Spirit of the puzzle (book 1)

Chapter 3: Unexpected kindness

   Amethyst eyes scorch into my face as we both remain motionlessly staring at one another. This silence is uncomfortable and intense. I can feel it's weight on my shoulders as I struggle to form words. My overwhelming sense of bitter disappointment makes it increasingly difficult for me to formulate sentences and coherent thoughts. Anger roars through my veins like an uncontrollable tempest. I was so close to regaining my body only to have some oddity occur instead. It's maddening to realize just how close I truly was only to have it ripped out from under me.
   "Who are you?" Yugi asks with evident irritation at my insistent silence. His gaze is cold, yet it's clear to me that it doesn't run as deep as this boy believes. Beneath the surface he is nothing like his expression would suggest him to be.
   "Is that truly of importance at this moment?" I reply emotionlessly. "Your soul is presently outside of your body and your first course of action is to ask for my identity. That is rather foolhardy of you." His eyebrows furrow at my words.
   "I didn't ask for your analysis of my question. I asked for your name." He says with a gradually softening tone yet the expression on his face is still stony and cold. I can't help but chuckle. This boy has more spirit than I had anticipated. He had earlier appeared to be some pathetic, little pushover that would sooner roll over and show his stomach before ever considering to bare his fangs.
   "You amuse me Yugi." I murmur.
   "Glad to hear it," he says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now answer the question."
   I smirk at his spirit. "I suppose that you can call me, Yami." His face scrunches into a look of pure confusion. My head tilts slightly to the side as I inspect him. "Is there a problem?"
   "Your name is Yami?" He asks quizzically.
   "That is what I have chosen to be called yes."
   "You call yourself darkness," he says with a slight frown. "That's rather egotistical of you." It is now my turn to be confused. Did this boy just insult me? He has just called me egotistical ,yet I haven't raised a hand against him. Why haven't I? I have sent several people to the shadow realm with less of a reason than this, yet I can't bring myself to do it. Don't misunderstand me, I am not being merciful. It's just that Yugi's body won't allow me to move. It would seem that his body is trying to protect him by locking me out of the controls. How is he doing this? A bright light glows on the desk and I glance over to see the millennium puzzle glowing brilliantly.
   So this is the puzzle's doing. It's protecting this boy from me. My earlier speculations about this boy being something special and unnatural has just been proved by the interaction between this boy's soul and the puzzle. I struggle against the grip the puzzle has on me but it's power far exceeds my own. I cease my struggling and return my gaze to Yugi. His eyes watch me curiously but the cold glint that had previously inhabited them has thawed.
   "Are you alright?"
   "I'm fine. " I lie as I try to figure a way out of the puzzle's hold.
   "Are you me?" My whole body tightens as he looks at me. It's true that we share an almost remarkable resemblance but I'm not entirely convinced that we are the same being. For if we were where was he five thousand years ago? I think I would recall if there was someone who looked exactly like me wandering around the streets of Egypt.
   "No." The boy seems to sigh in relief as he sits on his bed across from me. "What would you have done if I was?" I ask with a smirk.
   He shrugs, "Probably try and find a way to accept it." His whole body relaxes as he leans against the wall. "You are Egyptian, correct?" I nod my head slowly and he smiles. "I thought so. It would be rather peculiar if you weren't yet you were residing within an Egyptian artifact."
   "What does that matter?" I yell. He looks at me stunned by my outburst. "Who cares what my origins are! All I want is to be able to have my own body and do as I wish!"
   "And that's why you took mine?" A tense moment of silence passes between the two of us. Neither one of us even daring to breathe.
   "I never had the intention of stealing your body." I say slowly, the truth painfully falling from my lips. "I believed that the millennium puzzle would give me a form of my own after you had completed it...I see now that I was mistaken." My head droops as I stare at the floor. I refuse to allow this boy to see how much this reality hurts me. He doesn't need to see what five thousand years of solitary torment can do on one's soul.
   "Were you trapped?" Yugi asks cautiously. My head snaps back up quickly and I stare at him surprised.  He looks away for a brief moment before returning my gaze. "Were you trapped within the...millennium puzzle, I think that's what you called it, were you it's prisoner?" I find myself nodding slowly as he continues to gaze at me. Those innocent eyes have done something that no one has ever dared to try with me. They've seen me and accepted me. My entire body goes slack and the puzzle releases me, so now I'm resting on the floor gazing blindly at the floorboards.
   "I won't return you to your prison." Yugi says softly. "I am not your captor nor do I want to be."
   "Why?" I whisper. "Why will you not return me to the puzzle? You don't know what I've done or who I am, yet you're deciding to grant me freedom." I look up at him with skeptical eyes. "I am inhabiting your body by force and you have decided to grant me freedom. I don't understand!"
   Yugi kneels down beside me and smiles kindly. "You have done nothing to earn my distrust nor my fear." His eyes stare deeply into my own. "I know that in the past you have been betrayed by those you believed you could trust, so it makes it difficult for you to understand when someone shows you a kindness. Let me tell you now that I am nothing like those people." My heart pounds in my chest as he pulls me into an embrace. "I am willing to share my body with you if you are willing to share your thoughts and secrets with me. Do you agree?" He whispers into my ear.
   "My secrets are hardly benevolent neither are my thoughts." I mumble into his shoulder. My vision begins to blur as tears start to form in my eyes. I struggle to regain my composure, yet my grip seems to be slipping through my fingers like sand.
   "I know." Yugi says quietly.
   "Then why do you trust me?"
   "Because if we were meant to harm one another one of us would be dead." He says calmly. A choked chuckle escapes my lips. This boy is something else entirely.
   "I will ask once more," he whispers, his breath tickling my ear. "Do you accept my terms, Yami?"
   "Yes." His grip on me tightens as the world fades away into a glow of golden light and I am once more alone. I search for any sight of the boy but he is nowhere to be seen. My heart pounds in my chest out of anxiety. Had the boy actually betrayed me? Was everything that just happened a ruse to have me remove my soul from his body? Pain rips through my chest at the thought.
   The dark halls back to my soul room seem to be drenched in a new darkness that almost drowns me in my pain. I am so blinded by the stinging betrayal that I almost walk past the stone door leading into my soul room. The door slowly slides open and I am basked with a golden light that almost blinds me. My usually dank, dark room has been covered with furnishings fit for a pharaoh. There is a large bed with a draping canopy, a large tub filled with steaming water and various containers of scented oils, there are even enchanted instruments that play songs from my childhood. Even my outfit has transformed into a white silk robe plated with gold and several intricately dyed patterns. Yugi has done this. I don't know how, but I'm certain that he has.
   "Yugi." I murmur as my fingers trace over the plush blanket on the bed. "I will only say this once." I frown deeply. I have never said this to anyone and I fear it may kill me if I start now. But it feels necessary to say those two little words considering everything the boy has done for me in the brief couple hours that I have known him. I run my tongue over my parched lips and sigh. This is harder than I thought. I inhale deeply and let the words quickly flow. "Thank you." The words fall on the silent air and I believe that he didn't hear me. A warm breeze ruffles through my hair comfortingly and I know that he heard me. His contentment wrapping me in its warmth as I lie on the bed. The warmth his happiness supplies me makes my eyes slowly begin to droop until I can't keep them open any longer. I fall asleep with a small grin on my face and one word on my lips. Yugi.