The Shadows Within

Chapter 3

Atem's POV

"So let me get this straight. Yugi is still alive, however he isn't himself in some way," asks one of the vampires on the council. "Yes, I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it. I felt him die. I knew it within my very soul that he had died. Seeing him reignited the mating bond within me so I knew it was him,"  I say. "Alright enough with the skepticism. It's obvious he is still alive so enough putting pressure on the poor boy. What we need to focus on is finding out how in the world little Yugi could turn evil or what did it," says Pegasus.

"It has to be some sort of black magic that is not commonly practiced. I have searched all the books related to this type of spell and they didn't give me anything. The only books that I didn't search are the ones involving black magic," says a woman named Isis who is one of the best spell casters around.  "How would you feel about searching through the black magic books? As much as I don't want to expose anyone to that type of magic, we have to know what we're up against and if it's a threat," says Pegasus.

"I will of course have to ground myself before, but I will go looking through them," says Isis. "Alright that is all we can really do for now," says Pegasus. The meeting is done and I go back to my apartment to find the gang there. "Hey guys,"  I say. "How did the meeting with Pegasus go," asks Ryou. "Isis is going to look through the black magic books to find a possible spell that could have been used," I say and Ishizu gasps. "But she could expose herself," says Ishizu. "She still wants to do it and she says shes going to ground herself before she goes," I say.

"I want to help her," she says and Ishizu leaves to go to Isis. "Alright I guess the only thing to do now is to wait to see if they find anything," says Bakura. I nod and we all hear something at the window and turn to face it. Seto, Bakura, and Marik protect their mates and in crawls a cloaked figure. He removes the hood and its Yugi. "Yugi," I say and they all gasp seeing him alive for the first time. "Yeah who else," he says. "I didn't think you'd come back here," I say and take a few steps towards him. "I have my reasons, but I never intended to come back here," he says.

"Yugi it's so great to actually see you," says Joey. "Yeah yeah, I only came here for one thing," he says and steps towards me and gets in my face. "What the fuck did you do to me? Ever since I ran into you, I have these feelings that I don't want," he says. "You mean the mating bond," I ask. "Yes," he yells. "You know as well as I do that neither I nor you controls it," I say. "I know and I want to get rid of it," he says. "No you can't do that. It's impossible and I don't want you to," I say. 

"Why? Look at me I am disgusting and gross and I don't want you anymore," he says. "Because I know you are not the Yugi I fell in love with and that Yugi is still in there," I say. He then laughs. "You are so ignorant. That Yugi is dead. He is long gone," he says. "No he's not. I don't believe that," I say and quickly grab the syringe that was on the night stand and stab him with it injecting him with a sedative. His eyes widen as he realizes what just happened and he collapses. 

"He's completely different than who he used to be," says Seto. "Yeah I know," I say and me and Marik carry him downstairs to the dungeons. "What are you going to do with him," asks Marik. "I'm going to keep him here until we can figure out what spell was used and if we can get his humanity back," I say. "If we can't," he asks. "I'm not sure. We may not be able to reverse the black magic, but we should be able to give him his humanity back which in turn should restore him to how he was," I say

"Well I know I will help in any way I can to make this easier for you since he is your mate," he says. "Yeah, the only reason I have kept it together is because I keep reminding myself that the man in there was not who my mate was. I know he is still in there locked away similarly to the way the Oricalchaos locked him away," I say. "I do hope that's the case so you can have your mate back," he says and leaves to get back to Malik. I stay there for a little while longer before going back upstairs.

I am on my way back to my apartment for some piece and quiet when Ishizu comes running up to me. "Atem come with me quick we've found the spell," she says and we run to Isis' chambers and she has a black book opened before her. The writing in it is hieroglyphics. "What is this," I ask. "The Black Book of the Dead," she says. "So this is it," I ask and she nods. "The spell used is a bad one that can bring someone back from the dead, but it costs them their humanity," she says.

"Alright what can I do," I ask. "You are the only one that can bring back his humanity. The only one who can is his mate," she says.  "Is there any risks with it," I ask. "There's always risk, but this time the reward will be greater," she says. "I will do it," I say. "Alright, it will be tough but it can be done," she says and we close the book and put it back. Time to get to work.