The Pharaoh and the Wayfarer (Atem/Yami Yugi x Spirit! Reader)

Prologue: An Unexpected Partnership

So after watching Dark Side of Dimensions, binging season 0, and reading some very excellent Wattpad stories, I've decided to return to my roots with this fic. Unlike the other three, we're actually going through the anime/manga timeline. Keep in mind guys, I will call them by their English names since that's what I grew up with, but I might dip into the manga from time to time just for the craziness of it, if it makes more sense, or if it just sounds cool. Anyways I decided to add a character to this line up to put (Y/N) and Yami in the same position since I haven't seen that happen before and Yugi shouldn't have to suffer the awkwardness of this situation alone. I will give her a name for clarification sake, Rain in this case, and eye color will determine who's in control (Rain's eye color will be a shade light than the readers). Now, I will be creating an oc deck based on Ori and the Blind Forest (it is tradition at this point) and I'd appreciate your ideas for cards and combo. Also, since we're starting out with the absolute chaotic DnD free-for-all that is Duelist Kingdom, feel free to come up with the craziest scenarios for duels you can, I live for that stuff. Also, everyone is aged up because 14 year olds should not be dealing with this (16 to 17 for the living, Yami and Reader are in their 20s). With all that said, let's get started.

Prologue

"Please, no! Gods, stay alive! You can't leave me!"
"There is...nowhere you can go...that...I won't follow."
"Please, I can't lose you too! I can't do this without you!"
"You must. For the sake...of everyone. Stop him...save our kingdom...our people...for me."
"I will, I swear it."
"...I love..you. I'm sure...we will meet again...one day..."
"I'll find you again! I don't care how long it will take, I will find you! I love you, (Y/N)."
"..."
"(Y/N)? (Y/N)!"

