Shadowing Glory

'Thought'

"Spoken"

Reality (Normal Realm)

Fantasy (Card Realm)

~Dream~

[Shadow Realm]

/Yugi's voice in his head/

//Yami's voice in Yugi's head//

A/N: Ignore any of the following: - lack of clarity, O.O.C.ness and severe weirdness. NO FLAMES! If you have something positive to say though, R & R! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, no matter how much I want the Celtic Guardian as my own… T_T …

----------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------

Part 1 - Reality Schism

"And that takes your life points down to zero," Yami smirked, "close contest though."

He quickly took both halves of the deck up in his hands and placed them together, neatening the pile up. He then looked over at the chuckling figure of Yugi opposite him.

"Another good game, Yami," he smiled, "it's getting pretty late…" he added with a yawn, "We should clear up then get some rest."

"Okay," Yami agreed, "lets get to it then."

And so, they both began to clear up the room.

Upon cleaning the last of the clutter up, Yami noticed Yugi sprawled out in the middle of the floor, asleep.

'Like an angel,' he thought, as he gently slid his arms underneath the youth, lifted him up and placed him in his bed, trying not to wake him in the process, 'so innocent, kind, gentle and pure…'

Yugi stirred, then looked up at Yami staring over him, having pulled the covers over him, and smiled at him. "Goodnight Yami…" he muttered before drifting back off to sleep.

"Night Yugi," he whispered as he wiped the other's soft hair from out of his peaceful face, then returned into the Millennium Puzzle.

~ Yugi looked around in shock as a thick fog shrouded everything around him into an indistinctive blur. He began to cough as he breathed it in, and his chest began to sting with the nastiness of it. He quickly raised a sleeve to cover his mouth and to ease the pain running through his lungs.

'Where… am I?' he thought as he attempted to find something to distinguish his location, but to no avail. He just seemed to saunter deeper and deeper into the clutches of the ever-thickening fog, which was really beginning to seep through his sleeve, making him cough even more.

"Somebody!" he cried out, "please help me!"

Nothing.

He didn't know how, or why, but he was stuck here, in this… empty, unforgiving place…

// Yugi? //

Yugi froze on the spot, upon hearing Yami's voice. He just couldn't understand where it had come from though.

// Yugi, answer me! //

"Yami? Where are you! Yami!"

Then he spotted a figure up ahead, and so he began to run over to it. It was indeed Yami. Yugi slowed to a walk as he approached him, thanking the lord. "Yami, where are we?" he questioned.

But Yami just stood still, as if he were frozen.

"Yami, please don't mess about with me… do you know how to get out of here?"

No reaction.

// Yugi! //

Yugi moved closer to Yami, and waved a hand in front of his face. Suddenly, his hand snapped out and grabbed him, lifting him up in the air by his wrist.

"Yami, let go! You're…hurting me!"

// Yugi! If you don't answer me, I'm coming out! //

"Yami!" he cried as the grip round his wrist grew tighter, and he watched an evil smirk grow upon Yami's face as he lifted him higher.

Yugi cried out in agony as Yami chucked him harshly to the ground, laughing. He looked up in fear as the figure leant over him and reached out a hand towards him… ~

"Yugi, wake up!"

Yugi snapped open his violet eyes and sat straight up, quivering. He looked up as Yami sat down on his bed next to him and cuddled him for comfort. "Shush… it's okay, it was only a-"

"Nightmare…" Yugi clung to Yami as he shut his eyes tightly, 'About you…'

After holding his close for a few seconds, Yami let go of Yugi and placed his hands upon his shoulders. "Are you gonna be okay?" he questioned, 'I can't let anything bad happen to my angel…'

Yugi nodded coyly, before returning under his covers and watching Yami return into the Millennium Puzzle.

// Are you sure? //

/ Yeah, I'm sure… it was only a bad dream… /

// Dreams generally mean nothing… //

/ Exactly, you needn't worry. /

// But… sometimes they mean much more than you think they do. Be cautious about it, okay? //

/ Okay, will do… night… /

// Yeah, you too… // Yami replied, but something made him feel extremely uneasy… 'I won't force it out of you, Yugi, but why do I get the feeling your hiding something from me?'

* * * * * * "So Yug," Joey questioned, "That okay with you?"

"Sure," he said as looked at Joey, Téa, and Tristan, "Say," he added, "You don't mind if Yami comes along, right? It'd be nice for him to do something other than duel."

"Sure, no problem!" Téa exclaimed.

/ You heard her, Yami, come on out! /

// Really? //

/ Yeah, I'm sure you'll find it alotta fun! Come on out! /

// If you insist… //

They all watched as Yami emerged from the Millennium Puzzle, and stood before them.

"What are we waitin' for? Let's go!" Joey exclaimed, eager to hit the arcades.

* * * * * *

"Something's appeared that you should take a look at," the Mystic Elf lulled as she stood face to face with the Dark Magician, "It's… growing. Very, very slowly, but it is growing nevertheless."

"We shouldn't risk going to close to it though, we don't know what it is, or what it could do," commented the Celtic Guardian.

"You're right. All we can do is stay away and hope it disappears as quickly as it first appeared." The Dark Magician spoke out.

The Mystic Elf nodded as she turned around. "The Summoned Skull has offered to keep a close watch on it, what do you say?"

"He can if he wishes, as long as he is very cautious."

The Mystic Elf nodded once again at the Dark Magician and began to wander off. The Celtic Guardian stood by the Dark Magician's side. "Do you think it has something to do with-"

"Yugi. Yes, I do," the Dark Magician interrupted, "But at the moment we are in no position to be able to help him."

The Celtic Guardian clutched the handle of his sword tightly. "I feared you would say that."

"And yet you knew I would?"

The Celtic Guardian nodded, biting his lip gently.

"I will ask the Mystic Elf about a spell," the Dark Magician began, "If the situation gets any worse, we will have to take action, but it's risky. A last resort."

The Celtic Guardian looked up at the Dark Magician, bearing his amber eyes into him until his bright blue ones greeted him. "I have a feeling we're going to need it."

The Dark Magician nodded.

"I'll go request her help then."

"If you would."

The Dark Magician watched as the Celtic Guardian threw back his cloak and began striding down the path the Mystic Elf had taken. He then looked up at the sky and sighed. 'What's going on with you, Yugi?'

* * * * * * Yugi stared up into the beauty of the night sky and watched as each one of his breaths visibly swirled up and dispersed into the air. He then brought his knees up to his chest and clutched them, as he watched Yami and the others talk and laugh seemingly very content. He just silently kept his watch over them.

Yami glanced over at Yugi, who was unusually quiet, and then finished what he was saying abruptly, so he could check up on his little angel.

He hurriedly walked over and perched himself in front of Yugi, then placed a hand upon his shoulder gently. "What's up?" he queried.

"I… was just thinking… that's all."

"Yeah?" Yami said as he pulled over a chair and sat on it, "What about?"

"Nothing really…" Yugi replied, looking up with his alluring eyes.

"I'm not going to force it out of you, but I tell there's something bothering you. When you're ready to tell me, don't hesitate to," Yami soothed, looking Yugi straight in the eye.

Yugi just nodded, and smiled sweetly, "Okay…"

"You look…a bit pale. Are you feeling okay?"

Yugi stared up in silence for a moment. "A bit tired, actually…"

"You should get some rest then. I'll drop you back off home."

Yugi nodded, but added on, "You should come back here though, I don't wanna have ruined your fun just 'cos I feel a bit iffy."

Yami nodded and smiled, "Okay, it's a deal, as long as you get better."

"Sure." Yugi grinned.

But Yami didn't believe it for a second.

To Be Continued…