Desert Dreams

King of Games I ~ When Memory Stirs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I close my eyes, I can see it even now, though millenia separates me from my home. The rich, dark soil of the valley, the deep comforting waters of the Nile, the sand spreading out and ever out across the land not fed by the river. And in the distance, the pyramids, resting places of my forefathers. And the smoke clouds. Ever the smoke on the horizon, mingling gritty black with desert sepia. But those came later.

And I remember, standing on a terrace, looking out at that land, in the days before the world went mad.

~~~~~

"This game the nobles are all so mad about -- " Seto began.

"And you're not?" I interrupted, laughing.

His hand moved, tightening on my shoulder for a moment before returning to grip the railing in front of him. It was as much emotion as the world ever saw from him, when he wasn't dueling. Behind closed doors our relationship was a complex one of carefully balanced power, but here in public, he was only another young noble, headstrong and willful, an appropriate companion for the prince.

"It is becoming dangerous," he continued, as if I hadn't spoken. "Those fools.... They don't comprehend the powers they summon, the forces with which they duel."

But you do, I thought silently. You and I do.

"I know," I said, quietly. "But it is not my place to interfere... to stop them."

"But it will be!" Seto exclaimed, passion coloring his voice.

Turning to face him, I studied his eyes -- doors to the soul -- but found nothing but distraction. His eyes were such a blue as one never saw in the Nile. A blue of water that was alien to my land. As perhaps Seto was alien, orphan child that he was. Letting the authority of one who would be Pharaoh colour my voice, I said, "It is not my time, nor place."

"Hn." Tossing his head angrily, he cast his strange blue gaze out over the plaza. "Pharaoh...."

He would not say it, here where it might be heard, but I knew his words, knew their echo within my own heart.

Pharaoh is old, and weak. Your time is soon.

"Seto...."

Quick as an asp, he stepped closer, using his height to his advantage in this play of power. "You know I will steal this kingdom from you if you but give me the chance."

What answer could I give to that save, "I know." I did know. Everyone knew, and questioned the front of camaraderie between us. The whole land knew that Seto Kaiba had designs upon the throne, and that he wasn't alone in that. But the people trusted me, Pharaoh's son, to keep the peace.

A miserable job it was, too.

"Beware the Shadow Game, my Prince," he spat. And then he was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

~~~~~

If there is anything for which I am grateful to the Puzzle, it is that dreamless sleep of three millenia. Had I been left alone with my thoughts for so long, I surely would have gone mad.

Still, the Puzzle is a prison of the mind, within a mind. It makes me restless, makes me wander the long, strange streets of the Puzzle's creation, searching endlessly.... For what? My first thought is 'Peace.' A fair enough answer, I suppose. But peace for whom, or what? Myself? Or that land of the past?

At least Yugi's duels provide a distraction. I have not lost my skill there, though the monsters have become cards, and some aspects of the game have changed. Yet it worries me, seeing the Shadow Game thus revived. It means forces are stirring again, dark powers reaching across time and space to ensnare a new set of souls.

And my presence here within Yugi's mind -- safeguard, or liability? For the knowledge I carry, the knowledge of how the Game was sealed away, is also the knowledge of how to free it, how to loose that terrible power once more upon the earth.

I would sooner die, taking the knowledge with me, than see it happen again. But how can I die when I do not truly live? It is not a choice I would ask Yugi to make.

Instead, my mind builds walls within walls, traps within traps, locking the knowledge away from everyone, including me. These things I can remember only here, within the world of the Puzzle. When I pass through the doors and walk in Yugi's world, the memories are left behind and I must reclaim them again on my return. But they are never the same, never linear or orderly. And there are always some things it is safer not to remember.

~*~*~*~

"I keep finding myself thinking about Kaiba," Yugi murmured. Propping his chin on his hand, he stared out the window at the rainy sky. It put a kink in his neck, given that he was lying on his stomach on the hardwood floor, but he didn't mind. The rain made him thoughtful, and not about the duel he and Joey were playing.

"What about that creep?" Joey replied, frowning at the cards in his hand. "That jerk gave me nightmares. And after all the help we've been to him, he's still cold-hearted and ungrateful! Thinkin' about him is a waste of time, Yug."

"Well, maybe," Yugi replied, dragging his attention back to his own cards. "But he is a great duelist. And he's brought a lot of advances to the game." Pulling a card from his deck, he laid it face down on the field without even looking at it.

"Is that what you're thinkin' about? Yug, if Kaiba hadn't invented the hologram arena, someone else would have. And anyway, think of all that trouble we had in that... Virtua-whatever-thing he created. He almost got us all killed! Flame Swordsman, attack!"

