Spirit of the puzzle (book 1)

Chapter 10: revelations

A gentle knock on the door disturbs me from my slumber. I open my eyes partially, silently waiting for another knock. There is another knock, this time a little bit louder. I sigh as I glance down at Yugi. His eyes are still completely shut as he continues to sleep snuggled up against my chest. The mere sight of his peaceful face forces me to smile as I gently stroke his blonde bangs out of his face. The door opens with a creak and I glance over with annoyance. Solomon stands in the doorway with a hesitant expression.
He walks over to our bed and peers straight through me at Yugi. I peer closely at his expression. Solomon seems to have an expression of concern on his face as he looks down at his grandson. What's going on? Solomon reaches out a hand to shake Yugi awake but I grab his hand stopping him merely inches from Yugi. Solomon's eyes widen in surprise as his hand recoils from my grip. I can see his thoughts racing in his eyes. Will Solomon become a potential problem? And even if he does what can I do about it?
The millennium puzzle glitters in the morning sunlight and I can feel Solomon's eyes drift toward it. Yugi has been wearing the puzzle around his neck ever since the first day he left me home alone. I suppose it was his way of taking me with him, but feeling Solomon's eyes on it is making me uneasy.
"Yugi." I whisper as I kiss my aibou awake. As his eyes flutter slowly open I put a finger on his lips and quickly glance over at his grandfather who is staring at Yugi with a shocked expression. Solomon is holding onto his wrist as if he was burned by my touch. A feeling of indignation sparks in my chest. I'm a soul, not a fire demon...drama queen.
"Good morning, grandpa." Yugi says with a yawn as he rises to a sitting position. His hair adorably ruffled from sleep and my fingers.
"Yes, good morning, Yugi." He says a little disgruntled.
"Is something the matter grandpa?" Yugi asks curiously, his small hands rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"No, I, uh, just wanted to ask you about that puzzle I gave you." My eyes narrow in suspicion as he speaks. He releases his grip on his wrist and allows his arm to drop back to his side.
"Oh?" Yugi yawns. "What about it?" He stretches his thin arms out above his head.
"Since you finished it have you considered letting people study it?" Yugi freezes mid stretch and I notice every muscle in his body tense. "I mean it is a priceless Egyptian artifact. It would be a waste to not let anyone look at it." Yugi remains silent as his arms drop back to his sides and he looks down at his lap.
/"Aibou?"/ I send.
"No, I haven't." Yugi says quietly.
"Well, don't you agree that it would be a waste?" Solomon pushes.
"No." Yugi replies emotionlessly. "Because I know that they won't find anything."
"Yugi." Solomon says with a note of shock in his voice.
"I won't let them take it." He says meeting his grandfather's gaze with tears forming in his eyes.
"Yugi, why are you crying?" Solomon sits down on the bed beside me. I glance at him in annoyance when he puts his hand on Yugi's shoulder, but I swallow my distaste. Silently reminding myself that Solomon is Yugi's grandfather and is doing the same thing my mother would to comfort me. "What has happened?"
"You can't take the puzzle grandpa!" He sobs. "Not after everything that has happened."
/"Yugi."/
"I won't, dear boy." He says with a reassuring smile. "But can you explain to me what's happened?"
"Grandpa," Yugi sniffles. "You didn't only find the millennium puzzle that day." Solomon looks at him curiously.
"I don't understand."
"There was a spirit locked away in the puzzle for the past five thousand years." He says softly. "His name is Yami. If you take the puzzle away from me you will be separating him from the only person that has cared about him for the past five thousand years."
"His name is Yami?" He asks skeptically. Yugi nods his head. "Then where is he?"
"I'm right here." My form glows and comes into sight in a bright flash of golden light. Solomon jumps up from his seat in shock. "You may wish to take your grandson's words a bit more seriously." I say with a meaningful stare.
"Y-you're real." He stammers.
"As real as you are."
"That's remarkable!" He says drawing dangerously close to me. His face just barely two inches away from my own. My eyes twitch in agitation, but I remain silent as Yugi gently pulls his grandfather back. "So there really is an afterlife! That's incredible! Tell me about yourself Yami!" He says excitedly completely ignoring Yugi. I glance over at my small aibou he gives me a small smile encouraging me to speak.
I sigh. "What do you want to know?"
"How old were you when you died?"
"Seventeen."
"So young." He says with a tone of surprise.
"I wasn't popular with a noble family, so they cut my life short."
"So you must have been born into a position of power to have quarreled with a noble family of Egypt."
"You're assumption is correct."
"Were you a noble?"
"No." I say curtly. "My rank was much higher than a mere noble. I was a pharaoh."
"A pharaoh?!" Yugi's cries out in surprise.
"Yes." I say with a teasing smile.
"Thanks for telling me!" He says with thinly veiled annoyance.
"It didn't seem important."
"Oh yeah! Telling the guy you're sharing a body with that you're a pharaoh is totally irrelevant!"
"I'm glad we agree." I say smoothly. I return my gaze to Solomon just as a pillow crashes into the side of my face. "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah!" He shouts at me. "You didn't tell me who the hell you were!"
"Yugi!" Solomon scolds.
"I told you everything of importance...everything that mattered to me personally."
"And your birthright wasn't pertinent information?! Why didn't yo-"
"Yugi! Enough!" Solomon says with a stern look. "I can understand that you're upset, but could the two of you possibly talk it out later?"
"Fine." Yugi says with a huff.
/"We will be discussing this later."/
/"Oh joy."/ I reply, allowing as much sarcasm as possible to fill those two words. Yugi glares at me for a moment before turning back to his grandfather.
"That's incredible that you were a pharaoh at such a young age." Solomon says in awe as Yugi refuses to look at me.
"I was pharaoh for eight years." Solomon's eyes widen in surprise and his mouth is agape.
"Where was your father?"
"He had fallen ill with a strange illness that forced him to step down from the throne forcing me to ascend. My father then died halfway through my third year as pharaoh."
"I'm so sorry." Solomon says sadly. I shrug.
"I have had five thousand years to get over it." I say. "The memory doesn't bother me anymore."
"Hmmm, I see." He muses. "What was your father's name? Perhaps we have discovered his tomb." The thought of these men walking about in my father's tomb makes my skin crawl with disgust. Such disrespect would not have been tolerated in ancient Egypt. These men would have been killed for their ignorance. Though if memory of my father serves correct he would have chuckled at the thought of these men examining him. He was a peculiar one my father, but he was the greatest.
"Ankammon. That was my father's name."
Solomon takes a sharp intake of breath. "You're Atem! Now it all makes sense."
"I don't under-" Solomon pulls me into his arms as tears flow down his cheeks. It seems that everyone in Yugi's family is especially emotional.
"You've gone through so much." He chokes. " the past was especially unkind to you." Yugi looks at me curiously. I sigh, it seems like there is now a lot more explaining to do.