TITLE: Knowledge
AUTHOR: Kami Beverly
FANDOM: YuGiOh
GENRE: Tragedy
RATING: PG-13
WARNING: Character death, inverse ending to episode 167, the Airborne Duel.
DISCLAMER: I don't own anything.
SUMMARY: (Set after Episode 166, but becomes AU there) Plane is about to crash, Seto and Amelda/Alister are dueling. Seto makes a rash decision to save his brother, and Amelda is forced into an entirely new perspective on his life, who his is and, more importantly, what Seto is really like.
NOTES: I'm just getting darker and darker Oo; AMELDAALISTER if you didn't know
A decision had to be made quickly. And, besides his confidence at winning, Seto had never, ever been much of an optimist. And with the way Amelda was talking, taking forever to move, he had a feeling he wouldn't be there in time for Mokuba. After all, if the plane crashed, Seto and Amelda would be safe because of the seal's magic, but his younger brother was an entirely different story.
He shivered as the thought entered his mind, glaring darkly at the red-haired teen that hated him so.
"Alright. You obviously don't believe anything I've been saying, and I'm sick of your game, but I can't properly show you the error of your ways right now." His hand inched towards his deck, although he'd already drawn his card, and the duelist recognized the movement.
"Are you crazy? You'll just give up? The seal will-"
"Take my soul, yes, I know," he growled, cutting him off. "Just-" His tone changed to one of sadness and surrender. "Just use your tricks to protect Mokuba when this is over, ok? If you won't do it for him, do it for your brother, the way you wish you could've." His hand coveredhis deck as sapphire eyes closed. "I resign."
The soft words activated the seal instantly, and the swirling magic surrounded him, sucking his spirit away.
And without a word more, the once-great CEO slumped to the ground of the aircraft as the two were returned to the conference area below where they had been standing.
Amelda stared, frozen in disbelief. It was then that the plane lurched, and screaming shattered his ears. He ran towards the cockpit, sweeping up the boy in his arms and uttering a short incantation, before the jem that hung around his neck glowed brightly, shielding them both as the plane went straight into the mountain side and shattered around them.
"No!" He heard the preteen scream "No, Seto!" He hit the redhead with his fists, though the hits were as weak as he currently felt as he cried. "You bastard! How could you do this? Where's my brother?" He sobbed quietly, and his voice died. "Where's Seto?"
The teen trembled as he looked down at the lonely boy. 'What did I do? What have I done?'
The Doom warrior shivered, glancing over the dancing flames of the weak fire he'd created at the boy that seemed to sleep among the wreakage, exhausted after long hours of crying, and searching for at least a piece of cloth, or a single card that had belonged to the dead man. He'd only managed to find a small locket that appeared, at first glance to be a duel monster's card. Mokuba had wept terribly when he'd found it.
He'd just destroyed a family. How could he hate Seto after that? How could he blame him? How could he, now, blame anybody but himself.
"I don't blame you." The voice was quiet, but the boy who had said it was steeled, although tears still shimmered in the corner of his eyes. "It's not your fault. It was Gozaburo Kaiba, and that guy, Dartz. You were just so sad, and you didn't know any better."
"Seto's all I had all there years," he continued, and Amelda could tell he'd broken the boy's heart, "if I'd lost him before, I don't know what I would've done. I don't know what I could've done. It's okay, I understand how you feel. I probably wouldn't have been to quick to forgive either."
The teen's eyes widened. What was the boy saying? He was quick to forgive; he'd not only sent his brother's soul to be fed to a monster (which he suddenly didn't trust so much anymore) and allowed his body to be destroyed. Seto was dead, no doubt about it, and he'd done it.
And Mokuba had forgiven him.
Mokuba was a good person. Seto was a caring brother. Who was he, anymore?