapter was a prelude to something new that I was working on.
You might have guessed that this project is that something new.
Putting the Millennium Puzzle back together after so long wasn't as easy as Yugi would have anticipated, but progress was steady. Each day, he would spend a few hours in the evening poring over the remaining pieces, and in the course of about a week, he was down to only a handful.
That final night, as he sat down to finish, it felt as though he were in some kind of trance. His thoughts did not form; his hands did not answer his call. They moved of their own accord, and it was at this time that Yugi realized the pattern he remembered wasn't the one he was unearthing now. The pieces that were left did not fit where he thought they would. Though the puzzle was growing into the same shape, with the same symbols and the same thrum of energy, the pieces were different.
But his hands, they weren't confused at all. They chose each piece as if possessed, set it into place, and left him in a very familiar place: an observer in his own body. And so, where anyone else would have begun to panic, where anyone else would have screamed and thrashed and cried for help, Yugi Mutou simply sat back and watched.
He had a feeling that he knew what was happening. Who was controlling his muscles. Who else could it be? Who else had ever put him into such a position that he could watch his body moving without understanding what was happening? His mind was completely disconnected from everything else. The lamp-light on his desk was almost too bright to see anymore; the darkness of the rest of the room was suffocating.
The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
Yugi felt a smirk rise on his lips, that was not his own. It was at once invigorating, transcendent, the familiar touch of a friend. And yet...it felt strangely...cold.
"...It certainly took you long enough...Aibou."
Yugi Mutou wasn't one to be intimidated anymore. Thanks to the influence of his friends—Joey, Tristan, even Kaiba and Mokuba—and his partner, he'd learned to face his fears head-on. And thanks to the roller coaster of years he'd spent saving the world from certain destruction, he'd learned that the normal world was a proverbial cakewalk. And walking on cake, as everyone knew, was seriously easy.
All this was to say that he didn't let himself fall into that trap of being scared by people anymore. Pegasus Crawford, Malik Ishtar…Ryou Bakura…after them, what exactly did he have to fear from "regular" people?
The short answer was nothing.
But then, he wasn't in the presence of anything remotely resembling regular. The figure was translucent, dressed in the same pajama pants and black t-shirt that he was, and yet it may as well have been a richly woven robe embroidered with gold and gemstones. The figure was just as tall as he was, and yet it felt like that wasn't true. It felt to Yugi like he was craning his neck to gaze upward at this…this…
God.
And he felt the absurd (proper) desire to lower his head to the floor and prostrate himself before it.
"…Yami."
Yugi almost forewent the old nickname, but somehow that felt wrong. Téa called him Atem, and that was fine, but somehow Yugi felt like the only name by which he would ever know this man was Yami. And it seemed by the expression on Yami's hauntingly familiar face that he'd made the right decision, because his bright red-wine eyes seemed to sparkle.
But this didn't do anything to lessen the feeling that Yugi had never had before, and he realized the difference. This wasn't his partner. This wasn't his defender, the noble knight in golden armor who came out to protect him, to defend him and his loved ones from harm.
This was the third king of Manetho's fourth dynasty—the age of the pyramids.
This was the Ghost of the Golden Age.
This was Atemhotep, son and successor of Akhmenkhuamun.
"An unabashed pleasure to see you again,"said the spirit, and Yugi felt his lips moving, a jarring sensation of existing in two places, of being two people. He touched the fingers of his left hand to his lips, knowing that they hadn't moved a micrometer, and yet…
"Uh…you, too, Yami," Yugi said, trying a grin.
He knew that he had to sound fake, that he had to sound rude or offensive or…something, but Yami didn't seem to notice. Or—and Yugi found this more likely as he thought about it—he understood.
Yami always understood.
"How odd it is, looking at each other again after so long," the spirit mused.
There was a kind of…bite to Yami's tone. Something unfamiliar. Yugi wondered if it was that bite which made him finally see this man as the living deity he had once been. He wasn't sure. But he said, "I thought the puzzle was gone. I thought it was laid to rest. I thought you were laid to rest."
"Yes, well…devoted servant of mayet that I am, I'm afraid rest is no longer on the table." Again, that bite. Like he was making some kind of joke that Yugi didn't get. "I must say that, despite all, you impress me, Aibou. I sent the puzzle to you, hoping that you would complete it quickly. I'd anticipated that it would take you about a month."
Yugi blinked. Then he gave a lopsided sort of grin.
Yami smirked. "Well, then, it seems rather late, now, doesn't it? Everyone is sleeping. Unfortunate. But, then, I suppose that leaves me time to set things in order before my real work begins. Tell me, Aibou, how are the others?"
"The guys are doing pretty good," Yugi said, wondering when this conversation would feel half as weird as it was. "Joey's working at the shop. Tristan's going to college. Téa's been in New York for about a year, but she's back home for a visit."
Yami raised a curious eyebrow. "…Is she, now? Good for her." He sounded less than interested. Yugi frowned. Okay, it was feeling weird now. "And your esteemed grandfather?"
…He always used to call him 'Grandpa,' like me, Yugi thought.
"Uh…Grandpa's doing fine. Professor Hawkins is taking him on a dig soon."
"Ah. One last hurrah, is that it? Good. Very good." Suddenly the spirit's eyes were hard, his tone deadly serious, and Yugi felt a shock of fear run through his entire body. "Ensure that he and this Hawkins understand that to disturb my people is to foster their vengeance. They will treat my land with respect."
It sounded like it should have been a question. A request.
It wasn't.
Yugi smiled nervously. "…Of course, Yami."
Yami's face snapped into a pleasant smile. "Wonderful."
"I guess they're taking Rebecca with them. Professor Hawkins's granddaughter?"
"...Ah."
Did Yami not remember her? How could he not? He didn't seem to recognize the name Hawkins at all. As if this weren't weird enough, the man still didn't sound like he was the slightest bit interested in the answers to the questions he was asking. His eyes looked far-off, and kept drifting over to the window.
"So…Yami. What's going on? How can we help?"
Yami glanced back at his host like it was the first time he'd ever heard him talk. He said, "That time will come. Initial preparations are mine to complete. Worry not. This…should be interesting."
And suddenly his eyes were bright. Vibrant. There.
As he said, "…How is Kaiba doing?"
The "Paved with Good Intentions" series is modeled after the second-series anime. That is, "Duel Monsters," the Studio Gallop production that started in 2000. Which would be why you don't see any references to Death-T, or Miho. I've done a bit of a balancing act with characterizations, but one of the biggest differences to be found there is in Yami. Those who've seen Season Zero, the shorter, weirder, and altogether more brutal Toei series from 1998, know what I mean.
So you might be wondering, "If he's using Duel Monsters, why isn't Yami different? Why isn't he a nice guy? Why is he using the twisted Death Note sadist again?" I think it fits better. The Yami from "The Gambler's Debts," "Cemetery Dance," and "Cult of the Dragon King" is my interpretation of the "real" Yami.
As to how he showed up here…well, you'll see.
See you next time.
