Child of Darkness

By Tara B Amy

I'm cheering right now because I finally could get myself to write a new chapter. You all did wait a long time, including myself. I really wanted to write more for this story for a long, long time!

Now enjoy this! You'll even get a reminder of the last chapter!

Edit: I had to put up the chapter again, because Yami's sentences were all messed with.

-

Reminder:

-First, you talk to me like I'm just some unimportant citizen. Second, you dare to look me square in the eyes, such as you would do with somebody equal. You have no respect for my high status! A slave should know his place...- He took a quick breath, seemingly in for more ranting, but Yuugi cut in bewildered.

/…slave/

End of Reminder

-

-Well, you are a slave.- his look-alike said as if he merely stated the obvious. Yuugi couldn't believe it. The guy was just joking, right? The fact, that his face was deadly serious told him otherwise and he drew in a shaky breath.

/I'm no slave/ he growled in a mixture of nervousness and anger. 'Exactly where did this person come from!'

-I'm from Kemt and I think I already said that- The puzzle-boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him indignantly. -And I still believe that you're a slave! Why else would you wear those clothes? They show off... well, everything-

/You wear the same./ Yuugi growled. /And I'm not a slave/

For a moment the stranger seemed to be puzzled, blinking and looking down at himself, but then his eyes shot back up to him.

-Stop denying it- He fisted his hands and seethed in rage. -What else would you be-

/Certainly not what you think I am/ Yuugi rarely got really angry, but this guy was so unreasonable and it was just so annoying what he seemed to think about him. He was nobody's slave!

-Do I have to prove my point-

Yuugi stared at the other boy in confusion. Prove? 'How would he do that?' he thought doubtfully.

-Your reaction will be proof enough-

/What/ Yuugi didn't understand. But he was all the more shocked as the puzzle-guy grabbed his arms and pulled him against his chest, searching for and finding his lips and catching them with his own.

-

Yami's POV

The lithe body of the slave felt good in his arms, the scent of something alluring radiating from him. He tasted like... he wished he knew the words to describe it... it tasted so good.

The boy struggled a bit but soon melted against him, just like it was meant to be. No slave could object if he wanted something. There was no way this Yuugi could. And now he knew he couldn't. Just like a slave.

He pulled him closer to himself, the kiss growing deeper and fiercer. Yuugi didn't kiss back but that he was thankful for. If he had, he wasn't so sure if he could have kept control over himself. He wanted to ravish this boy so badly. He needed to feel, to just feel.

Against his own desires he pulled back, smirking down at the slave in triumph. -Is that proof enough-

The boy gaped, catching his breath and panting. /What was that supposed to prove? How would you prove me being a slave like that/

-You submitted to my wishes.- He let go of Yuugi, knowing that if he didn't he would just end up kissing him again. His facial expression of bewilderment was so unique, so perfect. -That's was slaves are supposed to do. They submit. They grant me absolute submission. I kissed you and you... you let me do what I wanted to do. It's your job. It's your life. You are born to please me.-

/That's sick, you know./ The boy raised his right hand up to his mouth, touching the swollen lips with his fingers. He followed the movements with his eyes. The sight was irresistible. Now he knew his decision to take the slave with him had been right.

-It's not sick, it's the way nature works.- He looked at Yuugi amusedly as a glare was sent his way. Then he willed his eyes away from him and studied his surroundings more closely. It all looked the same – alien, not even one bit familiar. When touching Yuugi at least he knew how to do it right. There was some kind of unconscious knowledge... when he wanted to make him react to his touches; he knew he could do it any time. He knew. He would just let his one hand slide down the smooth backside ever so lightly, then the other down the front, over the stomach and at last wrap him up in a net of emotions he wasn't able to flee. Already could he see him gasping and squirming under him, eyes closed and moaning. The feelings that mental picture conjured up in his mind were almost overwhelming. Still he forced his eyes to roam the grey and stony surroundings rather than the creamy skin Yuugi's sparse clothes revealed. How badly he needed to feel. Yuugi made him feel.

It was time they got back to Kemt. Then he would slowly devour his little slave, claim all the feelings back he had lost over the time he had been caught in the puzzle; forget all the pain, all the fear, all the hopelessness his bindings had caused him. Never would he ever be bound to something again. He was the one having the right to bind.

/What are you going to do now/

He turned back to Yuugi, who looked straight back at him. He felt uncomfortable with those bright, knowing eyes on him. Back in Kemt never had anyone had the bravery to stare at him openly. But there was something else... Yuugi had the aura of knowledge all around him, as if he knew the answer to the question he had asked; as if he knew there was something not going to work; as if he knew what he did was useless. The question implied that there was no way back to Kemt.

