[A/N] Another Tumblr drabble prompt. This one was suggested by my bestie Yuzu. She asked for an Amelda-centric drabble with the song "Muzzle of Nemesis" by Gumi (Vocaloid). I ended up picking the line "Hello and goodbye... goodbye 'My Father'" which gave me a very good mental image. Actually I got a very good mental image from the entire song, it fits perfectly. I had been wanting to write something like this for a long time, but I could never quite figure out how. The song helped me out. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
His master, or rather, the man he had called his master for so long, sat on his knees in front of the large altar to the serpent god. Footsteps could be heard in the hallway. It was time.
He limped into the room, blood seeping through his bandages, soon dripping down on the large stone tablets that paved the floor like gravestones in a church. These tablets, however, were more than just gravestones. They were literal graves, not for bodies, but for souls. And some of those souls he had taken himself.
He stumbled and fell on his knees. He heard footsteps behind him, movement in front of him, but his eyes were fixed on the floor below him. This stone tablet held the soul of a young man, several years younger than Amelda himself, dressed in a knee-length tunic. The look in his eyes was one of fear, the look of a deer in the headlights of a car. The look of someone with no way out. Did all Dartz' victims get this expression just before their soul was taken?
"Amelda?"
The gentle voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up, straight into Dartz' mismatched eyes.
"I'm fine, Master" he forced himself to say.
Dartz shook his head. "You need to rest." He gently placed a hand on Amelda's shoulder. "Allow me to-"
"You get away from me, you monster!" Amelda suddenly snapped, pulling a gun from his pocket and aiming it at Dartz' chest. He smirked in satisfaction as the Atlantean took a few steps back, then stood up, still aiming the gun at Dartz.
"Why would you-"
"Quiet" Amelda hissed. "I've had enough of your lies."
"What is this about?" Bless Seto Kaiba for asking the right question at the right moment.
Amelda looked back at the group standing only a few steps behind him, the fear in the younger Kaiba's eyes catching his attention.
"You were right after all, Mokuba. Your family was not at fault. Mine was."
He turned his attention back to Dartz.
"This man, the man I considered my father for several years, is responsible for my brother's death. He killed Raphael's family, destroyed Valon's home, and ruined so many more lives."
"That is true" Dartz spoke. He had regained his composure and calmly looked Amelda in the eyes, his hands folded behind his back. He looked so innocent, the image of an angel of righteousness. What a joke.
"You destroyed all we had, then took us in as your own children and fed us lies. How can you live with yourself?" Amelda hissed. His hands were trembling, and yet he waited, aiming but not firing the gun.
Dartz smiled mildly. "I needed you for my purpose."
Amelda pulled the trigger.
Behind him, someone screamed. He heard several voices and the noise of people shuffling around each other, but Amelda's gaze was fixed on the man he had shot. Dartz had doubled over, pressing one hand against the bleeding wound in his chest, and for a split second, it looked like he would collapse, dying. No such luck. The Atlantean straightened his back and removed his hand, curiously looking down at the blood staining his sleeve.
"...No way..." Amelda whispered. "That... That should've killed you!"
"That would have killed any normal human, indeed." Dartz nodded. "But what is enough to kill any other man is not enough to kill me."
Again, Amelda pulled the trigger, this time aiming for Dartz' head. The Atlantean smirked and raised his bloodied hand, palm facing outward. The bullet stopped in midair.
"You have made a fatal mistake, Amelda" Dartz hissed darkly. His green eye began to glow, and the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on the ground around Amelda's feet. "Once, I can forgive, but now you are becoming a nuisance. Begone!"
He closed his hand and Amelda collapsed as the Seal closed in around him, taking his soul away.
The bullet fell on the ground.