Shaking his head, Yugi flipped his card face up. "Sorry, Joey. The Dark Magician's defence points are higher."

"Man, Yug!" Joey exclaimed, grinning ruefully. "Even when you aren't paying attention, you're a better duelist than me!"

That earned an answering smile from Yugi. "You're just more impulsive, Joey. And anyway, sometimes I think...." His voice trailed off as he picked up the Dark Magician card, studying it silently.

"Thinkin's a real bad habit," Joey said, getting to his feet. "Hey, you want a soda or anythin'?" Stretching his arms up above his head, he yawned hugely. "All this rain is makin' me sleepy. I need some caffeine."

"Mm, no thanks, Joey, I'm okay."

Hesitating in the doorway, Joey looked back at his friend with some concern. "You sure about that, Yugi?"

"Hunh?" Wide purple eyes blinked at him in confusion.

"Ah, never mind. But you gotta tell me what you were thinkin' when I get back, ok?"

"Okay," Yugi replied cheerfully, smiling at him. "Hurry up already."

"I'm goin', I'm goin'!" Laughing, Joey disappeared into the kitchen.

~*~*~*~

Spirit.... Yami...?

Startled, I slip from my rooms to the in-between space where Yugi and I meet. He's becoming more adept at moving between worlds, at sharing and controlling this... mindscape with me.

Yugi? I am always careful to approach from where he can see me. There's no need to surprise him, after all. His eyes, so like mine, and yet so different, are dark, worried. He has no smile for me today, and that, I'll admit, is disappointing.

Is my world in danger? he blurts.

Well. I must remember this, then. The eyes of the innocent are not blind. I had thought him too preoccupied with his simple life, his friends, to worry about what he... we learned on Pegasus' island. I don't know.... Why do you ask?

He hesitates, scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the non-ground of this non-space. Everything's gone crazy. Bakura... Pegasus... even Se-- I mean Kaiba. And all because of these Millenium Items. You must know something!

It startles me to hear him almost call Kaiba by his given name. Perhaps I haven't been keeping my brooding as much to myself as I thought I was. It is hard to tell what leaks between our minds when we meet face-to-face.

I wish I could give you answers, Yugi. And I do. But they would not be mine to give, even were I to possess them.

They say a Pharaoh locked away the power of the Game.... His eyes search mine, innocence searching experience, looking for the path to the future, or the past? I wonder.

But the Puzzle protects its secrets, and I can feel it pulling me back as I shake my head sadly.

~*~*~*~

"Yugi! Hey, Yug! What gives?"

"Hunh?" Blinking, Yugi focused his gaze slowly on Joey, feeling torn between two places.

"There you are. You were all... I dunno. Like you were asleep, but your eyes were open. It was really freaky, Yug." Popping the tab on his soda, Joey shivered. "You sure you're alright? You been kinda... distracted since we came back from the Duelist Kingdom."

Setting down the cards he'd forgotten he was holding, Yugi sat up. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he rested his chin against his knees and stared down at the gaming mat. "You asked what I was thinking about, Joey. Well, I guess I just have all these questions. More questions than answers, it seems. But there's no one with answers."

"Questions about what?" Joey asked, leaning back against the sofa.

"About the Millenium Items... what they mean... why they cause such strange things to happen...." Yugi studied his friend, his expression surprisingly serious. "We just keep going on with day to day things, because there's always something else to think about, but I still wonder about Pegasus.... Who stole his Millenium Eye? What's Pegasus doing now?" He shook his head, wisps of blond hair trailing across his face with the motion. "I just worry, Joey. I keep thinking about the legend of Duel Monsters, and what it all means."

"Boy, Yug, you're just full of surprises. You weren't kiddin' about doin' some thinkin'. Hunh." Joey studied his soda can, his shaggy blond hair concealing his features for a moment. "Well, why don't you ask that guy, Shadi? Seemed like he knew what was goin' on."

"I have to find him first. I haven't seen him since that time in Pegasus' tower," Yugi replied, sounding almost exasperated. Reaching down, he flipped cards over randomly. The Dark Magician stared back at him, sandwiched between Monster Reborn and the Wall of Illusion. A cold shiver ran down Yugi's spine.

Joey sighed. "Ri~ight. He's probably back in Egypt anyway."

"Egypt," Yugi echoed, staring at the Dark Magician.

~*~*~*~

Egypt. Desert land; fertile land. Harsh beauty and worn edges. Sand and water and sunlight bright enough to bake clay.

My home.