Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Do You Dream of Me? ❯ Promise ( Chapter 12 )

Well, the computer lab should be empty till morning, so I may be able to get some work done. I should hopefully be getting my computer soon. Sorry for the wait!

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, it would still be going! With Yugi's adventures! Not Yami like Yu-gi-oh R or some random kid (Ash) like GX!

Sugoi apparently means Wow! Or super cool. I saw it translated as "Sweet!"

Oh, and I turned Giant's Might into a trap card to explain why he didn't just use it when he drew it.

Also, I have started a Y/Y C2 archive, The Pharaohs Rule! With over a hundred good Y/Y stories!

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Seto had… was that joy on his face?

"Ha ha ha ha… This is good! I'm glad I took your challenge!" A look of exultation was on his face.

Yugi shivered. This was the first time… Yami had been thinking when he summoned the kuriboh, and he had been tired, but not out of it, not really. Now… before, through the link, he had sensed Yami's feelings and had a sense of what was going on, through them, and the occasional blurry image.

Now, he was in a dream. With the lack of control present in dreams, he was simply a passenger, seeing the dream, doing and thinking the things that were part of the dream's story. But he was completely aware of everything that was going on.

If he had been truly awake, he would been jumping with joy at what that meant. Now, he wasn't capable of thinking of what could be causing this. He only felt.

Currently, he was being creeped out by the expression on Kaiba's face. He felt Yami's reassurance envelop him, and he calmed. He was safe.

Kaiba continued, in his own little world. "This is the extreme game I've been looking for!!" A wide, honest smile on his face.

Yami smiled. "It's your turn, Seto." If he could take joy in this, then perhaps…

Kaiba drew, smiled again in triumph, and threw down the card. "Battle Ox, in attack mode!"

Mist rose and he watched avidly. "Sugoi…" He whispered. "It's taking form!"

Yami raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised. In Kaiba's honest joy the wall around his heart had fallen and he had reached out to his allies. And they valued him enough to answer; despite the face he showed the world. Something within him said yes, this one, this `Seto' did deserve their high regard.

The Ox turned to Kaiba for orders, waking him out of the trance its appearance had put him into. "Go, Battle Ox! Slice the dragon to ribbons!"

Yami bowed his head in mourning as his Master's dragon was destroyed. If this had been a real contest of magic, he could have aided the beast. To just let it die… but he was limited to the spells in his `hand' and none of them could aid. Though there was one that might come in handy later…

Kaiba watched the battle openmouthed, inwardly cheering his beast-warrior on. This was… he'd always imagined his monster's destroying his opponent's. Seeing it for real… "Sugoi…" He whispered again.

The battle was over almost too soon, his Monster victorious.

Yami nodded in a way that was an acknowledgement of a victory deservedly won. "So I lose 200 from my life points."

"How… how are you doing this?!" Kaiba just had to know. This was everything he'd ever wanted. The game, his victories… for real! He didn't want it to be just this one game! `If I could design some system that could do this, every duelist on the planet would want it!'

"Magic. I play the Mystical Elf in defense mode." A frail elf appeared on the field, snapped her fingers and a crystal shield appeared in front of her. She looked at Yami questioningly.

He shook his head. The Elf could cast many useful spells, but none of them were part of her powers in the game. The elf shrugged, clearly saying, `Whatever.' She then pulled out a scroll and resumed reading.

"Wow." Kaiba said. The things had individual personalities in this simulation? "What kind of magic? How does it work?"

"Shadow Magic. By the power of one's heart and soul. One wills, and so it is. Your move."

"What?" Kaiba drew. "Impatient to lose? And how do you learn to do it?" He smirked.

"I would prefer to keep this body no longer than necessary. It is not mine after all. And doing it without a teacher to keep you from killing yourself would be quite fatal."

"Battle Ox in defense mode, and I'm laying this card face down. How do I find a teacher? Who knows this besides you? And what was all that `Master' stuff about?"

"No one I know of. Yugi-dono is my Master; I serve him as his guardian. Skull Servant in defense mode." The bony creature appeared, but was too weak to move, nor did it have the will to without a command.

"So you're a guardian spirit?" Kaiba smirked. "Switch Battle Ox to attack mode and activate Giant's Might, increasing his attack by 20%! Attack Mystical Elf!"

His Ox shattered the shield, but the Elf winked and was gone. "What! Where'd she go?!"

Yami raised an eyebrow. "You expect her to hang around to get chopped in half when she's clearly in no position to get fight back? It still counts as destruction, but as she was in defense mode, it's of no matter."

`They have a will of their own?"

"To varying degrees. And it affects the game even when it is played without magic. As you will learn." Yami rested his hand on his deck for a moment.

"What, surrendering already?" Kaiba's voice contained triumph, but more disappointment. He wanted more! He just had to figure out to get it after this… Yami's inevitable defeat. That weakling Yugi didn't have power like this.

"No." He drew, and without looking threw the card down on the table. "Arise, Summoned Skull!"

Yami felt his Master shiver. Yugi-dono was scared by that card. He only had it in his deck because it was a present from his grandfather, Motou-sama. --Shh, Master. He won't harm you. He only wishes to fight for you, as I do. See how he came to our call?--

The Skull's rage at someone fighting his Commander caused him to attack immediately. The Ox was gone with a flash of lightning.

Kaiba smirked. `Here's the perfect opportunity!' "If you can do that, so can I!" He palmed the Blue-Eyes card and faked drawing it. `Yes… I'll finally get to see it!'

