Chapter 1: Flickerings

POV: Yugi Moto

My life had been spectacularly dull before he arrived. I didn't really have any friends and most of what I did was play card

games at home. My grandpa's game shop encouraged that, especially since I got booster packs for helping around. Not

that the shop had many customers- my grandpa kept busy by constantly reorganizing and cataloguing new rare cards

that he would find. Anyways- the point is I didn't exactly have much of a social life, especially for a high school student.

But when I fit the last piece, he showed up. Most people can't even begin to comprehend what it's like having two people

share the same space and time. But that's largely because most people haven't even heard of the Shadow Realm, let alone

spent time in it. But I spent a decent amount of my high school career in the Shadow Realm. That's not because I kept losing

duels- it's because he and I can't be in the same physical space in the same dimension. When we would be in innocent situations,

where I could have control, he would exist in the Shadow Realm and I would be walking around and doing things. But when we

were having those intense duels, I would be watching from sidelines. But again, this is neither here nor there. It's just important

to understand that we are two different people, because that defined much of my life.

This event took place shortly after I won the Duelist Kingdom tournament organized by the evil mastermind Pegasus. I had defeated

him in a Duel Monsters game that required all the skill both my soul-partner and I could wield. I returned home, going back to the

normal life. I was a decent student- while my other half, who I shall call Yami for convenience sake, stayed home, fine-tuning the

deck and wandering around the city, I would go to school and maintain decent grades. Since my school isn't too structured and

my future is pretty set as the King of Games, I spent a lot of time playing Duel Monsters or other similar games with Tea, Joey, and

Tristan. We often drew quite a crowd. I think people heard that the King of Games was playing something, and would assume it was

an expo rather than a simple game with friends. Anyways, while I was at school one day some very unusual happened. I know, I

know, that sounds so cliché. It's pretty accurate though. Yami came up (only I could see him of course) and tapped me on the shoulder.

He told me I needed to go with him, in that confident and reassuring tone of his. I excused myself, and hurried out. As soon as I was

outside of school grounds he reappeared. This time, though, some of his composure was gone. He began talking very quickly, "Yugi,

something is wrong with the Shadow Realm. It keeps flickering." I asked him what that meant, to which he responded "It's like wit

h the sun and the moon. Normally, they travel without too much relation to the other- the moon can come up when the sun is up or

vice versa, the sun simply moves in it's natural trajectory while the moon travels in a different, equally natural trajectory. But sometimes

there are eclipses, both lunar and solar, where one vanishes behind the other. Now, pretending that the sun and the moon gave off

equal quantities of light, imagine the Shadow Realm as the moon, and an equally incomprehensible other world that is the sun. We

normally live in the sun- that is a realm so normal to us we don't even think about it. When we start traversing into moonlight, that's

when we start playing dangerous. That's the Shadow Realm. Now- we've learned something about Millennium items from dealing with

Pegasus and his eye, Bakura and his ring, and Shadi and his key. Millenium items use the power of the Shadow Realm- you could say

they absorb and are powered by the light of the moon. But there are also items of the sun. These are items of the realm we live in- the

Time and Space Realm. These items are innately powered by and for the sun. I believe one of those items is coming here, and that it

is causing a kind of eclipse- it's shining power is blocking out the Millenium items, preventing them from working." Here Yugi frowned

"But you live inside the Millenium puzzle, and when you're not in the Puzzle you become part of the Shadow Realm. What happens when

the puzzle stops working? Will the Shadow Realm still be there? Will I still be able to talk to you? Can we still switch places?"

"So many questions, and I have such little knowledge with which to give answers. I honestly don't know the answers to most of them-

the information I have given you has taken days of research and introspection to figure out. There aren't many reliable sources regarding

the Shadow Realm. Most physicists don't believe it exists. Regrettably, there are far more people like Seto Kaiba then there are like you

and your friends. I can only find two possibilities though- I will be destroyed or I will be given my own body. It is possible that, if the owner

of the item is friendly, they can help us. It is likely one who wields such an item has some knowledge of its powers."

"I don't know, Yami. We have such little understanding of the Puzzle and your ancient past. Is it really fair to ask someone else to know

more about their own items?"

"We don't have a choice. If they can't help us, I don't know that anyone can. Item bearers are secretive and difficult to find. There is no

reason to expect Shadi to reappear. The Spirit of the Millenium Ring told us that it wants to gather all the items for itself, but there is no

knowing what it meant or whether it spoke the truth. Yugi, I want you to take some time off school to come with me. I want to trace the

flickering to their source before I am rendered

useless or worse. Can you afford that much time away?"

"Of course. I'm always keeping a little ahead in case something comes up about your past. Uncertainty regarding your safety is certainly

a valid reason to use that buffer zone. I'll just tell grandpa what's going on so he doesn't worry about us. How do you want to get…wherever

it is we're going?"

"I anticipate walking at first. If I can get a clearer view as to where we're going, we can start getting longer term and faster travel arrangements."

"Sounds good to me!"