What was he going to do now?

Well, of course there was a way back to Kemt and he was going to find it. Even if he didn't know how.

-I'll go home.- Sending the boy a last look that was sure to tell him to follow his master, he turned around and chose the pathway that was signed into the stone. He was pleased to notice Yuugi's footsteps closely behind him.

-

Yuugi's POV:

It was getting late. They had walked and walked and walked on in silence, not pausing once to rest. Now his feet hurt and all he wanted to do was taking a bus back home and go to sleep. The sky had turned to a deep red and there was already blue darkness rising up at the horizon.

At first everything had been exciting... almost thrilling. But in reality a journey to nowhere was really boring and exhausting. The puzzle-guy looked not one bit tired though, his pace having stayed steadily the same for hours.

But Yuugi had enough. There was school tomorrow and what fault did he have if the strange boy raised havoc? Why he had tried to take responsibility for his actions in the first place he didn't know. It wasn't like he could hold him back if he tried.

He stopped in his tracks, his decision made. He wasn't going to follow his look-alike anymore. He watched the other for a few moments. He just went on, showing no sign of having noticed that he wasn't behind him. Despite that fact Yuugi knew better.

/I'm going back home./

At those words the boy from the puzzle halted and turned around to him slowly, looking at him with eyes shaded by the red sun, where yet it rather helped to underline their deep colour. Yuugi swallowed, amazed by the whole picture the stranger presented at that moment. A whisper of ancient superiority touched him with the warm wind, encircling him, telling him that this person was someone special, someone chosen to endure endless pain, power and pleasure. Someone chosen by destiny... But also someone very lonely.

He felt a bit of relief that he didn't have to share this life of a wanderer and stranger. It was easy for him to turn around and go home, because he knew how this world worked. What had this stranger's life been like before he was thrown into nothingness, the loss of memory stealing everything away from him?

It was better for him not to know.

Yuugi cast one last glance at the boy, then he turned to leave. There had been a bus stop not far away from here. He remembered it quite clearly, since it had called out for him to just abandon the mission his look-alike had set for himself and return home. His grandpa surely was in shock; maybe he even had called the police. He had been abducted after all.

After a few minutes of walking the bus stop came into view again. The dark blue colour of the sky had started to mix up with the thick red above him, creating a deep violet. Night was falling.

Yuugi didn't dare to look back.

-

Yami's POV:

Full of shock and panic had he registered the words the boy had said. Now that he slowly faded from his view he wondered if he could just let him go.

But Yuugi would turn around any second and come back, right? As a slave he knew his place, so how could he ever dare to betray his master? There was something wrong in that logic. Things like that weren't supposed to happen.

Why did Yuugi go like he had the right to do so?

Quickly gazing into the direction he had walked all day, then back to the vanishing form of his slave he considered his reaction to that behaviour. Again the air of unfamiliarity surrounded the decision he had to make.

Was he supposed to just go on without him or to take him with him by applying force?

Confusion fogged his mind like numbing mist. Just now he realised how much he really had forgotten. He wasn't even able to evaluate correctly anymore.

Now he had to make up his mind.

-

Yuugi's POV:

Half an hour had passed until the right bus stopped in front of him. Yuugi quickly went inside, the warmth outside having cooled very fast with the disappearance of the sun.

The puzzle boy hadn't followed him.

Deep relief still coursed through him, but also a small sense of loss. It wasn't like he missed the stranger, but still... Now he would possibly never know how this story was going to end. He would never know if his look-alike arrived home safely, getting back his memory, or if he died on his way.

Timidly he touched his forehead, where he could feel that the skin was injured slightly. It only hurt when applied pressure. He tried to trace the shape carefully; curious of what the other boy had put on him, what he was going to be left with as a remembrance. Yuugi found that he wasn't able to guess what form the mark had.

Sighing he finally let himself slide into one of the seats of the bus and waited, the city flashing past his window, seemingly flying to bring him home. What was it that gave him the feeling of standing still, while in reality he was moving?

The city was nothing more than a blur of lights now, a tunnel of stars and colours, a setting having come to life with its dangerous ambiguity of games, trades and fights, thievery and twisted honesty. The people out there were all of the same kind as long as daylight touched the streets. But as soon as the night fell, all good went home and the bad came out at full strength.

It was as if the darkness parted what light held together. Only when dawn rouse would the bad and the good mix back up and go to work side by side as if there was no difference between them.

The boy from the puzzle now was out there, probably in danger, but most certainly being a danger to oblivious souls. Yuugi wondered what he was doing just at that moment. Was he afraid of all the confusing neon lights and the cars? Did they even bother him?