But… it was beautiful, and wondrous, and everything he'd ever dreamed of… but why… why did it hang its head in shame?

Why did it fly away from him, to the middle of the table they sat around? Why did Yami look at him so sadly?

"You have lost." He turned to the dragon. "It's alright. I will not command you to attack him. Though I do not know why you do, I know that you care for him. I know that you wish to fight for him, but cannot. Both because he is not your true Master, and to do so, to give him something he does not yet deserve, would harm him. Fly away. I would not have you see this." He flipped up a face down card. "Dark Core. I remove the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from play."

And the dragon flew.

"No." Kaiba breathed, shocked. "NO!" He screamed. And the Summoned Skull struck, and he could smell his flesh searing, and he was suddenly alone in darkness.

No. Not alone. There were things out there. Leoguin, the Two-Headed King Rex… monsters from his deck. And they were not happy at being treated like things.

He screamed.

And another scream answered him. This one of rage, not fear.

The Blue-Eyes flew towards him. And the monsters cringed, and started to back away.

"No."

At that word, in that calm, sad, commanding voice, everything halted.

Yami stood in front of his dragon. No, the Blue-Eyes wasn't his.

"I am sorry, mighty one. But he is the one on trial, not you. Be gone." And the dragon disappeared.

"What… is this the world of Magic and Wizards?" Kaiba looked around in the respite. The monsters were still quiet, still… bowing?

"Yes. This is a penalty game. But still a game. You can still win, Kaiba." Yami walked towards him, the monsters parting respectfully to let him through. Shadows misted around him. He looked like he was standing in a storm cloud.

"I said you would die if you lost the duel. Either your pride dies here, or you do."

"Explain." A Kaiba never backed down. He'd had that lesson hammered into him.

Yami gestured at their audience. "These were once willing to fight for you. You earned their hate by how you used them. Convince them not to harm you, and you will have their support, and become a true duelist. However, if you have not changed…" He spread his hands, signifying his helplessness to do anything if that was the case.

"So I beg for forgiveness or die here?"

"Essentially."

"Fuck that." He turned to the monsters. To surrender was to die. At least it would be over quick. "I used you. So what? You let yourselves be used. You were weak. You…" He paused to laugh hysterically. "You ought to thank me for showing you what happens to weaklings." He was quoting.

With a roar, the monsters were upon him. But three blocked their assault. Dark Saggi, the Hitotsume Giant, and Battle Ox. Two the remnants of his original deck, one the first thing he had bought when he was free from Gozaburo's control, when the old man was finally dead and gone…

But they were mobbed down and he screamed and screamed…

Yami watched in silence, his face an iron mask. It had pained him to unlink his mind from that of his Master, to feel the absence of his warmth… but he would not let him see this.

He, however, had no choice but to watch. He had set Kaiba this test, so he must not shield himself from what befell the child, for he was still a child, because of his actions in the name of justice.

Finally, they were satisfied. Kaiba's self in this realm was dead, his body torn to pieces.

Yami returned to the real world. Not a second had passed since he had summoned the shadows. Not time passed in that dark realm, save at the will of its summoner. First, he reconnected with his Master's mind, and sighed at the pleasure that again filled him.

Then he shook himself awake, and looked over at Kaiba.

He smiled. He had been right. There was something worth saving about this one. For all their rage, the monsters had meant to hurt, but not to destroy.

Seto still breathed.

Yami put Yugi's cards away neatly in their case, and did the same for Kaiba's deck. He gestured, and Kaiba's school jacket came off him and neatly folded itself on the ground. Another gesture and it became Kaiba's pillow as he now lay comfortably on the ground. No point in having his body fall off the chair and become injured in the time it took the boy's soul to return to his body.

His Master was pleased by his actions, which was an unexpected bonus. But kindness, even to one who was so warped, was something his pure soul would appreciate.

Finally, Yami walked over and laid his hand on Seth's forehead. Why had he thought Seth?

…that was Kaiba's true name! Was this… a memory!

Taken aback, he almost forgot what he had come to do, until he felt his Master's gentle pokes. He smiled.

"Seth… you cannot hear me, nor will your conscious mind remember this, but I hope your soul will. Despite how you have been warped, you are still worth saving. I hope this will help you, at least a little. Know that you have my vow to help you, until you are finally healed of the evil that has ensnared you, and the damage it has caused, though it take years." He paused, and smiled. "And you have my Master's aid as well, which is worth much more. We will not abandon you. And you must not abandon yourself."

He returned happily to his slumber in the heaven that was his Master's radiant soul. Kaiba was still a danger, but he could defend his Master. He sleepily nuzzled his Master awake. All would be well.

Yugi awoke. And froze, a smile suddenly coming over his face. He wanted to scream with joy. They were almost strong enough! He would be able to talk to Yami soon! He ran to tell the gang the good news.

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Thanks to all reviewers!

Responses to specific issues brought up:

I haven't yet had any complaints about people not being able to follow along because of not having the manga. Thanks for your concern on their behalf though, but I try very hard to make it easy for them to understand without it being boring for those who have read the manga.

Read my bio! There is a rant at the top. And an announcement if you want more stuff by me.

Thanks to everyone who charts their progress towards talking. I'm working rather hard on that.

Um… the whole Master dynamic is a lot more complicated than I have been able to express so far. I can't really go into what it really is, and why it is, until they talk. Yami has serious issues. Wouldn't you?

Forming a body would take a hell of a lot of magic. Fortunately, there is a short cut already alluded to!

Again, sorry sorry a million time for not updating! Expect updates to other two this weekend.

Please don't kill me!