(Nine Years from the Present Day)
One tends to lose track of time when engulfed by a seemingly endless void. In a space where all the senses are deprived of their use, usually it doesn't take too long for one to go completely mad. Spirits are hardly different. True, it tends to take longer given their ethereal existence, but eventually they too crack.
That is, of course, unless you are not fully conscious.
In a completely dream-like state, several millennia could pass and the spirit could remain none the wiser, their psyche mostly in tack. The drawback being this endless sleep being particularly difficult to shake off, usually needing some sort of spell or ancient knowledge to revitalize the spirit.
Or perhaps the right vessel just needs to start poking and cooing over the container holding the dormant spirit.
Whether mere minutes or an eternity had passed since she had been sealed in her prison, the female spirit twitched as she felt, for the first time in who knows how long, warmth brushed against her. The distant echoes of what sounded like a child hummed in her ears as they slowly became louder and louder, drawing the spirit from her sleep.
"Rain!"
The spirit's (E/C) eyes snapped open to find herself no longer floating through the black abyss, but instead, a very oddly decorated room, lit by a faint glow of moonlight coming through a window. Shelves lined the walls, filled with books in all sorts of languages, paintings of various regions and ages hung where the shelves could not cover, and artifacts from around the world were strung about with no particular rhyme or reason. The spirit floated above a small child. She was a tiny thing, her face plump with baby fat, her (H/C) locks strung about as if she had just woken up from bed, and a mischievous curiosity in her eyes that only a person of such youth could have. Clutch in her tiny hands was an ominous bracelet formed by links of gold and a green stone like substance. The largest one in the center had an eye symbol which caused a spark of pain to shoot through the spirit as though she had a physical body.
Where had she seen that symbol before?
The child was grinning at an older looking gentleman standing in the doorway. He was not an imposing man, but he was a man who evoked the aura of one well experienced in the world and its wonders. His skin was dotted with sun spots and wrinkles which framed stern green eyes hidden behind thin framed glasses. His hair, what was left of it, once a deep (H/C) like the child and the spirit's had long since faded into the color of ash. His expression was exhausted, yet not surprised as he walked up to the child.
"I thought you were asleep an hour ago. And why did you take the bracelet? You know you're not supposed to touch anything in the study!"
"Grandpa! I heard it calling to me!" Rain giggled as the old man placed her in his lap.
His bushy brow rose. "Did it now?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yeah! I was sleeping and there was this bright light and I heard a voice, so I followed it and it led me here!"
"You've been enraptured by that artifact since you first laid eyes on it. I suppose it's a good omen. Our family has a long history with this bracelet, you know."
"Tell me the story again, grandpa, about the Wayfarers!"
The spirit felt a spark of familiarity bloom within her. She knew that title, didn't she?
The old man's expression softened into a smile as he readjusted himself into a more comfortable position.
"Oh, all right, but then it's off to bed. In times ancient beyond ancient, in a era where our world and the spirit world were still connected, a terrible calamity befell a powerful nation, one so ferocious, that it threatened the entire world. In the darkest moments, a group of scholars rose up to fight the calamity alongside the spirits and the royal family. Using their vast knowledge of magic, they forged a powerful artifact to combat the evil."
"The Millennium Bracelet!" The child said, holding up the item.
Her grandfather chuckled. "Yes. This bracelet was said to have the power to pierce the darkness. With it, the scholars opened the path for the heroes to seal the calamity away. However, the bracelet lost much of its strength, and fearing the calamity would return once more, the scholars ventured into the world to gain more knowledge."
"So they'd know how to stop the monster for good next time!"
"I see you have been paying attention to the legends. Yes, the scholars wanted to find a permanent solution to the calamity should it ever resurface, but they also understood that other evils existed in the world, evils that could not be beaten by normal means. So they wandered the world gaining and sharing knowledge from every corner. Eventually, their tribe, our tribe, became known as the Wayfarers, mystics to turn to in the darkest of times."
"Did the darkness come back?"
"No, but that didn't mean the tribe didn't face other challenges. By the time of the pharaohs of Egypt, the Wayfarers were known throughout the land. Some believed us to be untrustworthy, wielding dark forbidden arts from lands untouched."
The child pouted. "That's not true! The Wayfarers were good!"
"What they stood for, yes, but there will always be those who misuse the gifts given to them. During this time, a terrible war was brewing, threatening to destroy all of Egypt. Faced with destruction, the pharaoh turned to the Wayfarers for help. Seeing the good in his heart and knowing the needless destruction to come, they granted him a great secret, the method for forging items such as the Millennium Bracelet. And so, seven more were created and the pharaoh drove off the invading lands with their power. In exchange for their help, the Wayfarer were granted a place of honor among the people of Egypt, and one of their own was even given a place at the palace, at the side of the future pharaoh."
"The Wayfarer Queen!"
The title echoed in the spirit's ears as she listened diligently to the story. The old man told it with such vigor that one could know he believed every word, yet something about the legend rang...hollow.
"Yes, the Wayfarer Queen was the last wielder of the Millennium Bracelet. At the side of the next pharaoh, she helped him raise Egypt into a time of even greater prosperity. However, it was not to last. In forging the seven other Millennium Items, the previous pharaoh had invoked a challenge to dark forces who rose up against the light. It was a terrible and grueling battle, and while the pharaoh and queen were victorious and sealed the evil away, the price of victory was both their lives. And so, the bracelet was returned to our tribe, and it was passed down from tribe leader to tribe leader, waiting for the time when darkness would once again threaten the world and a new wielder would emerge."
"Does that mean you're the leader of the tribe, grandpa?"
The old man laughed, motioning Rain to stand up. "Oh, we don't really do leaders anymore. Wayfarer descendants are so scattered nowadays, it would take the end of the world to bring us all together. Still, the bracelet has remained with our side of the family, so, you could say I'm the unofficial leader. Now then, let's put it back and head off to bed."
Rain glanced down sadly at the artifact as the spirit feared she would be sent back into endless slumber again. With curious eyes, the child looked up to her grandfather.
"Do you really think the bracelet is magic, that the darkness will come back?"
He sighed before kneeling to her eye level. "With all my heart, dear. Our family has carried the histories and traditions of civilizations that have long since disappeared from this world. Since ancient times, we have guarded their secrets and read their warnings. I'd like to think it was all for something."
"So, when the darkness does come back, the bracelet will choose a new owner?"
"That's what the legends say."
"...Grandpa, I really did hear it call out to me."
The old man blinked before a smile grew on his face. Gently taking the artifact from the girl's hand, he affixed it a little lower on her arm she still wasn't quite big enough to fit into it yet.
"Tell you what, you wear this for the night, and in the morning, maybe we can find a better place for it."
Rain's eyes lit up. "Really!?" She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, grandpa!"
"Of course. Now, bedtime, little Wayfarer."
He picked her up and walked her back to her room, laying her down on the bed and giving her a good night kiss. By then, the spirit had returned to the bracelet. However, what she met was not an endless void, nor sleep, but a barren throne room surrounded by a maze of corridors. Unable to do anything, and really not knowing anything, the spirit sat on the modest throne and waited. For what, she wasn't sure. What she did know was that somehow, she had to protect this Rain, given that she was her only link to the physical world.
As it happened, that very night, thieves, enticed by the rumored riches hidden within the residence of Carter (L/N), broke in. The duo vastly underestimated the older gentleman, immediately tripping the hidden alarms and alerting him of their presence, though not before discovering Rain fast asleep in her bed. Drawn by the bracelet and looking to take a hostage, one of the thieves reached out to grab the artifact...only for the child's other hand to clamp down on his wrist with surprising force. To both their shock, the child's eyes were wide awake, not filled with the expected fear of someone facing intruders, but glowing (E/C) orbs burning with a cold anger and an eye symbol blazing on her forehead.
Carter heard shrieks of terror as he burst into his granddaughter's room, pistol in one hand and rapier in the other, ready to defend her. However, what he found was two grown men, curled up and sniveling in fear as his granddaughter stood on her bed, the arm with the bracelet extended. It faintly shone in the darkness as Carter studied Rain. Her demeanor and posture were not that of a child, especially not one of her personality. She was calm, dignified, with a regality that most adults couldn't conjure.
"Rain?"
Her head moved, and Carter noted two things: the glowing eye symbol and the off shade of his granddaughter's eyes. For a moment, their gazes were matched before the emblem faded as Rain sank back on the bed wordlessly. Carter ran to her, weapons still trained on the intruders who continued to cower in fear.
"Rain? Rain!" He said instantly.
She groaned, a single eye opening to meet his gaze, now the correct shade.
"Grandpa? What's wrong?"
Carter blinked at her in disbelief. Whatever Rain had done to these men, it was obvious she was completely unaware of it. He was neither a foolish, blind, nor unwise man. There was only one place that dark power could have come from. Glancing back at the thieves, he sighed.
"Nothing, dear. Go back to sleep."
In the morning, Carter would contact as many Wayfarers as he knew to spread the word:
The Millennium Bracelet had a new master.