The Shadows Within

Chapter 8

Atem's POV

I had finished with Isis and was on my way up to our apartment when I heard a thump come from inside. I run inside to see Yugi holding a needle and a passed out Joey. I quickly pin him to the wall and he drops the needle startled. "Don't you dare touch Joey again," I say in his face. "Or you'll do what pretty boy," he says with a smirk. "Oh I don't think you want to know," I say and roughly let him go. I turn to see Seto coming in and picking up his mate. He gives Yugi a growl and leaves.

"Well that wasn't what I had planned," he says. "How about you go away and give me my god damned mate back," I yell at him. "Oh there's something you're failing to understand. You see, I am him. He is me. I'm not going anywhere you twit," he says. I growl at him and go to the fridge and get a drink. I have him blocked so I think about which one of my friends could play which element. Seto is obviously Earth. Earth is a stubborn element and Seto is very stubborn. I'd guess Joey is Fire. His personality screams Fire.

Now all I have left is Water, Air, and Spirit. Now that I'm really thinking. Anzu should be Spirit. She's always standing by us during duels and keeping Spirit alive. Ryou is Air. While Tristan is Water. Tristan is always adapting to change. Ryou wouldn't hurt a fly and I just feel he is Air. I'll have to tell Isis and Ishizu of my opinions. "Yawn. Why do you do that a lot," asks Yugi. "Do what? Ignore you," I ask him. He snorts. "You keep being a space cadet," he says. "Kiss my ass," I say. "Uhh eww no," he says.

A few days pass and it's all the same. This thing that's replaced him is getting more annoying by the hour. Finally though I get a break. We're going to be testing to see if my friends can be accepted by the elements that we picked for them. "Ok are you gonna stop being cryptic and tell us what's going on," asks Joey. I shut the door to the spell room. "Now I can. Just so it's clear here, none of this information is to leave this room. Under no circumstance. We can't let Yugi find out about any of this,"  I say.

"Of course bud. What is it that he can't know," asks Tristan. "That we know how to get my Yugi back," I say. "That's great Atem," says Anzu. "There's only been a few minor hiccups. It requires more people than comfort to perform the spell," I say. "What do you mean by that," asks Joey. "Well we have to draw on the five elements in order to draw enough power to do this spell. Those elements are going to be represented by the five people he has chosen after it's been confirmed that the element accepts them," says Ishizu. "Why's it a problem," asks Seto. "The more people, the bigger the chance something could go wrong," says Joey.

"Exactly but I will do anything in my power to help him just as I know you would do the same," I say and they nod. "Fire will be represented by Joey. Earth will be represented by Seto. Air will be represented Ryou. Water will be represented by Tristan. Spirit will be represented by Anzu. I chose these based off your personalities," I say. "This spell will require each of you to channel your element into the spell. This cannot be taken lightly as it is a lot of power to channel all at once. Without any one of these elements, the spell will fail. We will test each of you by calling each of the elements to you," says Ishizu and she takes out five candles.

I hand the purple one to Anzu, the green to Seto, the yellow to Ryou, the blue to Tristan, and the red to Joey. "Ok one at a time, I will call the element forward and we will see if the element accepts you," she says and takes a plain white one that is already lit and steps in front of Joey. "Fire come to us," she says and the candle lights before it's even touched and a warmth washes all over us and you can almost smell a campfire. "Fire has accepted you Joey. You may go Fire," she says and the warmth is gone. Next she steps in front of Seto.

"Earth come to us," she says and lights the candle and you smell fresh cut grass and the leaves rustle in the bowl over on a display. "Earth has accepted you Seto. You may go Earth," she says and the element leaves and she steps in front of Tristan. "Water come to us," she says and lights the candle. You can hear the sound of waves washing against the shore and a roaring river. I can smell the crisp scent of saltwater. "Water has accepted you Tristan. You may go Water," she say and the scent is gone. She steps in front of Ryou. "Air come to us," she says and lights the candle. The wind rushes around us ruffling our hair despite there being no open windows.

"Air has accepted you Ryou. You may go Air," she says and steps in front of Anzu. "Spirit come to us," she says and lights the candle. I feel my own soul leap and dance. "Spirit has accepted you Anzu. You may go Spirit," she says. "You picked well Atem. I will start to prepare the spell though that could take some time," she says. "Alright. Until then I will keep the bastard entertained," I say. "Well he technically is your husband just the darkest parts of him," she says. "He mentioned that in a conversation," I say. "Yes and that's what you both discussed while his evil side was passed out," she says. "Yes I know," I say and rub my temples.

"We'll all be here to do everything we can," says Joey. "Thank you all of you. This is gonna take all of you," I say. "Hey if we could trek  a few hundred miles to make it here, then we can certainly pull this off," says Anzu. "She's got a point," says Tristan and we all laugh and head upstairs for a break. I go into the apartment to see Yugi lounging on the couch. "Hey asshole," I say. "Hey fuck face," he says. I walk over to the fridge for some blood and of course it's empty. He drinks all of the blood all the time. I sigh and sit and look through my decks. "Hey can you go get more blood," he says and I groan. I can't wait till all of his emotions are back.