Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Devotion ❯ Knowledge ( Chapter 26 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-gi-oh, Solomon would have gotten to thank Yami for rescuing him in the tomb.

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How long have I known?

That's actually kind of a silly question. Known what?

It's not really know, I don't know what's going on, besides what I think I remember, which could be a hallucination brought on by blood loss or Alzheimer's early work.

I just… feel. Know in my bones.

When I saw my little grandson for the first time, when they let me in the life support room after he was born prematurely, he was…

I can't say he was cute, even to my prejudiced eyes. He was red and wrinkled and too, too small. But he wasn't crying.

They didn't think he was going to live. But I knew he was. I knew he was too strong to die. I knew him. I knew those purple eyes, so like my own. I knew that serious, curious stare. I knew him.

I convinced my daughter to name him Yugi. She joked about how she hoped I wouldn't pressure him into being my protégée, but I knew he would be. I knew he would be a great gamer.

I was right. Rubix cubes, chess, go… he picked each up in days. Aside from when he was first learning each game, I could never beat him.

Me, the Legendary Gambler who had defeated the greatest game of all, the tomb of the Unknown Pharaoh! A six, seven, eight-year-old defeating me!

All I felt was pride… and deja vu.

And when he was six, Pegasus created the game of duel monsters. We learned it together. It was enthralling.

I knew these cards, these strategies… and Yugi knew them too. The Heart of the Cards… he invented that term, though the credits me with it. That heart beat for him.

And then he found it.

It was buried in my storeroom, on a shelf he couldn't have been able to reach, behind mountains of carefully positioned junk. He should have been able to find it.

I had known he would find it. I had known it was meant for him. But I hadn't wanted… no, had refused to give it to him.

I had done my research, after finding. Had heard tales of a mystical puzzle, which would make the one who solved it King of Games. Had joined more conventional Egyptian digs and heard the theories of Arthur Hopkins.

But I had never tried to solve it. I knew it wasn't for me. But one of my apprentices did. And it punished him for daring to touch it.

I knew magic existed, that there was more to winning then luck and strategy. I knew of curses.

I didn't want my Grandson crippled or worse.

But then I saw him with that glimmering box in his arms, innocently holding a piece out to me, asking if it was a puzzle with that excitement in his eyes, and I felt…

I knew. I saw.

The puzzle belonged to him, with him. That light in his eyes… he was more my grandson, more alive, then I had ever seen him before.

I couldn't rip him in two. So I told him a scary story, but it only entranced him more. He asked for the puzzle for his Eighth birthday, and I couldn't say no.

Eight years. Eight years he worked on that thing. He never was angry at it, or frustrated. He knew he would solve it eventually. I knew he would solve it eventually.

And he did. And he got everything he ever wanted overnight. He got his wish, whatever it was, I know this.

Before… the one thing that puzzled me was that he was so alone. He should have been surrounded by admirers of his genius. Should have been a natural leader. The one person to see the true him, to get past his self-deflating exterior was Tea. Now… the last piece brought a new friend to my door.

And others joined Joey. Tristan, Ryou…

And my Grandson had people to play with. True, Tea had taken up Duel Monsters before so he would have someone to play against besides me, but she didn't have the spark, the mind that saw the strategies, the… magic.

And my Grandson himself… the bullies evaporated, his confidence expanded. He had always been happy despite everything, but now… there was nothing to be sad about.

He came alive. What I had seen when he gained the puzzle was nothing compared to when he wore it around his neck. It was a part of him that had been missing, and was now restored.

That's what shocked me.

When whatever force allowed me to see out of the card Pegasus had me trapped in, into this dream world in which I knew Yugi was there and called to him, that's what shocked me amid all the magic and madness.

He wasn't wearing the puzzle.

It was like someone had cut him in half. It was wrong. Just… wrong.

I told him what Pegasus had told me, to taunt me with. I heard the Kaibas plead. How had they gotten here?

I told him to trust the puzzle. He needed it. It needed him. How I know…

I just know.

Yugi needs the puzzle. In a way, it seems like… Yugi is the puzzle. Without it, he's just a shadow of himself. True, before he had it, he was a smart, kind, funny boy. But… he's a shadow. Unnoticeable.

With it, he is who he should be. A genius whose inner radiance enchants everyone.

As I felt myself be sealed in my prison once again, I was not afraid. I knew my Grandson would save me, save all those Pegasus had captured.

Because… he was my Grandson. And so much more.

I can't explain it. I just know it.

He has a destiny. He will be great. There is nothing he cannot do.

But he needs the puzzle. It is deadly. I saw what it did to the one who tried to solve it without being worthy. But it will not harm him.

It would never harm him.

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A/N: Actually, the manga is out in English. It's published by Shonen Jump. You can get it at most bookstores.

Yes… I watched my copy of those episodes in the sub recently, so I used the crosses. I try to stick to the dub mostly in this, but…

Hi, Moonymonster!