The bus stopped and an old lady climbed out, slowly walking down the pavement. He watched her as long as he could see her as the bus drove on. Was she going to be save? Was her home near?

He lost sight of her a second later, the dark trees and all the grey walls getting sucked up into the swirl of darkness and lights again. Now he was the only one on the bus and soon it was going to be empty. Pushing the button which told the driver to stop at the next bus stop Yuugi got up and walked over to the exit. The bus slowed down and came to a halt, the doors opening with a swift sound.

He scrambled out looking around the familiar street. The bus drove off behind him leaving only him and the street lanterns, the cars and the darkness of the coming night. Quickly he made his way down the street, shivering as the cool air slowly seeped through his clothes. He didn't have a jacket with him. With the sun it had been warm enough.

He wondered if the strange boy from the puzzle froze as well just now, since he wore the same clothes as he did.

But was that of importance?

Yuugi huffed to himself, deciding to not think about what happened that day for once. Okay, it was an event he would certainly never forget, but magic always had seemed to be on his heals, so that was just one of many incidents. His grandpa always was able to dig out stupid things in Egypt.

A rough hand pushing him from behind made him yelp. Yuugi stumbled forward, losing balance and falling to the floor. His hands hurt, having scraped the pavement. He tried to push himself back up, but a foot on his back didn't allow that, holding him down.

"Hey, there, little boy." A nasty voice greeted him, the foot pressing harder onto his back. "You don't have money with you, do you?"

"No." Yuugi choked, trying to get some air into his lungs.

"Liar." The man chuckled darkly. "Or did you get onto the bus without paying?"

"Yeah." It came to Yuugi just now that he hadn't paid, because usually he had a card lasting for a month, but his purse was at home and the card in it as well.

"Bad kid, really." The sadistic voice scolded with twisted amusement. "Now, stop fooling me and give me all you have!"

"I don't have anything!" Yuugi cried out, struggling to get free. Suddenly the food vanished from his back and instead a hand gripped onto his collar and pulled him up forcefully.

"You can't tell me you..." As he was turned around to the stranger, a tall boy with long white hair, oddly handsome in an evil, mysterious way, the boy broke off, staring at him with wide unbelieving eyes. "What the fuck!"

"I don't have money!" Yuugi tried to reason his way out of this, but the thief didn't even seem to listen.

Unexpectedly the hand let go of his collar tough, and he was dropped to the ground. With a shocked cry he landed on the hard pavement. The foot having held him down a minute ago now kicked him into the side hard. He drew in a pained breath, feeling tears come up in his eyes.

"You're one of his slaves, midget. So, the fool is back as well." The white haired teenager laughed menacingly, then turned and walked away. "It is about time!"

As Yuugi fought to look up so he could follow him with his eyes had to find that he was already gone, having vanished like a ghost.

-

The sunshine tickling his nose caused Yuugi to blink his eyes open the next morning. He blinked against the blinding light to find it was already day and no cloud was hovering at the blue sky.

Shocked he jumped out of bed but cringed immediately as pain burned itself through his sore side. He clearly remembered now what had happened the previous day. After having been beaten up – well, not as bad as it could have been – he had limped home the rest of the way, which fortunately hadn't been much and rang the doorbell. Even his keys had been inside. His grandpa had appeared at the door immediately and only after half an hour of reassuring that he was okay had he let go and listened to his story. Yuugi had explained to him what he knew and that the puzzle-boy hadn't been that bad after all. Only the little details with him supposedly being a slave and the kiss had he left out carefully. He didn't want to embarrass himself more with that.

He – a slave! At the thought Yuugi laughed humourlessly. What had that thing been again, having started all that? Ah, yes. The puzzle. He went over to the golden pyramid and touched it lightly with his fingertips. The weird metal was warm. He shrugged and left it on the table as he left the room to get something to eat.

As he reached the kitchen he found his grandpa at the table, the newspaper in his hands and reading. At his entrance the old man looked up and smiled.

"Ah, Yuugi," he greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

"You shouldn't have let me sleep that long!" Yuugi crossed his arms over his chest, glaring lightly. But he wasn't really angry, so a few seconds later he returned the smile.

"So what's up?" he asked curiously.

"Why do you ask?" His grandfather didn't look surprised, but rather caught.

"You never read the newspaper that late." Yuugi smiled knowingly. "It's almost one o'clock, so why are you sitting here and not in the game shop like always?"

"You know me too well." Sugoroku sighed in defeat. "I closed the shop for today."

"Huh?" Astounded and now a bit worried Yuugi looked his grandpa over. "Why, don't you feel well?"

"That's not why..." The old man shifted uncomfortably and Yuugi felt himself get more and more curious. "That weird person from the puzzle sits outside the door."

