Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, and really, it's much better for the series this way. I don't think most of the fans would appreciate an ending shrouded in death and darkness. Then again...

Author's Note: This is a companion piece to Endgame, taking place before that fic started. However, this can easily stand on its own if you squint a little. Rather blatant screamshipping (Yami no Bakura/Shizuka) and hints towards something darker.

The darkness was overwhelming, surrounding me entirely, leaving no breathing space, no gap for light to pierce. It was dark, so very dark, and cold; my breath misted in front of me as if on a chill winter day. Time had no meaning in this place. I could have spent a day, a week, a year, perhaps even more wandering the impenetrable emptiness and not have realized it. I held my hand in front of my nose and could not see it; all that filled my eyes was the darkness, and my spirit-like breath.

I concentrated on my breathing; inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. It was all that felt real, all that convinced me that I was alive, watching my breath coalesce and then fade away. It was all I could do besides walk, feeling weightless and empty but eternally pulled towards…something.

I wandered for what seemed ages, sure at any moment that I would catch a toe in an unseen crack in the floor that wasn't there, but I never stumbled, never fell, and never so much as nudged anything solid. Laughter echoed at the corners of the darkness, taunting me, drawing me ever forward while making me want to huddle up and cry. My eyes darted around uselessly, taking in the uneven splotches of darkness and wondering what shared this space with me. I barely suppressed a shiver as something slimy probed at the corners of my mind, retreating after only a few moments.

Where was I? I could barely remember who I was, let alone where I had wound up, though memories swam through my mind seemingly at random. The last I remembered – the last event I could chronologically place – was seeing my onii-chan fall, screaming and burning, and that dark one laughing as if it were a show. The fear in mou hitori no Yuugi-san's eyes when he realized that his best friend had fallen before the might of a God, knowing that he might be next. A part of me feared my mind had snapped, but the thought came with too much clarity, too much calm, for it to be true.

It's just a dream, a voice purred in my mind, alarming and sensual all at once. Just a little dream that, perhaps, you will wake from. Can My little songbird grow wings and fly to safety?

I ignored the voice. It had been speaking to me since I had awoken in this dreadful, empty place, telling me things that could only be lies. Onii-chan dead, the others hunted and dying, bleeding and screaming, and all because of me. I lay at the root of it all, so it said, though even my friends were unaware of it.

You're the Key! the voice giggled, sounding more than a tinge insane. The Key, the Key, the Key! So I keep you locked up, all safe and sound, until I have need of you! That way he cannot have you, and I will triumph.

None of it made sense to me. None of it.

You will unlock the door for Me, and I will possess the power to defeat ou-sama, and then you'll be useless again!

I shook my head. No! I was not useless! Old fears began to clutch at me like a babe to a blanket, creeping along my skin and sinking in like a disease, opening my mind to the incessant babbling that seemed ever-present in this place.

More giggling surrounded me and I did my best to drown it out.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Just keep breathing.

Out of nowhere, dozens of lights flickered in the darkness, emerging from the distance and traveling away from each other. A few zipped past me, so fast I could almost believe my eyes were playing tricks on me. Though welcome, in part, the lights frightened me; they were as unnatural as everything else in this place. A whimper escaped unbidden from my lips.

Is My little songbird scared? The voice was crooning now, and I could almost feel breath against my neck. I squirmed and slapped, but there was nothing there. Don't worry, you're wrapped up all safe and sound! Nothing can hurt you here! Trust Me!

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. I shivered, rubbing my hands along my bare arms briskly, trying to banish the chill that had settled into my skin. I kept breathing, and kept walking, never tiring.

After an interminable amount of time, I finally reached…something. It was a black slab of stone, erupting out of the darkness like a growth and lighted by dozens of flickering violet candles. As I grew hesitantly closer, I could make out strange markings carved into the stone, the light from the candles burning in the incisions with an unholy fire. Something wet and dark, almost as dark as the stone itself, dripped down the sides and made a small puddle against what I presumed was the ground. I could hear it trickling down.

Drip…drip…drip…

Cautiously, I knelt before the stone, slender fingers reaching out to trace the carvings and dipping in the liquid that seemed to flow from the heart of the rock itself. It was oddly warm and sticky, and when I lifted my fingers to my nose and inhaled, I was blasted with a sickly, coppery scent. Panic flared, and I rose to my feet, backpedaling as fast as I could.

Drip…drip…drip…

I backed into something solid, something warm, something breathing. Arms wrapped around me tightly, securing me despite my struggling. I heard a laugh, deep and husky, and immediately recognized the voice that had spoken to me for…how long had I been here?

"My little songbird is getting ahead of herself," he said in a singsong voice.

I recognized that voice now. His face flashed through my mind for the briefest of moments, and I struggled all the harder, but that only made him laugh again. Eventually I gave up and slumped in his arms, tears trickling down my cheeks.

I suddenly realized that this wasn't a dream. All the bits and pieces of memory that flashed through my mind had actually happened, and he was living proof of it. I remembered his duel with mou hitori no Yuugi-san, recalled how I had politely reminded onii-chan and his friends that the monsters weren't real, just a product of Kaiba-san's impressive technology.

I knew now just how real they were. The monsters had been in front of us the entire time and we hadn't even noticed until they pounced

Drip…drip…drip...

"He's dead, you know," he said softly, leaning down to nuzzle my neck. "They are likely all dead by now."

The breath caught in my throat. Dead. Onii-chan burning, the flames licking at his clothes, his hair, his flesh, his unseeing eyes trained on me as I burst into the arena, shocked to silence. His lifeless body falling, crashing to the floor, the hollow laughter of the dark one seeming so very out of place. Dead violet eyes shifting to me, seeming to light up with their own sick fire, and then…

Nothing. Just this unending darkness and the unearthly stone. And him.

"It's true, my little songbird. There's no one left but you…Me…and him." One hand slipped from my waist to sift through my hair, the act almost gentle. "You are all that is left, little songbird. Won't you sing Me a song?"

Drip…drip…drip…

"Sing Me a song so pretty, to go with such a pretty accompaniment. Can't you hear it dripping, ever dripping? It's the sound of your destiny, little songbird. You can escape it no more than I can Mine."

I found it hard to concentrate on my breathing. I felt as if the air itself were constricting me, reaching its vile tendrils down my throat to choke the very life out of me. The pressure lasted for an agonizing moment that dragged on for years before subsiding, leaving me breathless and sweating, and a vile, unclean film coated my throat.

"Just give in," he purred. "You've lost. Submit to Me."

Drip…drip…drip…

I knew now what that stone was. Though I had never seen it or its like in my life, I knew what it was, what it was made for so many eons ago. Forged by inhuman hands for inhuman deeds, it was set up as the foundation of a demonic devotion long since dead to the majority of mankind. Untold thousands had lain upon its cool surface, screaming and bleeding their essence out in the name of power. The very rock seemed to sing to me, to call out to me with its guttural songs and shocking promises. It was a doorway, in a sense, a portal leading to power unchecked.

And I was the Key.

"You know your purpose now." The hand continued to slide through my hair, making it hard to think, hard to concentrate on much else but his hypnotizing voice. "Listen to Me, and this will all be over. You'll see your onii-chan again soon." The voice was almost mocking, but the words resonated in my mind.

I could see my onii-chan again…

Burning, flames, screams, laughter, crying, the screaming…

I licked my parched lips, eyes closing, trying desperately to clear my mind.

The screaming…

It wouldn't stop…

Make it stop!

Drip…drip…drip…

"Submit to Me."

Onii-chan…

I opened my eyes and saw him standing there smiling.

He was burning, the flames licking around him as his smile widened and he beckoned towards me, calling for me to join him. The screams joined with his coaxing words, blended with his voice until an unholy cacophony was created. The sound washed over me, causing my limbs to go limp of their own accord. I felt myself being lifted into the air as onii-chan's face shifted out of my view, though I could still hear the strange chanting echoing in my ears. I got the odd feeling that this was what onii-chan wanted, this was what he felt was best.

And yet…

"Submit to Me, little songbird, and sing your final song."

Drip…drip…drip…

The screaming finally stopped as I felt cool stone meet my back. My eyes focused, locking on a figure more demon than human, crimson eyes laughing at me from beneath a shock of pure white hair. One strong hand held me down effortlessly as his other conjured a knife made of pure darkness, the blade adopting a blue glow from the pendant around his neck. He grinned down at me, his eyes dancing like flames, and his tongue ran along his lower lip as if he were savoring the moment.

A choked cry tore from my throat, tears stinging my eyes, and I knew it was too late. I had fallen into his trap, and there was nothing left for me but to submit.

"Sing for Me, little songbird!" he cried as the knife plunged into my chest, and I screamed.

I sat up abruptly, breathing heavily, my brow damp with sweat. I blinked several times and then stared down at Mai-san's sleeping form, looking so peaceful, so beautiful.

The hand I raised to brush back my hair trembled.

"It was a dream after all," I sighed softly, stretching a kink out of my shoulder and reaching out to touch Mai-san's abnormally cool cheek. "Just a dream." I laughed then, the most normal sound I could ever remember hearing, and berated myself for a fool. Letting a nightmare get to me like that! I rubbed my eyes, wondering how I could even have fallen asleep. Onii-chan and his friends were trusting me.

I settled back to watch over Mai-san, my eyes occasionally drifting to the window as I wondered how onii-chan was faring in his duel, absently clutching a small silver locket and letting all remnants of the dream fade away.

He chuckled softly, peering out from the shadows, drawn towards the light of a small piece of jewelry and the girl who possessed it.

"It has begun," he murmured, crimson eyes narrowed. "The seeds have been planted. All that is left for Me is to wait." He barked another laugh, his eyes trailing over the girl's vigilant form, and then vanished once more.