"What!" Yuugi cried out, feeling bewildered. "Why?"

"Don't know." Sugoroku shrugged. "He sat there early in the morning already and he hadn't moved from the spot since then. It's creepy. I considered calling the police, but since he can use magic, there would be no point in doing that."

"I'll go outside." At those words the old man jumped up from his seat in alarm.

"No, Yuugi, that boy is dangerous," he warned. "You know what happened to you yesterday."

"I have to talk to him." Yuugi stared at his grandfather stubbornly. "Only I am able to, so there's no other way. He could freeze to death out there. Or he already has caught a cold!"

"Are you worried about him?" Sugoroku stared at him in disbelief.

"Maybe a bit." Shrugging Yuugi walked out the door, closely followed by his grandpa. He unlocked the door leading into and out of the game shop and pulled it open. Looking around indeed he found his strange look-alike sitting on the floor, back leaning against the wall. He seemed to be sleeping.

Silently Yuugi crept closer and kneeled down beside him. His grandfather stood in the doorway, seemingly afraid to go any further.

/Hey/ he called out mentally to the nameless boy from the puzzle. /Wake up/

Slowly the ruby eyes opened, first unfocussed as if halfway stuck in a dream he didn't want to wake up from, then clearing, finally looking up and fixing on his face.

-There you are.- The boy rubbed at his eyes to get the sleep out of them. -I didn't know how to get in, so I just waited.-

/For me/ A bit nervous Yuugi laughed, getting back to his feet. His look-alike also stood up, his eyes still fixed on him.

-Yes, I waited for you.- The teen was all serious. -Why did you go back without asking me for permission-

/Do I need that/ Yuugi grinned, scratching his cheek with one finger. The stranger didn't seem to find anything funny right now.

-I had to walk the way back all night because of you.- A glare hit Yuugi. -There wouldn't have been the need to ask me for permission, because I wouldn't have granted you freedom anyway.-

/I am free to go wherever I want/ There the discussion was again. Did the puzzle boy still believe that he was a slave? How did he get that impression in the first place?

-You are my slave and I demand obedience-

Yuugi groaned in exasperation, shaking his head furiously. That wasn't what he wanted to talk about at all. He decided to change the topic.

/What will you do now/ he asked in a tone as friendly as he could muster.

-We'll go to Kemt – now.-

/You mean you will go to Kemt, because I won't come with you./ he adverted his eyes purposefully and turned to his grandfather, rolling his eyes as the old man raised one questioning eyebrow. /Wherever that Kemt of yours is, I don't want to go there./

He walked back to the door, intent on leaving the puzzle boy out here. He had tried to talk to him, but all the other boy seemed to have on mind was Kemt and that slave-thing. Were these the only things he could hold on to?

The widening eyes of his grandpa and a low growl from behind were the only things warning him of what was coming next. Suddenly he wasn't able to walk anymore and dark shadows were crawling up his legs and arms, freezing his body and electrifying his whole being. He wanted to scream but couldn't open his mouth. What was the stranger doing to him!

-Never will I allow such behaviour, keep that in mind, slave- His look-alike walked around him until he stood in front of him, putting his arms around him. Immediately the shadows dispersed and the electricity died down. -Because you are mine and nobody can take away what is mine. Not even you yourself-

"Let go of my grandson!" Sugoroku yelled from the door, having found his confidence and wanting to safe Yuugi from whatever was happening to him just now. He came out as fast as his old legs carried him and tried to pull the stranger away.

-Old fool- The puzzle-boy turned around halfway, cradling Yuugi to his chest and pushed the old man away. -I may not understand what you say, but it gets clear to me what you want. But this boy is mine, you can't have him back.-

Feeling weak and unable to react to anything that was said and done, Yuugi let the stranger take him up in his arms and carry him away effortlessly, seeing his grandfather stare after them in helpless anger.

-

To Be Continued...

Well, that was it! For how long? Who knows (grins)

To settle a few things:

First: The name will be Yami in the later chapters. There was no one wanting it to be Atemu, so I will let it be Yami.

Second (if it still is of any interest): I read the very last chapter of the Yu-Gi-Oh-Manga on the internet, not in a book. If anyone is interested I could go and look if it is there still. But I'm sure the translations were German, so there you go, heh.

Third: Thanks to all those of you having reviewed and/or put me on their favourites or alerts. You people make me happy! (cries) Go look on my profile if you have me on your favourites, there I put down all your names T.T Thank you so much!

Fourth: Yes, I came back to this story as I promised and got you a long chapter. A lot of you were very furious with me for leaving that story to rot somewhere and I don't like that as well. Let's all hope the updates come sooner this time.